THE FIAT GROUP IN

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Piero Maritano,
Comau’s Chief Executive Officer.
Production
Systems
Fiat started regular and organized production of machine
tools in 1935. Over the years, by acquiring and absorbing
other companies, Comau broadened its product range,
becoming one of the few “total” suppliers of automation
systems for the automotive industry.
OPERATING PERFORMANCE
In 2001, the markets where the Sector operates were
characterized by sharp cutbacks in the capital spending
programs of U.S. carmakers. In Europe, where price
competition was extremely high, demand held relatively
steady, with investments used to streamline production
capacity. In South America, the crisis in Argentina
exacerbated a downward trend in capital spending.
Demand for production systems has been evolving toward
integrated systems and services that require a gradual
commitment of resources, can serve multiple purposes
(modularity and operating flexibility) and have a long life
cycle (reliability and convertibility).
At the same time, carmakers are continuing to shift their
service activities and non-core manufacturing operations
to outside suppliers while pursuing financial solutions that
permit the reduction of invested capital.
In response to these critical developments and despite
an unfavorable business environment, Comau continued
to develop and fine tune its technological resources, with
gratifying results. New orders for contract work totaled 1,756
million euros in 2001, or about 5% more than in the previous
year. This improvement is due primarily to orders from
Powertrain Systems in Europe and the United States and to
the growing contribution of the Engineering Business Unit
following the acquisition of Germann-Intech GmbH & Co. KG.
and Comau Romania S.r.l.
Comau
Highlights
(in millions of euros) 2001 2000 1999
Net revenues 2,218 2,440 1,693
Operating income 60 87 43
as a % of revenues 2.7 3.6 2.5
Net income (loss) before
minority interest (36) 6 (8)
Cash flow 27 63 30
Capital expenditures 38 36 26
Research and development 22 20 20
Net invested capital 378 486 485
Number of employees 17,243 17,636 16,943
Revenues by geographical
region of destination
Employees by geographical
region
0 50 100%
Italy
Rest of Europe
Rest of the world
An analysis by region shows that 61% of the orders were
booked in Europe and 35% in the NAFTA countries, with most
of the remaining 4% coming from Brazil and China. Fiat Group
customers accounted for 21% of total orders and outside
carmakers for the other 79%.
The most noteworthy large orders include assembly and
machining lines for a new engine being developed by the
Fiat-GM Powertrain joint venture in Poland and for NAFTAarea
plants of U.S. manufacturers, as well as bodywork
welding lines for local customers in Germany.
At December 31, 2001, the order portfolio stood at 1,473
million euros, up 4% from the end of 2000.
The maintenance service operations headed by Comau
Service (merged into Comau S.p.A. during the year) enjoyed
sharply higher revenues in 2001 (+30%) thanks to new orders
from Fiat Group companies in Italy and the rest of Europe and
new contracts from U.S. carmakers in the NAFTA markets.
RESULTS FOR THE YEAR
Revenues totaled 2,218 million euros in 2001, or 9% less
than in the previous year, as growth in the maintenance
service business was not enough to offset a decrease in
sales to NAFTA customers.
Operating income was down in absolute terms (60 million
euros in 2001, compared with 87 million euros in 2000) and
as a percentage of revenues (2.7% in 2001, as against 3.6%
in 2000). This decline was due to a drop in revenues, which