Marchionne to update Fiat-Chrysler plan due to Europe woes

10/08/2012

Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Fiat SpA and Chrysler Group LLC, said that he will revise his business plan for both automakers to account for the deterioration of the European auto market since 2009.

Marchionne will update his plans for 2013 and 2014 on October 30, he told reporters Monday in Columbus, Ohio.

Italian automaker Fiat took a 20 percent stake and management control of Chrysler in mid-2009 when the U.S. automaker emerged from government-funded bankruptcy protection.

Later that year, Marchionne unveiled a five-year recovery plan that called for the eventual combining of Fiat and Chrysler.

SOURCE

 

Next Chrysler 200 To Become More Alfa Romeo Than Chrysler

January 18 2013

2013 Chrysler 200

Since its acquisition by Fiat in 2009, Chrysler has been hard at work pulling from its Italian parent’s toolbox to overhaul its lineup. Next up is the all-new Chrysler 200, which chief designer Ralph Gilles promises to be both “beautiful and relevant,” according to a new report.

Gilles promises WardsAuto that the next-generation 200 will “share no surface language with any Chrysler we’ve ever seen.” Various Chrysler executives have promised over and over that the next 200 will finally shed its Sebring past and become a true competitor in the midsize sedan class.

Based on Fiat-Chrysler’s previous product plans, we know that when the new Chrysler 200 appears next year, it will share the same CUSW underpinnings as the Dart. That platform is a widened and lengthened version of Alfa Romeo’s compact platform found under the Giulietta hatchback. Not much more is known about the new 200 – including whether or not it will remain a sedan, become a hatchback, or turn into a slinky four-door coupe – but expect it to use the same nine-speed automatic transmission that will debut in the 2014 Jeep Liberty later this year. That transmission is also slated for the Dart, so it makes sense that since it rides on the same platform as the Dodge and the Jeep, it would receive the transmission as well. According to Wards, the Dodge Avenger twin of the Chrysler 200 will be discontinued, but we’ve previously reported that Dodge will receive a midsize crossover in the Avenger’s place.

Chrysler’s compacts aren’t the only vehicles to be receiving Alfa Romeo DNA. It was reported this week that a follow-up to the Dodge Challenger is in the works. That car would share its rear-wheel drive platform with Alfa’s BMW 3 Series-fighter, meaning that the new car would be smaller than the current Challenger.

What isn’t known, however, is what badge that car might wear. We’ve heard some scuttlebutt that the car could move to the SRT brand, where it would be known as the Barracuda – a name Plymouth used on its Ford Mustang competitor from 1964-1969, and on its version of the Challenger from 1970-1974. However, there’s some talk the Challenger name may remain in place. “We’re reinvesting in the Challenger,” Wards quotes Gilles as saying. “A lot of people are saying ‘Oh, the Challenger is going to die and go away’ – no. We’re taking care of a brand that has served us very well.”

Read more: We Hear: Next Chrysler 200 To Become More Alfa Romeo Than Chrysler - WOT on Motor Trend
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Sergio promises updated Chrysler product plan next week

January 24, 2013

DETROIT -- Sergio Marchionne said he will update the five-year product plan that the automaker laid out in November 2009 when Chrysler Group announces its earnings Wednesday.

Speaking to Automotive News last week during the Detroit auto show, the Chrysler-Fiat CEO said that enough changes have been made to the original product roadmap to warrant a redraft.

"We'll repitch it when we do the analysts call," Marchionne promised. "What has not changed is the financial objectives."

I can only hope that the "repitched" plan will be as detailed and nugget-filled as the original presentation, which laid out plans for potential future engine displacements, segment entries and platform sharing.

The 2009 presentation -- greeted with cynical skepticism and even derision from some quarters at the time -- has started as time has progressed to look as though it were penned by Michel de Nostradame. For example, Chrysler remarkably met or exceeded its aggressive global delivery targets in each of the plan's first three years.

But like the famous French quatrains, there are some product predictions remaining in the plan that have yet to materialize and others now being considered that didn't appear. For example:

Ram's "Lifestyle" truck. A natural successor to the now-departed Dodge Dakota, the mid-sized unibody pickup was supposed to show up in 2011. It never arrived, and the brand's leaders will say only that such a vehicle remains under study.

Jeep's Grand Wagoneer. An ultraluxury, super-big Jeep didn't make the initial product plan, but it has been openly discussed for several years to probe the upper limits of consumer demand for Chrysler's most valuable brand.

