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  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A projection of the history of the local textile industry and the Chinese presence is seen here the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2895.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A projection of the history of the local textile industry is seen here the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2901.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A projection of the history of the local textile industry and the Chinese presence is seen here the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2877.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 26 NOVEMBER 2019: A projection of the history of the local textile industry is seen here the textile museum in Prato, Italy, on November 26th 2019.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191126_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_2864.jpg
  • OTTAVIANO, ITALY - 25 JULY 2019: The machine processing flexible polyurethan with film foaming and that produces fenders for Jeep Renegade is seen here at Adler Group in Ottaviano, Italy, on July 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Adler-Pelzer Group is an Italian manufacturing Group, and a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacturing of components and systems for the transportation industry. Founded in 1956 in Ottaviano (Naples), today is the largest producer in Italy and the second in the world of systems for acoustic, thermal comfort and interior design for vehicles in the automotive, aerospace and railway industries. <br />
<br />
Italian manufacturer Adler-Pelzer Group had secured an order worth 2.6 million euros to make parts for military aircraft.That spelled 250 new jobs at its factory outside Naples, the heart of perpetually struggling southern Italy.<br />
“It was a great opportunity,” says Adler-Pelzer Group chairman Paolo Scudieri.<br />
But early this year, alarmed by the intensifying political chaos gripping Italy, Mr. Scudieri’s company shifted the order to a factory in Poland. He was disturbed by what he portrays as the anti-business proclivities of the populists suddenly running the country. He was concerned by the government’s collision with the European Union over its spending plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italian companies are deferring expansions and limiting investment rather than risking cash in a time of uncertainty. The public debt remains monumental, running at more than 2 trillion euro ($2.24 trillion), or more than 130 percent of annual economic output. Banks are still stuffed with bad loans — albeit fewer than before — making them reluctant to lend. An economy that has not expanded over the past decade is this year widely expected to again produce no growth.
    CIPG_20190725_NYT_ItalyEconNaples_M3...jpg
  • OTTAVIANO, ITALY - 25 JULY 2019: Paolo Scudieri, a member of the board of Confindustria, Italy’s most powerful business association, and chairman of the Adler-Pelzer Group, poses for a portrait at the Adler-Group offices in Ottaviano, Italy, on July 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Adler-Pelzer Group is an Italian manufacturing Group, and a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacturing of components and systems for the transportation industry. Founded in 1956 in Ottaviano (Naples), today is the largest producer in Italy and the second in the world of systems for acoustic, thermal comfort and interior design for vehicles in the automotive, aerospace and railway industries. <br />
<br />
Italian manufacturer Adler-Pelzer Group had secured an order worth 2.6 million euros to make parts for military aircraft.That spelled 250 new jobs at its factory outside Naples, the heart of perpetually struggling southern Italy.<br />
“It was a great opportunity,” says Adler-Pelzer Group chairman Paolo Scudieri.<br />
But early this year, alarmed by the intensifying political chaos gripping Italy, Mr. Scudieri’s company shifted the order to a factory in Poland. He was disturbed by what he portrays as the anti-business proclivities of the populists suddenly running the country. He was concerned by the government’s collision with the European Union over its spending plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italian companies are deferring expansions and limiting investment rather than risking cash in a time of uncertainty. The public debt remains monumental, running at more than 2 trillion euro ($2.24 trillion), or more than 130 percent of annual economic output. Banks are still stuffed with bad loans — albeit fewer than before — making them reluctant to lend. An economy that has not expanded over the past decade is this year widely expected to again produce no growth.
