ABSTRACT
At the end of the Second World War Fiat and Montecatini were two giants of Italy's economy. Fiat enjoyed a quasi-monopoly in the automobile sector. Since the late 1920s, the company controlled between 80 and 90 per cent of the Italian production of vehicles. Montecatini had a similar position in many fields of mining and chemicals manufacturing such as pyrites, sulphuric acid and nitrogen fertilizers. In the following years Fiat and Montecatini consolidated their leading positions in Italian industry. Fiat diversified into aeroplanes, naval engines and steel, but it remained substantially anchored to its core business, the automobile. Montecatini extended its interest to all chemical fields without ever reducing (actually, it reinforced its position) its attention on mining activities. Fiat and Montecatini entered the Fascist era facing both the advantages as well as the disadvantages of Italian big business during those years.