Subcompact Dodge and Chrysler cars. They were supposed to come from Fiat, but so far, they're no-shows. It could be that executives are understandably concerned that rebadged subcompact Fiats won't do anything for their respective brands. Or maybe it's the fact that Europe today is where the United States was in 2009.

Minivans or something similar. Chrysler's frequent and frequently changing pronouncements on the future of the segment it invented have turned into an Olympic dithering match. Maybe next week, we'll get a final answer, instead of just the latest answer.

'Cuda be a Challenger. The rumor mills have been working overtime -- thanks in part to design head Ralph Gilles' ever-flowing Twitter feed -- on a slimmed-down successor to the Dodge Challenger and the re-introduction of a smaller Barracuda. They say to look for a new supercharged 6.2-liter V-8, dubbed the Hellcat, to power at least one of the beasts.

All of this is just conjecture, of course. As longtime Chrysler watchers know, nothing's official until it's official. But with some luck, the guy on top who likes making the decisions may be ready to make such a declaration Wednesday morning.

Read more: Sergio promises updated Chrysler product plan next week

 

Chrysler's Revised Product Plan Mixes Good News And Bad

Jan 30, 2013

If you were holding out hope for a new Mustang and Camaro-fighting SRT Barracuda to debut in the next few years, you may want to sit down. According to the latest product plans released by Chrysler this morning, the SRT brand won’t see a new model before the 2016 model year.

If that’s the bad news, here’s the good: the new Viper, released last year, is already scheduled for its first refresh in 2015, which speaks to SRT’s focus on its halo sports car. Three other vehicles (likely the Challenger, Charger and Chrysler 300) will get refreshed SRT versions in 2014.

Automotive News (subscription required) tells us that the Jeep brand won’t see the Fiat-built “baby Jeep” until 2014, which is a year later than previously projected. Look for two new Jeep-built models to debut in 2015, followed by refreshes of two existing products in 2016.

Chrysler will refresh a model for 2014, and word is that it will be the 200 sedan, long overdue for a new design direction and change in platform. Three new yet-to-be-named Chrysler models appear in 2015, including one moved forward from its previously scheduled 2014 introduction.

Alfa Romeo still has one model on the list for 2013 (likely the 4C), but nothing else in the pipeline until the scheduled introduction of four models in 2015 (probably including the new Mazda-built Alfa Romeo Spider). Call us crazy, but that hardly seems like an effective way to relaunch a brand in the United States.

As for Dodge, look for Chrysler’s mainstream brand to get three refreshed models in the next two years (one in 2013, two in 2014). There’s reportedly a platform change for an existing model in 2015, followed by the introduction of a new model in 2016.

What does it all mean? In the big picture, we suppose that Fiat is trying to reduce spending on new products as it shores up existing brands worldwide. That’s a sensible strategy, and it shows that Fiat and Chrysler are taking a cautious approach to new product introductions until the global economy improves.

SOURCE

 

Chrysler's plan for new cars and trucks

January 30, 2013


An Alfa Romeo sports car and a Jeep Grand Cherokee update are two of the splashier models Chrysler plans to roll out by 2015. The No. 3 U.S. automaker unveiled its list of upcoming cars and truck on Wednesday. Others include:

2013

— A new midsize crossover SUV will replace the aging Jeep Liberty. It will get a different look and a nine-speed automatic transmission to help boost gas mileage and performance.

— An update of the Grand Cherokee that includes an optional diesel engine, more luxurious interior and new electronics systems. It also comes with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

— Update of the Jeep Compass small SUV, including a new six-speed automatic transmission and refreshed designs inside and out. A version with a manual transmission will get up to 30 mpg on the highway.

— Nine-speed automatic transmission for Dodge Dart compact, which came out last year. One of the current six-speed automatic transmissions felt too European for American tastes and hurt sales.

— New Ram commercial van and an update of the Ram heavy-duty pickup.

— The new Alfa Romeo 4C will go on sale later in the year. It's a two-door, two-seater. Chrysler is owned by Italy's Fiat SpA.

— Longer four-door version of the Fiat 500 mini car.

2014

— New version of the Chrysler 200 midsize sedan based on underpinnings developed with Fiat. The 200 was featured in the popular 2011 Eminem Super Bowl ad that launched the tagline "Imported from Detroit."

— Update of unspecified Chrysler vehicle.

— Unspecified new Jeep and Ram vehicles.

— Updates of two Dodge vehicles, no details.

2015

— Three new Chrysler vehicles, including an all-new minivan. Chrysler invented the minivan in 1983 under Lee Iacocca.