    CIPG_20190725_NYT_ItalyEconNaples_M3...jpg
  • OTTAVIANO, ITALY - 25 JULY 2019: Paolo Scudieri, a member of the board of Confindustria, Italy’s most powerful business association, and chairman of the Adler-Pelzer Group, poses for a portrait at the Adler-Group offices in Ottaviano, Italy, on July 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Adler-Pelzer Group is an Italian manufacturing Group, and a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacturing of components and systems for the transportation industry. Founded in 1956 in Ottaviano (Naples), today is the largest producer in Italy and the second in the world of systems for acoustic, thermal comfort and interior design for vehicles in the automotive, aerospace and railway industries. <br />
<br />
Italian manufacturer Adler-Pelzer Group had secured an order worth 2.6 million euros to make parts for military aircraft.That spelled 250 new jobs at its factory outside Naples, the heart of perpetually struggling southern Italy.<br />
“It was a great opportunity,” says Adler-Pelzer Group chairman Paolo Scudieri.<br />
But early this year, alarmed by the intensifying political chaos gripping Italy, Mr. Scudieri’s company shifted the order to a factory in Poland. He was disturbed by what he portrays as the anti-business proclivities of the populists suddenly running the country. He was concerned by the government’s collision with the European Union over its spending plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italian companies are deferring expansions and limiting investment rather than risking cash in a time of uncertainty. The public debt remains monumental, running at more than 2 trillion euro ($2.24 trillion), or more than 130 percent of annual economic output. Banks are still stuffed with bad loans — albeit fewer than before — making them reluctant to lend. An economy that has not expanded over the past decade is this year widely expected to again produce no growth.
    CIPG_20190725_NYT_ItalyEconNaples_M3...jpg
  • OTTAVIANO, ITALY - 25 JULY 2019: Paolo Scudieri, a member of the board of Confindustria, Italy’s most powerful business association, and chairman of the Adler-Pelzer Group, poses for a portrait at the Adler-Group offices in Ottaviano, Italy, on July 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Adler-Pelzer Group is an Italian manufacturing Group, and a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacturing of components and systems for the transportation industry. Founded in 1956 in Ottaviano (Naples), today is the largest producer in Italy and the second in the world of systems for acoustic, thermal comfort and interior design for vehicles in the automotive, aerospace and railway industries. <br />
<br />
Italian manufacturer Adler-Pelzer Group had secured an order worth 2.6 million euros to make parts for military aircraft.That spelled 250 new jobs at its factory outside Naples, the heart of perpetually struggling southern Italy.<br />
“It was a great opportunity,” says Adler-Pelzer Group chairman Paolo Scudieri.<br />
But early this year, alarmed by the intensifying political chaos gripping Italy, Mr. Scudieri’s company shifted the order to a factory in Poland. He was disturbed by what he portrays as the anti-business proclivities of the populists suddenly running the country. He was concerned by the government’s collision with the European Union over its spending plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italian companies are deferring expansions and limiting investment rather than risking cash in a time of uncertainty. The public debt remains monumental, running at more than 2 trillion euro ($2.24 trillion), or more than 130 percent of annual economic output. Banks are still stuffed with bad loans — albeit fewer than before — making them reluctant to lend. An economy that has not expanded over the past decade is this year widely expected to again produce no growth.
    CIPG_20190725_NYT_ItalyEconNaples_M3...jpg
  • OTTAVIANO, ITALY - 25 JULY 2019: Workers are seen here processing flexible polyurethan foaminge and producing rear seat paddings for Fiat Panda, at Adler Group in Ottaviano, Italy, on July 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Adler-Pelzer Group is an Italian manufacturing Group, and a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacturing of components and systems for the transportation industry. Founded in 1956 in Ottaviano (Naples), today is the largest producer in Italy and the second in the world of systems for acoustic, thermal comfort and interior design for vehicles in the automotive, aerospace and railway industries. <br />
<br />
Italian manufacturer Adler-Pelzer Group had secured an order worth 2.6 million euros to make parts for military aircraft.That spelled 250 new jobs at its factory outside Naples, the heart of perpetually struggling southern Italy.<br />
“It was a great opportunity,” says Adler-Pelzer Group chairman Paolo Scudieri.<br />
But early this year, alarmed by the intensifying political chaos gripping Italy, Mr. Scudieri’s company shifted the order to a factory in Poland. He was disturbed by what he portrays as the anti-business proclivities of the populists suddenly running the country. He was concerned by the government’s collision with the European Union over its spending plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italian companies are deferring expansions and limiting investment rather than risking cash in a time of uncertainty. The public debt remains monumental, running at more than 2 trillion euro ($2.24 trillion), or more than 130 percent of annual economic output. Banks are still stuffed with bad loans — albeit fewer than before — making them reluctant to lend. An economy that has not expanded over the past decade is this year widely expected to again produce no growth.
