Polska droga Fiata

Zwyciężyć opór Powraca koncepcja zakupu licencji. Chodzi o to, aby samochód z FSO spełniał wymagania techniczne na ty- le, aby miał szans´ sprzedaç si´ na Zachodzie. W gr´ wchodzi oczywiÊcie licencja od któregoÊ z zachodnich producentów. Stosunki mi´dzy Wschodem i Zacho- dem, choç nadal pełne antagonizmów, nie sà ju˝ tak lo- dowate jak po 1948 r. WÊród kandydatów na nowego partnera licencyjnego czołowe miejsce zajmuje Fiat. Ze- rwany kontrakt nie zaszkodził utrzymywaniu popraw- nych kontaktów odwołujàcych si´ do sprawdzonej przed wojnà współpracy. W kierownictwie turyƒskiego koncernu sà ludzie, którzy uruchamiali produkcj´ Pol- skiego Fiata w zakładach przy ulicy Terespolskiej. In˝. Overcoming Resistance The idea of purchasing a license had resurfaced but this time the car should meet technical specifications that would qualify it for exports to the West. To do it, Poland had to acquire a license from one of the western manufacturers. East – West relations had somewhat improved, and even though antagonisms continued, they were not so icy as before. Fiat ranked high on a list of companies willing to become Poland’s new licensing partner. Despite the broken contract, both parties had maintained good relations for the sake of traditional and time-tested cooperation going back to before the war. People who helped launch the Polski Fiat in the Terespolska Street plant still worked at the company headquarters in Turin, and Armando Fiorelli, Mirafiori CEO, clearly remembered those momentous days as he pushed for resuming relations. At the other side, on the banks of the Vistula River, another individual worked hard to modernize the ˚eraƒ plant by introducing western technology. His name was Tadeusz Wrzaszczyk and he had recently been promoted from working as FSO Technical Director to CEO of the Central Office of Automotive Industry, a position which carried more decision-making authority over a wider scope of issues. Still, purchasing a license remained a touchy subject as on one hand you needed to persuade the political decision-makers to give approval while on the other loomed the conundrum of reconciling the proposed project with Poland’s membership in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, or CMEA. CMEA members were not 28 Fiat 1500 L