Can Fiat Cars Save Chrysler?

The new models won't materialize for two years—and the U.S. automaker could stall out in the meantime.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has said little about his plans to reinvigorate Chrysler since agreeing to acquire the U.S. automaker in June. But what he has said is telling. In a chat with reporters on the sidelines of the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, he acknowledged being chagrined by Chrysler's woeful condition and the discovery that its previous owner, the private equity shop Cerberus Capital Management, had done so little to prepare the automaker for the future. Marchionne said he'd found "a whole pile of surprises."

...Chrysler badly needs appealing new models if it is to have a hope of surviving. On Nov. 4, Marchionne will lay out his plan, which, according to industry insiders, involves plugging Chrysler's product holes with Fiat-engineered cars. (Chrysler declined to comment on the plan.)

...For the U.S., Marchionne may replace the weak Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger with midsize cars using hardware engineered for Fiat cars in Europe. Alfa Romeo may also build a premium SUV using the underpinnings of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. And Fiat's premium Lancia brand may replace its flagship car, the defunct Thesis, with a sedan built alongside Chrysler's 300. That car would sell only outside the U.S., but its sales volume could help make Chrysler's factories more profitable...

Full Article:
Can Fiat Cars Save Chrysler? - BusinessWeek


For a nation proud of it automotive heritage, I wonder how this will go down with the average Joe in the street

Is this just a stay of execution? Has the time come for Chrysler to be re-invented? Maybe with green credentials, could or would the average consumer break their love affair with the gas guzzler? Guess time will tell...

Any thoughts?

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