    CIPG_20190725_NYT_ItalyEconNaples_M3...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Marco Weng (20), a first-generation Italian-Chinese and son of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Italy 30 years ago, poses for a portrait at his partner's fried chicken take-away restaurant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. “There was no clothing industry here. Italians only made textiles. Chinese people didn’t take jobs. We have created jobs”, Mr Weng says.  Marco Weng is about to launch a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants with a partner.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s facto
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1890.jpg
  • OTTAVIANO, ITALY - 25 JULY 2019: Paolo Scudieri (center), a member of the board of Confindustria, Italy’s most powerful business association, and chairman of the Adler-Pelzer Group, tests an electric go-kart in Ottaviano, Italy, on July 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Adler-Pelzer Group is an Italian manufacturing Group, and a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacturing of components and systems for the transportation industry. Founded in 1956 in Ottaviano (Naples), today is the largest producer in Italy and the second in the world of systems for acoustic, thermal comfort and interior design for vehicles in the automotive, aerospace and railway industries. <br />
<br />
Italian manufacturer Adler-Pelzer Group had secured an order worth 2.6 million euros to make parts for military aircraft.That spelled 250 new jobs at its factory outside Naples, the heart of perpetually struggling southern Italy.<br />
“It was a great opportunity,” says Adler-Pelzer Group chairman Paolo Scudieri.<br />
But early this year, alarmed by the intensifying political chaos gripping Italy, Mr. Scudieri’s company shifted the order to a factory in Poland. He was disturbed by what he portrays as the anti-business proclivities of the populists suddenly running the country. He was concerned by the government’s collision with the European Union over its spending plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italian companies are deferring expansions and limiting investment rather than risking cash in a time of uncertainty. The public debt remains monumental, running at more than 2 trillion euro ($2.24 trillion), or more than 130 percent of annual economic output. Banks are still stuffed with bad loans — albeit fewer than before — making them reluctant to lend. An economy that has not expanded over the past decade is this year widely expected to again produce no growth.
    CIPG_20190725_NYT_ItalyEconNaples_M3...jpg
  • OTTAVIANO, ITALY - 25 JULY 2019: A workers is seen here at a machine processing flexible polyurethan with film foaming and that produces fenders for Jeep Renegade, at Adler Group in Ottaviano, Italy, on July 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Adler-Pelzer Group is an Italian manufacturing Group, and a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacturing of components and systems for the transportation industry. Founded in 1956 in Ottaviano (Naples), today is the largest producer in Italy and the second in the world of systems for acoustic, thermal comfort and interior design for vehicles in the automotive, aerospace and railway industries. <br />
<br />
Italian manufacturer Adler-Pelzer Group had secured an order worth 2.6 million euros to make parts for military aircraft.That spelled 250 new jobs at its factory outside Naples, the heart of perpetually struggling southern Italy.<br />
“It was a great opportunity,” says Adler-Pelzer Group chairman Paolo Scudieri.<br />
But early this year, alarmed by the intensifying political chaos gripping Italy, Mr. Scudieri’s company shifted the order to a factory in Poland. He was disturbed by what he portrays as the anti-business proclivities of the populists suddenly running the country. He was concerned by the government’s collision with the European Union over its spending plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italian companies are deferring expansions and limiting investment rather than risking cash in a time of uncertainty. The public debt remains monumental, running at more than 2 trillion euro ($2.24 trillion), or more than 130 percent of annual economic output. Banks are still stuffed with bad loans — albeit fewer than before — making them reluctant to lend. An economy that has not expanded over the past decade is this year widely expected to again produce no growth.
