Path-dependent product development and Fiat's takeover of Lancia in 1969: meta-routines for design selection between synergies and brand autonomy

Giuliano Maielli

Business History, 2017, vol. 59, issue 1, 101-120

Abstract: Fiat's acquisition of Lancia in 1969 represented an opportunity for Fiat to strengthen its position in the upper end of the European market. However, Lancia lost its brand identity as a high quality car manufacture, while the Fiat Group remained focused upon the lower end of the market. This article addresses why path-changing opportunities towards more flexible output-mix strategies that emerged at Fiat before and after acquiring Lancia did not unfold. It identifies and analyses the meta-routines for new design selection as the dynamic link between initial conditions of path dependence (development of design hierarchies at Fiat) and lock-in (an output-mix skewed towards utilitarian cars).

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2015.1038520

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