— Four new Alfa Romeo vehicles, no details.

— As many as six new Fiat vehicles. No details given.

— Two new Jeeps, no details.

— One new, one updated Dodge vehicle. No details given.

— An updated Ram vehicle, no details.

SOURCE

 

Chrysler drops to one midsize sedan next year

07/17/2013


Chrysler Group will switch to just one midsize sedan early next year, eliminating the Dodge Avenger and retaining the Chrysler 200 name for a new, Fiat-based model.

The car company apparently believes it can unite its marketing behind a single new sedan and do a better job challenging midsize sedan sales champions Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Ford Fusion.

Midsize cars comprise the biggest slice of the new-car market. An automaker without a serious player there is leaving thousands of sales and tens of millions of dollars on the table.

Chrysler won't say what, if anything, will replace Avenger. The five-year plan Chrysler rolled out November 2009 shows a new midsize SUV at the same time as the new 200 sedan, but that SUV's listed as a Chrysler-brand model, not a Dodge. Chrysler points out that the plan is subject to change.

SOURCE

 

Sergio’s dream of automotive domination

Sergio’s dream of automotive domination

09/13/2013

You can pick out Chrysler’s management by the bags under their eyes

Many car bosses avidly study the monthly car sales figures, but none more so than Sergio Marchionne, Chief Executive of Fiat and Chrysler, who has been closing in on a victory against all odds in a transient vehicle market

Sergio Marchionne’s dream of creating a global car empire critically depends on what the numbers tell him. And right now they’re saying that he may be on the brink of pulling off an impossible coup; certainly the automobile industry’s rescue of the decade.

In the first quarter of 2013, Chrysler sales jumped 11 percent. Beating the expectations of automobile analysts who are watching every step of the Marchionne miracle, the numbers are the best the company has posted since 2007. Especially impressive were the 22 percent jump in sales for the high-margin Ram pick-up and the 21 percent increase for the flagship Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV.

He’s got a lot of charm and when he chooses he can turn it on, but underneath it all there’s steel

If Chrysler’s vehicles keep driving out of the showroom at this rate, Marchionne is well on the way to a triple whammy: buying Chrysler outright, merging it with Fiat and creating a global brand. By his estimate, selling 2.8 million Chrysler cars worldwide in 2014 would do the job.

Impossible dream
Back in 2009, the job looked impossible. Only five years in the top position at Fiat, after being tapped by a despairing Agnelli family to rescue the company, he had managed to turn a profit at the Italian brand. So far, so good. But, convinced that only six of the current dozen automobile manufacturers would eventually survive, he had just persuaded the US and Canadian governments to give him control over Chrysler.

The Chrysler brand was in a state of disrepair. Long known as America’s “third automaker” – after GM and Ford – Chrysler had collapsed into Chapter 11. It was only ........

Continued Here

 

Good read. Thanks for posting.

 

New ‘Giorgio’ Platform

Alfa Romeo’s New ‘Giorgio’ Platform To Underpin Future Chrysler, Dodge Vehicles


01/28/2014

Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is expected to announce a new five-year strategy for his company’s struggling Alfa Romeo unit, a strategy that's expected to center on the utilization of a new modular rear-wheel-drive platform. The new platform is currently under development in Italy and will underpin much of Alfa Romeo’s future lineup

Automotive News (subscription required) has dug up a number of details on the platform, which is said to have been code-named the Giorgio. An engineer by the name of Philippe Krief is said to be overseeing a team in Italy working on the new platform. While in its basic form it will feature rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive should be an option for the Giorgio platform. Some of the Alfa Romeo models Giorgio will underpin are expected to be the Giulia small sedan, a new mid-size sedan and possibly a large coupe. At Chrysler, the Giorgio platform will likely be used first for the next-generation Dodge Challenger and then for next-generation versions of the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger. Marchionne’s new strategy for Alfa Romeo is expected to be revealed during Fiat-Chrysler’s first-quarter results announcement in May.[/I] Automotive News (subscription required) has dug up a number of details on the platform, which is said to have been code-named the Giorgio. An engineer by the name of Philippe Krief is said to be overseeing a team in Italy working on the new platform. While in its basic form it will feature rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive should be an option for the Giorgio platform.

Some of the Alfa Romeo models Giorgio will underpin are expected to be the Giulia small sedan, a new mid-size sedan and possibly a large coupe. At Chrysler, the Giorgio platform will likely be used first for the next-generation Dodge Challenger and then for next-generation versions of the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger.