    CIPG_20190725_NYT_ItalyEconNaples_M3...jpg
  • OTTAVIANO, ITALY - 25 JULY 2019: Paolo Scudieri, a member of the board of Confindustria, Italy’s most powerful business association, and chairman of the Adler-Pelzer Group, poses for a portrait at the Adler-Group offices in Ottaviano, Italy, on July 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Adler-Pelzer Group is an Italian manufacturing Group, and a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacturing of components and systems for the transportation industry. Founded in 1956 in Ottaviano (Naples), today is the largest producer in Italy and the second in the world of systems for acoustic, thermal comfort and interior design for vehicles in the automotive, aerospace and railway industries. <br />
<br />
Italian manufacturer Adler-Pelzer Group had secured an order worth 2.6 million euros to make parts for military aircraft.That spelled 250 new jobs at its factory outside Naples, the heart of perpetually struggling southern Italy.<br />
“It was a great opportunity,” says Adler-Pelzer Group chairman Paolo Scudieri.<br />
But early this year, alarmed by the intensifying political chaos gripping Italy, Mr. Scudieri’s company shifted the order to a factory in Poland. He was disturbed by what he portrays as the anti-business proclivities of the populists suddenly running the country. He was concerned by the government’s collision with the European Union over its spending plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italian companies are deferring expansions and limiting investment rather than risking cash in a time of uncertainty. The public debt remains monumental, running at more than 2 trillion euro ($2.24 trillion), or more than 130 percent of annual economic output. Banks are still stuffed with bad loans — albeit fewer than before — making them reluctant to lend. An economy that has not expanded over the past decade is this year widely expected to again produce no growth.
    CIPG_20190725_NYT_ItalyEconNaples_M3...jpg
  • OTTAVIANO, ITALY - 25 JULY 2019: Paolo Scudieri, a member of the board of Confindustria, Italy’s most powerful business association, and chairman of the Adler-Pelzer Group, poses for a portrait at the Adler-Group offices in Ottaviano, Italy, on July 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Adler-Pelzer Group is an Italian manufacturing Group, and a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacturing of components and systems for the transportation industry. Founded in 1956 in Ottaviano (Naples), today is the largest producer in Italy and the second in the world of systems for acoustic, thermal comfort and interior design for vehicles in the automotive, aerospace and railway industries. <br />
<br />
Italian manufacturer Adler-Pelzer Group had secured an order worth 2.6 million euros to make parts for military aircraft.That spelled 250 new jobs at its factory outside Naples, the heart of perpetually struggling southern Italy.<br />
“It was a great opportunity,” says Adler-Pelzer Group chairman Paolo Scudieri.<br />
But early this year, alarmed by the intensifying political chaos gripping Italy, Mr. Scudieri’s company shifted the order to a factory in Poland. He was disturbed by what he portrays as the anti-business proclivities of the populists suddenly running the country. He was concerned by the government’s collision with the European Union over its spending plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italian companies are deferring expansions and limiting investment rather than risking cash in a time of uncertainty. The public debt remains monumental, running at more than 2 trillion euro ($2.24 trillion), or more than 130 percent of annual economic output. Banks are still stuffed with bad loans — albeit fewer than before — making them reluctant to lend. An economy that has not expanded over the past decade is this year widely expected to again produce no growth.
