Chrysler-Fiat Plans for the U.S.

[Big Panda]

Found this online today and thought I would share it with all of you that are interested:

Chrysler Won’t Add Fiat Brand in U.S., Will Get 500, Alfa Romeo

By Mike Ramsey

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Chrysler Group LLC, the automaker run by Fiat SpA, said it won’t bring the Italian company’s namesake brand to the U.S., while selling its partner’s 500 small-car model and Alfa Romeo luxury vehicles.


The U.S. company, owned 20 percent by Fiat, may make the 500 a brand by itself, like Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s Mini, Gualberto Ranieri, Chrysler’s chief of public relations, said in an interview today. Fiat products to be sold through Chrysler will be limited to the 500 and Alfa Romeo, he said.


Chrysler Group, created June 10 from assets of bankrupt Chrysler LLC with U.S. government financing, is forming its future product plans, including what will be built in North America and at which factories. Sergio Marchionne, who serves as chief executive officer of both Fiat and Chrysler, has said the 500 may be sold in the U.S. by late 2010.
“Their priority has been to restart Alfa in the U.S.,” Jim Hall, principal of 2953 Analytics in Birmingham, Michigan, said of Turin, Italy-based Fiat. “They’ve noticed that Audi has moved up into tier-one pricing along with BMW and Mercedes. They see an opportunity globally to move Alfa to where Audi used to live.”


For Chrysler, taking the Fiat brand off the table lets the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker focus on its existing Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep divisions, Hall said. Fiat said it stopped selling its namesake brand in the U.S. in 1983 and Alfa Romeo in 1995.


Contributing Technology
The Italian company is contributing technology such as engines and transmissions for Chrysler vehicles. To be allowed to raise its stake in Chrysler to 35 percent, the automaker must sell a car that gets 40 miles per gallon of fuel in the U.S., make a Fiat-based vehicle in the U.S. and use its distribution system to sell Chrysler vehicles in a market outside the U.S.


The company intends to build Alfa Romeo cars in the U.S. to reduce costs, Ranieri said. Other makers of luxury autos produce some models in the U.S., mainly sport-utility vehicles. Alfa Romeo currently doesn’t make any SUVs.


The 500, which would compete in the U.S. with the Mini, may have a strong enough image to be marketed as a brand by itself, Hall said. Fiat sold about 190,000 of the cars globally last year, Lorenzo Sistino, chief of the Italian company’s automobile unit, said in an interview in December.


Chrysler Deputy CEO Jim Press drove onto a stage at the New York International Auto Show in April in a 500, before the agreement with Fiat was complete, and said: “Wouldn’t that make a great new company car?”


To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Ramsey in Southfield, Michigan, at mramsey6@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: June 30, 2009 12:31 EDT

[jefferios]

Cool news, thanks for giving us the update!

[smartdot]

I think the 500 is a really cool little car and would have a great market here.

[BigWarpGuy]

Fiat 500 is a nice little car.

[Big Panda]

While I hate to admit it, the 500 might be a car I would consider to replace my smart....MIGHT consider.

[Padawan]

Originally Posted by Big Panda

While I hate to admit it, the 500 might be a car I would consider to replace my smart....MIGHT consider.

I would definitely consider it, assuming the convertible makes its way over. It's just a shame that the Fiat brand won't be introduced here. I think that's a poor marketing decision on Chrysler's part. Sure, Fiat may hold a certain negative stigma for some people, but it can't be worse than a bankrupt company that made nothing but lousy cars and some minivans. A fresh brand is exactly what the company needs to help bolster sales of a great new little car.

[Big Panda]

Chrysler to Sell 4 Fiat 500 Models in U.S., CEO Says (Update1)

By Mike Ramsey and Sara Gay Forden


July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Chrysler Group LLC, the U.S. automaker run by Fiat SpA, will sell four models of the Italian carmaker’s 500 subcompact in the U.S., Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said.

Chrysler, which emerged from bankruptcy on June 10, will eventually sell a convertible, wagon and sporty version called the “Abarth” in addition to the four-seat subcompact in the U.S., Marchionne said in an interview on June 30. While the base 500 will go on sale next year, he didn’t say when the other models will be available. “All of those cars will be coming to the U.S.,” Marchionne said. “Fiat will be known in the U.S. purely in terms of its 500 car.”

Fiat, based in Turin, Italy, owns 20 percent of Chrysler Group, and is sharing vehicles and technology with the U.S. car company in exchange for ownership. Fiat said it sold 190,000 of the small cars, which are about the same size as Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s Mini.

In Europe, the Fiat small car can be equipped with a 1.2- liter or 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine or a 1.3-liter turbo diesel. The 1.4-liter engine variant gets a combined, city- highway average of 36 miles per gallon under European regulatory standards. “Its biggest impact will be to spark interest in bringing people back into the dealerships,” Aaron Bragman, a Troy, Michigan-based analyst with IHS Global Insight Inc., said in an interview. “Given the fact that it is an unusual car and quirky and cute, it is a good car for them.” Chrysler’s most efficient model today is the Dodge Caliber, which gets 24 to 30 miles per gallon.

Chrysler, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, filed for bankruptcy on April 30 because of plunging car sales.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mike Ramsey in Southfield, Michigan, at mramsey6@bloomberg.net; Sara Gay Forden in Milan at sforden@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: July 2, 2009 14:19 EDT

[jwight]

Not an actual photo of the Abarth version but should be fairly close:

[Big Panda]

SWEET!!!