VM Motori S.p.A. is an Italian diesel engine manufacturing company which is wholly owned by Stellantis. VM headquarters and main production facilities are located in Cento, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. History VM Motori was founded by two entrepreneurs, Claudio Vancini and Ugo Martelli (hence the "VM") in 1947. VM merged with Stabilimenti Meccanici Triestini in Trieste in 1971, then Finmeccanica took a majority stake in the combined company. The company was referred to as "Finmeccanica VM" for many years. In 1989, Finmeccanica restructured, selling its stake in VM Motori to company managers and Midland Montague in a leveraged buyout, leaving the company with its single Cento plant. Detroit Diesel Corporation (DDC) bought VM Motori in 1995. In 2000, DDC was purchased by DaimlerChrysler AG. In 2003, Penske Corporation purchased a 51% stake in VM Motori; in 2007, Penske bought the remaining 49% from Detroit Diesel Corporation and subsequently sold 50% of it to General Motors. In September 2008, GAZ Group announced plans to purchase a 50% stake from Penske Corp, but ultimately cancelled them in February 2009. On 11 February 2011, Fiat Powertrain Technologies and Penske Corporation had reached an agreement under which Fiat Powertrain would purchase Penske Corporation's fifty-percent stake in VM Motori S.p.A. Fiat Group Automobiles acquired the remaining 50% stake of VM Motori S.p.A. owned by General Motors, on 28 October 2013. Products and licensing In 1947, the company produced the first Italian air-cooled diesel engine with direct injection. In 1964, the company introduced entire new families of air-cooled diesel engines for fishing boats and the industrial machine markets. The year 1974 saw the introduction of a new series of high-speed (4,200 rpm) HR-series, pre-combustion chamber, water-cooled, turbocharged engines. The Alfa Romeo Alfetta, produced in Arese, rolled off the line with a VM Motori engine under the bonnet in 1979, signaling VM's move to the OEM automotive market. This was Italy's first turbodiesel engine. The engines still retained some maritime features, such as individual heads for each cylinder - a design which made it easier to produce different cylinder configurations. During the 1980s, British Leyland chose VM engines as the smoothest, most petrol-like units available for diesel models of their Range Rover and Rover SD1; the choice continued with the later Rover 800. The Covini B24, T40 and C36 models all used VM Motori turbodiesel engines ranging from 4 to 6 cylinders. The after-cooled, electronic-combustion, "Turbotronic" engine was