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Shelley Osterloh reporting Before it was an Olympic City, Torino was an automobile town. In fact it is often called the Detroit of Italy.
Cars, cars, cars everywhere, and not that many places to park. But Cars in Torino are more than transportation. They are part of the city's identity. In fact the "t" in Fiat stands for Torino
This is where the Fiat was first built back in 1899. By the 1920's 30s and 40s, the cars were mass produced in a giant plant called the Lingotto. It had a track built on the roof where the cars were tested before hitting the showroom. In its day it was the biggest factory in the world, employing more than a thousand workers.
The track on top of the Lingotto still exists, though no cars race on it. The factory has been transformed into a shopping mall and exhibition hall that, during the Olympics, serves as the Main Press Center.
The man behind it all: Giovanni Agnelli, the founder of the Fiat. Agnelli was like a star, defining his era with Italian style and charisma . He died in 2003.
Though the Fiat has had its ups and downs in automotive history, its new leaders are re-inventing and re-designing the Italian auto.
Luca De Mayo, Fiat Executive "I think that Fiat as a brand if interpreted in the right way can be in automotive terms what they imagine what they know about Italy, its about style its about simple things, its about smiling culture... And that's what it is. What we want."
They may have found what European consumers want. Fiats newest compact car the Poontoh is now the best selling car in Europe.
