The Agnellis have controlled Fiat for so long it is hard to imagine them sharing the wheel. Yet the crisis in the car industry coincides with a generational shift that makes this inevitable. John Elkann, the 33-year-old head of the family, is far more concerned with maximising the value of the dynasty’s business interests than in pulling the strings of Italian capitalism, as his recent sale of all but a residual stake in Intesa Sanpaolo demonstrates. Rather, his biggest concern is that Exor, the family investment vehicle, trades at a 54 per cent discount to its €3.6bn net asset value, about 44 per cent of which derives from Fiat.

One plan would be for Fiat to spin off into a new company both Fiat Auto and the stake it is buying in Chrysler, while General Motors does the same with GM Europe. Since IFI and IFIL merged this year to form Exor, the cascade of shareholdings through which the family controls Fiat has been shortened: privately held Giovanni Agnelli and Company holds 59 per cent of Exor, which owns 30 per cent in Fiat. The Agnellis might end up with an economic interest in the subsequently listed new company of barely 10 per cent – but be better off for it.