About Iveco Cars
Iveco, an Italian industrial vehicle manufacturing company under the control of CNH Industrial Group was formed by Fiat manager Bruno Beccaria through an alliance among five vehicle manufacturers operating in Italy, France and Germany such as Fiat, OM, Lancia, Unic and Magirus in 1975. The name is an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation.
The Daily, a small industrial vehicle launched in 1978 was the first product from Iveco in the Light vehicles category and two years later they developed the first turbo diesel engine to be used in heavy industrial vehicles. In the 1980s the company sponsored many big sports events such as the Moscow Olympics and Davis Cup as a part of the corporate business strategy for developing a brand reputation. Iveco entered a new phase in its growth by starting two new divisions - the bus diesel engines division and the fire fighting vehicles division. From a marketing viewpoint, these years saw the launch of the Turbo star (1984) which became the best seller in the European market and symbolized Iveco's entrepreneurial success in Europe.
Iveco had to face a crisis in the early 1990s, mainly because of the immense competition from American and German automakers. In 1990, Iveco acquired 60% control of ENASA, which owned the Pegaso brand of vehicles in Spain. Iveco expanded its reach to Barcelona, Valladolid and Madrid in Spain by starting new manufacturing units. With this Iveco got the reputation as a local brand in most of the European markets. The EuroCargo and the EuroTech range of vehicles launched by Iveco in 1990 grabbed the Truck of the Year award in 1992 and 1993 respectively. In 1992 Iveco acquired an Italian Truck manufacturing company named International Trucks Australia which was later renamed as Iveco Trucks Australia Limited. As new plants were built throughout the 90s, new models were added to the lineup to corner the international market.
In 1995 Euroclass luxury coach was elected as the International Coach of the Year. More consumer-friendly and market-driven strategies were employed by the company during the late 90s. As a part of this strategy Iveco created the transolver in 1997 which was first step of the company in financial services. Iveco's trucks continued to rule the markets in Spain, Bulgaria, the UK and Slovenia. Euro Cargo introduced in 1998 was sold in more than ninety countries and was named The Best Imported Truck in Germany.
In 2003 Iveco bought Irisbus which was a joint venture with Renault. It was in 2004 that the Iveco motors brand was born and it in 2005 it was incorporated into Fiat Powertrain Technologies. On January 1, 2011, CNH, Iveco and FPT Industrial brands were incorporated into the newly founded Fiat Industrial.
Now Iveco is the brand under which the light, medium and heavy vehicles are marketed. It includes Iveco Bus, Iveco Astra, Iveco Magirus and Defence Vehicles. The company has also moved into another part of the market with Iveco Capital, a financial division to support customers in purchases.