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24.11.2002, 10:31
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After years of neglect, Fiat rediscovers Turin's design hous
By Luca Ciferri
Automotive News Europe / November 18, 2002 Turin's famed independent styling studios are designing Fiats, Lancias and Alfa Romeos once again after a decade in which almost all new Fiat Auto cars were designed in-house. So far the big winner is Italdesign-Giugiaro, the Turin studio headed by legendary designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. "In the past years, we had been a little bit too arrogant, thinking that we were able to do everything by ourselves," said Nevio di Giusto, head of product development for the Fiat/Lancia/Light Commercial Vehicles business unit. "Recently, we have been more open to proposals from the design houses," he said, "not only in terms of styling new products, but also for new vehicle concept ideas." Many of the cars from Fiat's Centro Stile studio in recent years have sold poorly. Disappointing sales of the Stilo, which was designed in-house, is one reason Fiat faces deep financial troubles. The company's new top management team, led by managing director Giancarlo Boschetti, is now putting much more faith in external designers. "We never stopped working with Fiat Auto, but the new management is much more open to our proposals," said Giugiaro. "The last time I had real creative freedom from Fiat was for the first Punto, launched in 1993. After that they asked me to design what was already in their mind. "I didn't feel any trust from them. We were doing proposals, but not getting any response. When we made our styling model for the Alfa Romeo 156, we discovered what they took and changed only when the car was publicly introduced." Fiat Auto has always included external designers in styling competitions. But in-house proposals usually prevailed during the 1990s. Former Fiat Auto Managing Director Paolo Cantarella was convinced that only the internal styling centers could deliver a clear brand image. That has now changed. "We were discussing a new model for Alfa Romeo and Giancarlo Boschetti really liked the car, but he felt it was probably too aggressive," said Giugiaro, who besides the first Punto, also did the Panda, Uno and Croma. "But at the end he said, 'If you are convinced you're right go ahead.'" Ultimately the car, the new 156 due in early 2005, received the best score in clinics in the entire history of Fiat Auto, according to Giugiaro. The arrival of Boschetti was also good news for Carrozzeria Bertone, which worked with him during his years as head of Fiat SpA's Iveco commercial vehicles unit. Bertone's studio designed the new generation of Iveco's EuroCargo heavy trucks that will debut next year. Bertone had been virtually cut off from Fiat Auto for several years before former I.DE.A Institute executive Roberto Piatti was hired by the late Nuccio Bertone in September 1996 to run the Stile Bertone design center. "He asked me to try to rebuild a relationship with Fiat Auto on the design side," said Piatti. "At that time we were producing the Punto cabriolet, but for a number of years we had not been involved in any design project." Proactive cooperation Piatti said Stile Bertone took over a year to complete an internal res-tructuring to meet the new technical standards required by Fiat Auto. "Since the styling competition for the Alfa 147 that began in late 1997 we have been consulted quite regularly," he said. Pininfarina's involvement with Fiat Auto has been limited in recent years. Pininfarina designed the Fiat "Large" sedan originally planned for 2003. But the car was canceled by the new management team in favor of a new version from Giugiaro that will appear in 2005. In addition, Pininfarina's proposal for the new Alfa Spider could be abandoned in favor of a spider version of Giugiaro's new 156. Di Giusto recently met with Pininfarina to try to re-establish a "more proactive cooperation." The last two Fiat brand vehicles that did not come from internal studios were the first-generation Punto by Giugiaro and the Palio world car family, introduced from 1996 to 1998. The Palio family was designed by I.DE.A. Institute of Turin. Since then, the Cinquecento, Seicento, second-generation Punto, Bravo/Brava, Marea, Coupé, Barchetta, Multipla, Doblò, Stilo and two generations of the Ulysse were all designed in-house. But Fiat's Centro Stile has been losing competitions lately. Italdesign was chosen to restyle the current Punto and the Palio family, both due to appear next year. A Punto-based compact multipurpose vehicle that will be launched in October 2003 - the so-called B-MPV - is also by Italdesign. So is the 2005 "Large," the successor to the long-dead Croma full-size sedan, and a sport-utility vehicle based on Suzuki running gear planned for 2005. Fiat's crucial "new Small" project, which will replace both the Panda and Seicento late next year, was also styled outside the company - though not by Giugiaro. Bertone was responsible for the exterior and I.DE.A. did the interior. Of the two design proposals still under consideration for the 2005 Punto, one is from the internal styling center led by Mike Robinson and the other from Bertone. Giugiaro's model was eliminated. The 2005 Punto is understood to combine the Fiat styling center's nose and side designs with Bertone's rear styling. The last Alfa Romeo models to come from outside designers were the 1994 Spider and its GTV coupe sibling, both designed by Pininfarina. The 145/146, 147, 156 sedan and Sportwagon and the 166 were all designed in-house, although there was much input from Giugiaro on the 156. Lately, Giugiaro has been winning lots of business at Alfa Romeo. His proposals were chosen for all restylings and new products through 2006. The lone exception is the upcoming 166 restyling that was done by the internal styling center headed by Wolfgang Egger. "A couple of years ago Giugiaro proposed a new Lancia Delta," di Giusto said. "It was to be a compact sport-utility vehicle with four-wheel drive. That project will never be produced, but it was the seed that will lead to a compact crossover for Alfa Romeo." Faster delivery The Alfa Romeo Sprint, a four-seat coupe derived from the 156 sedan, was originally proposed by Bertone, which also sought to build the car. The Bertone-designed Sprint will go on sale in December 2003 built by Alfa Romeo at its Pomigliano d'Arco plant. Lancia's entire current product range was designed by the brand's internal styling center, although there was early input from I.DE.A. on the Lybra. The internal studio, now headed by Flavio Manzoni, is responsible for the June 2003 Epsilon replacement and the October 2004 compact MPV -- a Lancia variant of Giugiaro's B-MPV project for Fiat. Italdesign stylists created the variant to the Fiat "Large" project that will replace the Lybra in late 2005. External designers say they can sometimes deliver faster than a carmaker's own studio. "For a restyling, we are able to offer design, engineering and prototype construction in a very short time," Giugiaro said. "We are able to have production beginning less than one year after showing the first model."
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