    CIPG_20190725_NYT_ItalyEconNaples_M3...jpg
  • OTTAVIANO, ITALY - 25 JULY 2019: A workers is seen here  processing flexible polyurethan foaminge and producing rear seat paddings for Fiat Panda, at Adler Group in Ottaviano, Italy, on July 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Adler-Pelzer Group is an Italian manufacturing Group, and a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacturing of components and systems for the transportation industry. Founded in 1956 in Ottaviano (Naples), today is the largest producer in Italy and the second in the world of systems for acoustic, thermal comfort and interior design for vehicles in the automotive, aerospace and railway industries. <br />
<br />
Italian manufacturer Adler-Pelzer Group had secured an order worth 2.6 million euros to make parts for military aircraft.That spelled 250 new jobs at its factory outside Naples, the heart of perpetually struggling southern Italy.<br />
“It was a great opportunity,” says Adler-Pelzer Group chairman Paolo Scudieri.<br />
But early this year, alarmed by the intensifying political chaos gripping Italy, Mr. Scudieri’s company shifted the order to a factory in Poland. He was disturbed by what he portrays as the anti-business proclivities of the populists suddenly running the country. He was concerned by the government’s collision with the European Union over its spending plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italian companies are deferring expansions and limiting investment rather than risking cash in a time of uncertainty. The public debt remains monumental, running at more than 2 trillion euro ($2.24 trillion), or more than 130 percent of annual economic output. Banks are still stuffed with bad loans — albeit fewer than before — making them reluctant to lend. An economy that has not expanded over the past decade is this year widely expected to again produce no growth.
    CIPG_20190725_NYT_ItalyEconNaples_M3...jpg
  • OTTAVIANO, ITALY - 25 JULY 2019: Workers are seen here at a machine processing polyurethan with skill foaming and that produces anti rattle pads for Jeep Renegade, at Adler Group in Ottaviano, Italy, on July 25th 2019.<br />
<br />
Adler-Pelzer Group is an Italian manufacturing Group, and a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacturing of components and systems for the transportation industry. Founded in 1956 in Ottaviano (Naples), today is the largest producer in Italy and the second in the world of systems for acoustic, thermal comfort and interior design for vehicles in the automotive, aerospace and railway industries. <br />
<br />
Italian manufacturer Adler-Pelzer Group had secured an order worth 2.6 million euros to make parts for military aircraft.That spelled 250 new jobs at its factory outside Naples, the heart of perpetually struggling southern Italy.<br />
“It was a great opportunity,” says Adler-Pelzer Group chairman Paolo Scudieri.<br />
But early this year, alarmed by the intensifying political chaos gripping Italy, Mr. Scudieri’s company shifted the order to a factory in Poland. He was disturbed by what he portrays as the anti-business proclivities of the populists suddenly running the country. He was concerned by the government’s collision with the European Union over its spending plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Italian companies are deferring expansions and limiting investment rather than risking cash in a time of uncertainty. The public debt remains monumental, running at more than 2 trillion euro ($2.24 trillion), or more than 130 percent of annual economic output. Banks are still stuffed with bad loans — albeit fewer than before — making them reluctant to lend. An economy that has not expanded over the past decade is this year widely expected to again produce no growth.
