Polish authorities were perfectly aware that due to the extreme level of devastation experienced during the Second World War caused not only by physical destruction during military operations but also due to depopulation (Poland lost almost 22% of their pre-war citizens) and pillage of infrastructure by German occupants and also, to some extent, by the Soviet authorities, both the industrial capacity of the country as well as the purchase power of the inhabitants was severely limited, making the large-scale import of Western cars impossible and the introduction of modern car factories very hard if not unfeasible, political realities of the Cold War notwithstanding.

This is why the authorities decided that the widespread motorization, necessary for the development of the modern country must be based on relatively small, simple and affordable cars, not unlike the ones massively produced in other countries before the war, with the aptly named Volkswagen (later commonly referred to as a 'Beetle' when the company began production of other models) being a good example of a concept. This strongly limited available options, with the popular American, British or French models being out of reach for the still recuperating Poland.

It is also worth noting that the cooperation between Fiat and Polish government was not a new ida. It mirrored a similar agreement signed in 1920s and 1930s, when a factory was to be established in Warsaw in 1921, but due to financial difficulties and popularity of relatively cheap and sturdy Italian cars in Poland (to some extent because of small amount of paved roads in Poland, especially in its former Russian part), the facility was eventually changed to the authorized repair station. Ten years later, Fiat issued a license to the Polish Engineering Works allowing the production of the models 508 (including its military off-road version), model 518 coupe, model 621 utility and transport truck (version L) and its bus variant (version R), as well as the model 618 mini-truck. And much like with the Polish Fiat 126p in the post-war era, Polish Fiat 508 was the most popular car on Polish roads before the war.

In 1969, ministers of the industry and the chief economic planners of the Comecon (Council for the Mutual Economic Assistance, an organization coordinating economic efforts in the member states, chiefly. but not solely the Soviet satellite states) met in East Berlin to discuss the development of the car industry in the member states. The discussions did not led to any substantial decisions regarding Poland, but laid the groundworks for the opening a new car factory. With the open support of Edward Gierek, new First Secretary of the Polish United Workers Party (essentially a head of state), a new factory was eventually opened in 1971 in Bielsko-Biała, with the first cars rolling out in the subsequent year. Initially. the first cars produced there had to be those licensed by Fiat, but it continued to produce Syrena line of Polish cars until 1983 in parallel with the mass production of Fiat 125p and 126p.

It is worth noting that the personal factor also played an important role. Some of the people who negotiated the licensing process and the made the decisions regarding the economic agreements were the same representatives of Fiat company who negotiated deals with Polish buyers in 1930s and remembered the cooperation quite fondly, what paved the way to agreement more than 25 years later. The main signatory of the agreement on the Italian side was Armando Fiorelli, who supervised the technology transfer in 1931.

Last but not least, Poland was not the only Warsaw Pact country Fiat negotiated with. In the early 1960s, USSR was also discussing the construction of the large car factory and Fiat was selected as a producer of cheap, reliable cars. The negotiations eventually led to the opening of the factory in Stavropol, promptly renamed to Togliatti in 1966 to commemorate Palmiro Togliatti, Italian communist politician who supported the idea of economic cooperation with communist countries and was instrumental in talks between USSR government and Fiat company. The first Fiat model licensed to USSR was model 124. It was produced under the name (VAZ) 2101, commonly known as Zhiguli and abroad as Lada 1200. Although the licensing of Fiat cars in USSR and Poland were officially unconnected, it stands to reason that the talks in USSR green-lighted similar cooperation in another satellite country.

Italian company was very sympathetic to the Polish side and agreed not only to license the production of several Fiat models but also presented favourable credit agreements for the purchase of the necessary factory equipment, agreed to the usage of many manufacturing patents held by Fiat and allowed Polish manufacturer to use some parts of the licensed cars in the assembly of other cars produced in Poland. Such a deal was invaluable to a budding car industry in the 1960s Poland. Relations between Fiat and Poland continued to be very cordial, and when the representative of the Polish industry stated that planners are concerned that the first licensed car (Fiat 1300) is to be soon replaced in Italy by a newer model, Fiat extended the existing license to the new carriage (Fiat 125) without any additional fees.

So, to sum it up, Fiat was open to cooperation in Poland largely thanks to the good relation between the company and Polish government in the pre-war era and the active support of some Italian politicians who supported the idea of licensing cars and production methods to the countries of communist block. In addition, the technological solutions that made Fiat cars relatively cheap and affordable while offering comparably high quality were perfectly suited to the budding automotive industry in the communist countries that were still developing and recuperating after the war.