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Why do you go on about it like that? Nothing you say changes the simple fact that the areas of German and Italian automotive products largely overlap - hence they are directly competing with each other, hence they can be directly compared.
Yes, the Germans seem to be successful in more segments than the Italians (actually, DE largely seems more successful also in the segments where it shares the presence with IT...), but being additionally more successful in something doesn't diminish your reach elsewhere, doesn't play in favour of more limited competition.

Well then Audi isn't independent... and Mercedes-Benz, the consumer division, isn't really either - the primary products of Daimler are of ~industrial and cargo hauling nature, cars are a small side business for them.

And while Opel is, yes, an arm of GM - it's very clear they operate very independently, have quite distinct and largely indigenously-engineered line of products, also "exported" to GM divisions worldwide (come on, Corsa was almost the B-class car for a long time; and BTW, while the very latest Astra models tend to be slightly "premium" - older ones are kept long in production, successfully competing for example with the Fiat offer). They are a German auto maker.

Unless... you see Lamborghini and Ducati as just the Italian arms of VW?


At least Skoda Octavia, Fabia and Citigo very much compete with most of what Fiat offers - and they're essentially just VW Golf/Jetta, Polo and Up (somewhat reengineered, but mostly just with less trinkets, the essence is still there; the last one just rebadged - even made in the same factory, the same production line), themsevles not that much more expensive. A, B, C right there.


BTW, coincidentally, recently I've heard some horror stories of several mostly ex-owners of some recent Fiat Punto models... Also, my family depended on Fiat cars for some time - but never again, it seems.

Edited 2012-07-02 16:16 UTC