    CIPG_20190725_NYT_ItalyEconNaples_M3...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Marco Weng (20), a first-generation Italian-Chinese and son of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Italy 30 years ago, poses for a portrait at his partner's fried chicken take-away restaurant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. “There was no clothing industry here. Italians only made textiles. Chinese people didn’t take jobs. We have created jobs”, Mr Weng says.  Marco Weng is about to launch a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants with a partner.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s facto
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1894.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Marco Weng (20), a first-generation Italian-Chinese and son of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Italy 30 years ago, poses for a portrait at his partner's fried chicken take-away restaurant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. “There was no clothing industry here. Italians only made textiles. Chinese people didn’t take jobs. We have created jobs”, Mr Weng says.  Marco Weng is about to launch a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants with a partner.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s facto
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1841.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Marco Weng (20), a first-generation Italian-Chinese and son of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Italy 30 years ago, poses for a portrait at his partner's fried chicken take-away restaurant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. “There was no clothing industry here. Italians only made textiles. Chinese people didn’t take jobs. We have created jobs”, Mr Weng says.  Marco Weng is about to launch a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants with a partner.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s facto
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1829.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Marco Weng (20), a first-generation Italian-Chinese and son of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Italy 30 years ago, poses for a portrait at his partner's fried chicken take-away restaurant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. “There was no clothing industry here. Italians only made textiles. Chinese people didn’t take jobs. We have created jobs”, Mr Weng says.  Marco Weng is about to launch a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants with a partner.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s facto
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1765.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Marco Weng (20), a first-generation Italian-Chinese and son of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Italy 30 years ago, poses for a portrait at his partner's fried chicken take-away restaurant in the Chinatown of Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. “There was no clothing industry here. Italians only made textiles. Chinese people didn’t take jobs. We have created jobs”, Mr Weng says.  Marco Weng is about to launch a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants with a partner.<br />
<br />
Today, roughly one-tenth of the city’s 200,000 inhabitants are Chinese immigrants who have arrived legally, while many estimates put the total number at 45,000 after accounting for those without proper documents. <br />
Chinese grocery stores and restaurants have emerged to serve the local population. On the outskirts of the city, Chinese entrepreneurs oversee warehouses teeming with racks of clothing destined for markets across the continent. Estimates have it that 80 percent of clothing sold in street markets within the European Union is made by Chinese workers in Prato.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s facto
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1752.jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  New Fiat vehicles are seen here in the FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) Motor Village, a showroom in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_45...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019: The Fiat archive is seen here in the archive of the Centro Storico Fiat museum, which hosts Fiat historical vehicles and the company archives, in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_44...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A spread from Fiat's 1957 magazine "Illustrato Fiat" illustrating the Fiat stand in New York's "Coliseum" world fair and the 1000 shipped to the United States, here in the archive of the Centro Storico Fiat museum, which hosts Fiat historical vehicles and the company archives, in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_44...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: Fiat cars are seen here driving in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_35...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: A Fiat car is seen here driving by a statue of Dante Alighieri, the renowned 14th century Italian poet, in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_35...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: A Fiat car is seen here driving by a statue of Dante Alighieri, the renowned 14th century Italian poet, in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_34...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A customer steps inside the FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) Motor Village, a showroom in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_46...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  Customers (right) are seen walking by a new Fiat 500 here in the FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) Motor Village, a showroom in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_45...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  FCA's brand logos are seen here at the FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) Motor Village, a showroom in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_45...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  FCA's brand logos are seen here at the FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) Motor Village, a showroom in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_45...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019: The Fiat archive is seen here in the archive of the Centro Storico Fiat museum, which hosts Fiat historical vehicles and the company archives, in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_44...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019: Archival documents are seen here on a  consultation table in the archive of the Centro Storico Fiat museum, which hosts Fiat historical vehicles and the company archives, in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_44...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  Historical Fiat vehicles are seen here in the Centro Storico Fiat museum in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_43...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019: A mock-up of Fiat vehicle production line  is seen here in the Centro Storico Fiat museum, which hosts Fiat historical vehicles and the company archives, in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_43...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  The painting "The Founding of Fiat" (ca 1913) by Lorenzo Delleani is seen here in the Centro Storico Fiat museum, which hosts Fiat historical vehicles and the company archives, in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_43...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  More than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed here in Heritage Hub in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_42...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A Fiat 500 is seen here in the FCA Heritage Hub, where more than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed, in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_42...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  More than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed here in Heritage Hub in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_41...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A Fiat 500 is seen here in the FCA Heritage Hub, where more than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed, in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_41...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  More than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed here in Heritage Hub in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_40...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  More than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed here in Heritage Hub in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_40...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  More than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed here in Heritage Hub in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_40...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  The Fiat S61, a two-seater race car developed specifically for the North-American market, is seen here in the FCA Heritage Hub, where more than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed, in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_40...