AutoElements

flip240 · Joined: 03 Sep 2007 Posts: 4984 Location: Chicago

Source: Motor Trend

More than a week ahead of Chrysler's long-awaited five-year plan announcement, initial details of the strategy have begun to leak. According to anonymous sources at Chrysler, Fiat's plan for the struggling American automaker includes the deaths of nine Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep models and the introduction of three Alfa Romeos and three Fiat-based Chrysler and Jeep vehicles.

According to sources contacted by the Wall Street Journal, Chrysler will have to soldier on mostly on its own until Fiat products will be added to the lineup in 2012. Differences in crash and emissions standards and an unfavorable exchange rate mean that Fiat needs to build all its vehicles in the U.S., which will delay their introduction until 2012. The first Fiat product to enter the U.S. market will be the tiny 500, which has been a smash hit in Europe and will go on sale in 2011 after production begins in Mexico.

The impending death of multiple Chrysler models has long been rumored a cornerstone of Fiat's plan, but specific cuts have not been known until now. That is, if the Journal's sources are indeed correct. Many of the vehicles on the list have long been thought to be on the way out. The model breakdown for Chrysler and Fiat brands, according to the Journal's report, is as follows:

DODGE

The Dodge Caliber compact and Avenger midsize sedan are dead in the next few years, as is the Nitro SUV. Dodge becomes a more performance-oriented brand retaining the Challenger muscle car and Charger sedan as well as the popular Journey SUV. Dodge trucks will be split into their own Ram brand, as previously announced. The Grand Caravan minivan also dies within five years.

CHRYSLER

The PT Cruiser finally sees its life support cut off in 2012 and the Sebring will follow it out the door. That same year, Chrysler will launch a new compact and a new midsize, both based on Fiat underpinnings. A redesigned 300 is expected to debut in 2011 along with the 500, which will be sold in Chrysler dealerships possibly without any brand badges. The Town and Country will soldier on as the last of the full-size minivans.

JEEP

The Trail-Rated brand is the hardest hit. The slow-selling Commander is dead by the end of next year and the less capable Compass and Patriot will disappear by 2012. The original Jeep, the Wrangler, continues through yet another parent company bankruptcy and sale mostly unharmed. A redesigned Grand Cherokee gets bumped up and now comes out next year as one of the few new product offerings Chrysler has to tide itself over until 2012. Jeep will get another new model in 2012 that will be based on Fiat underpinnings, likely from the Panda.

ALFA ROMEO

That's right, Alfa is back. Contrary to previous reports, the little MiTo will come to U.S. shores as the first mainstream Alfa in the U.S. in a decade and a half in 2012 (the high dollar 8C Competizione has been sold here in extremely limited quantities). It will be followed in 2013 by the Milano midsizer, which replaces the current Europe-only 147, and an unnamed second midsize Alfa. All three will be built in North America, likely at Chrysler plants.

The biggest issue for Chrysler and Fiat is time, as in Chrysler's running out of it. It's clear that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne sees Fiat product as the solution for Chrysler's woes, but he has to buy time until his Fiats and Alfa Romeos show up in two years. Until then, Chrysler must rely on its aging fleet of trucks, SUVs and large cars to keep the company afloat. While rivals at Ford and GM cut brands and plan to roll out several new models each year for the next several years, Chrysler must rely on two updated vehicles and an untested small car until it can add a brand down the road. Meanwhile, Fiat swears it won't invest any money in the company, only technology and managerial expertise. Chrysler's market share has dropped nearly 3% since last year and now sits at just 8.3%.

Fiat 500
CLICK TO VIEW GALLERY

Fiat's gamble on replacing Chrysler product with its own faces perception challenges as well. Both Alfa Romeo and Fiat left the U.S. market with less-than-stellar reputations, something American consumers may not have forgotten. Further, the last time Chrysler paired up with a foreign automaker and adopted their technology, it didn't work out so well.

What do you think of Chrysler/Fiat's plans? Is this the right way to save Chrysler, or should the obituary writers get their pens ready? Have your say in the comments below.

Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/6585155...s-coming/index.html#ixzz0W9b1BOSC

_________________
- Phil -

chuck_chizzle · Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:06 am Post subject:

i think the 500 is a good idea....but what i think is the worst idea is keeping the town and country and axing the the caravan.
_________________
Be reasonable, do it MY way.

fretburnr · Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:00 am Post subject:

chuck_chizzle · Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:04 am Post subject:

I think it's stupid and everthing the jeep name isnt....just like all the stupid jeeps chrysler has made, the compass, liberty, commander etc....it's basically just as dumb as putting an h2 or h3 badge on a suburban or trailblazer like GM did.
_________________
Be reasonable, do it MY way.

BadMonkey · Joined: 18 Sep 2007 Posts: 4491

Honestly the Panda is a good riding vehicle so the car it is replacing is no big deal. We use the Compass right now and it is POS we only bought 2 before the complaints got to out CEO and we haven't purchased anymore since.
_________________

James · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 2590

tallok · Joined: 03 Sep 2007 Posts: 6765 Location: Your Mom's House

Alfa Romeo!
_________________
MHT - Mike Hawke Tuning

.o0O(flickr)O0o.

James · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 2590

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/..._3_chrysl.html?hpid=news-col-blog

October sales: Ford up 3%, GM up 4%, Chrysler down 32%, Toyota down 3.5%
UPDATED at 1:47 p.m. with GM:

Chrysler's October sales were down 32.3 percent compared to October of last year, the company reported moments ago, a number that came in worse than Wall Street expected.

Moments ago, GM reported that October sales rose 4 percent, which just missed expectations of a 4.4 percent gain.

Earlier this afternoon, Ford -- the only U.S. automaker to decline government aid -- said October sales were up 3 percent compared to last October, and up 21 percent from September.

And Toyota, the world's largest automaker, reported that its October sales were down 3.5 percent compared to October of last year.

If the numbers from GM, due out shortly, come in as expected, the industry could be on pace for a yearly sales rate of 10.2 million, which is what the auto industry needs for profitability.

October of course was a clunker-free sales month, which makes Ford's showing all the more impressive.

GM and Chrylser emerged from government-backed bankruptcies earlier this year. The government owns 60 percent of the reorganized GM and Italian automaker Fiat owns 20 percent of Chrysler.

flip240 · Joined: 03 Sep 2007 Posts: 4984 Location: Chicago

Hooray for Ford and GM
_________________
- Phil -

naujcdl · Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 730 Location: EGV, IL

Ford, FTW!

_________________
1998 CSVT Blackity Black