Authors

Discussion

This paper investigates the role of socialist Europe in the expansion strategies of Western European automobile and electronics companies. Under pressure from globalization—particularly competition from the United States and Japan—these sectors sought new markets from the 1970s onwards. European socialist regimes presented such opportunities, though cooperation in these regions involved risks and political challenges. Nevertheless, automobile companies like Italy's Fiat and France's Renault, as well as electronics firms such as France's Thomson and the Dutch Philips, entered socialist markets in the 1970s, only expanding their partnerships during the following decade. The paper examines how these decisions aligned with broader company strategies and assesses the extent to which expansion into socialist regimes came at the expense of cooperation with Global South countries. It investigates the cases of Fiat and Thomson and draws from archival materials gathered at the Archivio Storico Fiat in Italy and the Archives nationales du monde du travail and Archives nationales, Ministère de l’Économie in France.