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  The Lancia Nea prototype car, presented at the Paris Motow Show in October 2000 and one of the the first cars in the world to experiment with autonomous driving, is seen here in the FCA Heritage Hub, where more than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed, in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_40...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019: The Fiat X1/23 electric car prototype of 1973 is seen here in the FCA Heritage Hub, where more than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed, in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_40...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  The D50 Formula 1 vehicle designed by Vittorio Jano in 1953 is seen here in the FCA Heritage Hub, where more than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed, in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_39...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  More than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed here in Heritage Hub in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_39...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A man rides his bike by the Italian headquarters of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) is seen here in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_39...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A woman rides her bike by the Italian headquarters of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) is seen here in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_39...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A man is seen here in the Italian headquarters of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_39...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  The entrance to the Italian headquarters of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) is seen here in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_38...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  The entrance to the Italian headquarters of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) is seen here in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_38...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  The entrance to the Italian headquarters of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) is seen here in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_38...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  The entrance to the Italian headquarters of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) is seen here in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_38...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A logo detail of the new Fiat 500 is seen here in the FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) Motor Village, a showroom in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_37...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A new Fiat 500 is seen here in the FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) Motor Village, a showroom in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_37...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: (R-L) A Renault and Fiat car are parked next to each other in a courtyward in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_37...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: (R-L) A Renault and Fiat car are parked next to each other in a courtyward in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_37...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: A Renault car is seen here driving in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_37...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: Two young girls walk by two parked (L-R) Renault and Fiat cars in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_36...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: Two young boys walk by two parked (L-R) Renault and Fiat cars in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_36...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: A Fiat car is seen here driving next to a parked Renault car in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_36...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: Fiat cars are seen here driving in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_35...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: A Fiat car is seen here driving by a statue of Dante Alighieri, the renowned 14th century Italian poet, in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_35...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: A Fiat car is seen here driving by a statue of Dante Alighieri, the renowned 14th century Italian poet, in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_35...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: A Fiat car is seen here driving by a statue of Dante Alighieri, the renowned 14th century Italian poet, in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_34...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A man walks outside the FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) Motor Village, a showroom in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_46...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019: The Fiat archive is seen here in the archive of the Centro Storico Fiat museum, which hosts Fiat historical vehicles and the company archives, in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_44...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019: An archivist shows a design of Fiat vehicle in the archive of the Centro Storico Fiat museum, which hosts Fiat historical vehicles and the company archives, in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_44...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019: Archival documents are seen here on a  consultation table in the archive of the Centro Storico Fiat museum, which hosts Fiat historical vehicles and the company archives, in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_44...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019: A design  of the Fiat Coupé Dorsay is seen here in the archive of the Centro Storico Fiat museum, which hosts Fiat historical vehicles and the company archives, in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_44...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019: A Fiat logo is seen here on a historical Fiat car in Heritage Hub, where more than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed, in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_42...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  More than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed here in Heritage Hub in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_42...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  More than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed here in Heritage Hub in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_42...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  Fiat 500s are lined up here in the FCA Heritage Hub, where more than 250 vehicles of FCA's heritage dating from 1908 to 2008 are displayed, in the old Officina 81 site of the Mirafiori mechanical manufacturing complex in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_41...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A view of the Italian headquarters of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) is seen here in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_39...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A man is seen here in the Italian headquarters of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_39...jpg
  • TURIN, ITALY - 29 MAY 2019:  A man steps outside the Italian headquarters of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) in Turin, Italy, on May 29th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190529_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_38...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: A Renault car is seen here driving in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_37...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: Two young girls walk by two parked (L-R) Renault and Fiat cars in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_36...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: A Fiat car is seen here driving in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_36...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: A Renault car is seen here driving in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_36...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 28 MAY 2019: A Fiat car is seen here driving by a statue of Dante Alighieri, the renowned 14th century Italian poet, in Naples, Italy, on May 28th 2019.<br />
<br />
The French carmaker Renault said on Monday that it was considering a proposal by Fiat Chrysler to merge and form a global partnership aimed at improving their chances of surviving the coming perilous and costly shift to electric and self-driving cars.<br />
If the proposal goes forward, the new company would displace General Motors as the third-largest car company in the world, behind Volkswagen and Toyota, and significantly change the balance of power in the global auto industry.
    CIPG_20190528_NYT_Fiat-Renault_M3_34...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019:  Lorena Bertocci (70) chooses fabric samples for a client at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Lorena Bertocci has been working at Marini Industrie since he was 14 years old. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_0564.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Manuela Innocenti (47) is seen here checking the quality of a fabric at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Manuela Innocenti has been working at Marini Industrie for 13 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1014.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Luca Campigli (56), cuts fabric samples for a client at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Luca Campagni has been working at Marini Industrie for 27 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_0489.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Claudio Vivarelli (53) is seen here checking the quality of a fabric at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Claudio Vivarelli has been working at Marini Industrie for 20 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    SMAS_20191125_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Luca Campigli (56),  walks by the stocked fabric samples at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Luca Campagni has been working at Marini Industrie for 27 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    SMAS_20191125_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Carmela D'Ambrosio (56) is seen here checking the quality of a fabric at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Carmela D'Ambrosio  has been working at Marini Industrie for 20 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_0662.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Carmela D'Ambrosio (56) is seen here checking the quality of a fabric at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Carmela D'Ambrosio  has been working at Marini Industrie for 20 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_0657.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Carmela D'Ambrosio (56) is seen here checking the quality of a fabric at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Carmela D'Ambrosio  has been working at Marini Industrie for 20 years. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_0617.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: (L-R) Lorena Bertocci (70) and Sabrina Vannini (49) choose fabric samples for a client at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Lorena Bertocci has been working at Marini Industrie since he was 14 years old, while Sabrina Vannini has been working there since the age of 19. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_0588.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Sellers of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition, are seen here choosing fabrics in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1166.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A fabric sample from the 1967/1968 Fall/Winter collection of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1070.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A view of the quality control area of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    SMAS_20191125_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Sellers of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition, are seen here choosing fabrics in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1122.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: A fabric sample from the 1967/1968 Fall/Winter collection of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition, is seen here in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_1079.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Stocked fabric samples are seen here at Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    CIPG_20191125_NYT_Italy-Cris_M3_0533.jpg
  • PRATO, ITALY - 25 NOVEMBER 2019: Rolls of fabrics are stored here in the warehouse of Marini Industrie, a textile company that has survived Chinese competition in Prato, Italy, on November 25th 2019. Marini Industrie is one of the few companies in Prato that weren’t hit by Chinese competition, by elevating their quality.<br />
<br />
Italy has proved especially vulnerable to China’s emergence as a manufacturing juggernaut, given that many of its artisanal trades -- textiles, leather, shoe-making -- have long been dominated by small, family-run businesses that lacked the scale to compete on price with factories in a nation of 1.4 billion people. <br />
In recent years, four Italian regions that were as late as the 1980s electing Communists and then reliably supported center-left candidates -- Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Emilia-Romagna  -- have swung dramatically to the extreme right. Many working class people say that delineation has it backwards: The left abandoned them, not the other way around. <br />
<br />
Between 2001 and 2011, Prato’s 6,000 textile companies shrunk to 3,000, and those employed by the plants plunged from 40,000 to 19,000, according to Confindustria, the leading Italian industrial trade association. As Prato’s factories went dark, people began arriving from China - mostly from the coastal city of Wenzhou, famed for its industriousness - to exploit an opportunity.<br />
They set up sewing machines across the concrete floors and imported fabric from factories in China. They sewed clothes, cannily imitating the styles of Italian fashion brands. They affixed a valuable label to their creations: “Made In Italy”.
    SMAS_20191125_NYT_Italy-Crisis_DSCF7...jpg
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