Marchionne’s new strategy for Alfa Romeo is expected to be revealed during Fiat-Chrysler’s first-quarter results announcement in May.


[URL="http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1089955_alfa-romeos-new-giorgio-platform-to-underpin-future-chrysler-dodge-vehicles"]SOURCE

 

01/31/2014

Fiat to present small Jeep SUV in March, 500X in October: union

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian carmaker Fiat will present a Jeep-branded small sports utility vehicle (SUV) at the Geneva car show in March while its 500X crossover vehicle will be presented at the Paris show in October, an Italian trade union official said.

Both cars will be produced at the Melfi plant in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, which currently manufactures the Grande Punto.

In a statement on Friday, Ugl trade union official Pino Giordano said work to adapt the production line at Melfi to produce the two new models was underway.

Fiat, which completed a merger with its U.S. arm Chrysler last week, will present a new industrial plan, outlining new investments and models, in early May.

SOURCE

 

PRO MASTER CITY DELAYED


Back in December we told you about a new small commercial van that Ram will offer, called the ProMaster City in the American market. It was going to make its debut at the Chicago Auto Show but now it’s been yanked from the show. Ram wants to publicly unveil the van closer to when it will be in showrooms, which is scheduled for the 4th-quarter of this year.

SOURCE

 

Fiat Chrysler maps out another 5 years

May 1, 2014

Fiat Chrysler maps out another 5 years
Marchionne challenged to sustain merged companies' progress

In four-and-a-half years, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne and his team have accomplished most of what they promised. On May 6, the management team will hold another daylong briefing in Auburn Hills to outline a new five-year plan, not just for Chrysler but for all of the company's brands.

In four-and-a-half years, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne and his team have accomplished most of what they promised. On May 6, the management team will hold another daylong briefing in Auburn Hills to outline a new five-year plan, not just for Chrysler but for all of the company's brands. (Brandy Baker / The Detroit News)

On Nov. 4, 2009, Sergio Marchionne took the stage at the Chrysler Technical Center in Auburn Hills to outline his vision for the born-again automaker.

The five-year plan Marchionne and his newly assembled executive team outlined at that daylong briefing for analysts and journalists offered an unprecedented view of the future plans of an American automaker, albeit one now controlled by an Italian company. It charted a course for the new Chrysler from the gates of history’s graveyard back to the top tier of the U.S. automobile market.

Marchionne promised big things for the company that Fiat had just acquired for nothing from an Obama administration eager to unload Chrysler to anyone willing to cover the electric bill: a return of the Fiat brand — and Fiat small car technology — to the United States, a rebirth of the Chrysler brand, even an electric vehicle to feed the administration’s appetite for green technology.

In four-and-a-half years, Marchionne and his team have accomplished most — but not all — of what they promised. They went above and beyond projections in some areas, including paying back the money they borrowed from the U.S. and Canadian governments six years ahead of schedule and buying the rest of Chrysler from a United Auto Workers-run trust on Jan. 1.

Now, on May 6, the management team will hold another daylong briefing in Auburn Hills to outline a new five-year plan, not just for Chrysler but for all of the brands of the newly constituted Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.

“They’ve made pretty good progress, considering where they came from,” said David Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. “The next step is to more fully integrate Fiat and Chrysler. They’re really in the middle of that right now.”

Before the 2009 briefing, many observers assumed Fiat had agreed to take up the burden of the bankrupt automaker simply to get control of its coveted Jeep brand. Others, including many financial analysts, worried that Chrysler’s liabilities would soon drag down a resurgent Fiat and promptly cut its credit rating.

Instead, Chrysler became the life raft that kept a struggling Fiat afloat as the European car market sunk to depths not seen in decades. And while Jeep has in fact become the spearhead of the company’s global growth strategy, Marchionne has made big investments in Chrysler, Dodge and Ram, too.

Marchionne made good on promises to share platform technology with Chrysler and bring an electric vehicle to market in the United States. A special “Aero” version of the Dodge Dart satisfied another key demand of the Obama administration: introducing a compact that got more than 40 miles to the gallon.

But other elements of the last five-year plan have been scrapped or delayed.

Alfa Romeo has yet to make the triumphant return to the United States that Marchionne promised four years ago. The Chrysler 200 and Jeep Cherokee were introduced later than scheduled, while plans to replace the Dodge Avenger, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot failed to materialize. So did the new Fiat-built Dodge and Chrysler subcompacts that were supposed to be in showrooms by now.

On the other hand, Chrysler has introduced substantially upgraded versions of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 pickup that were not part of the product plan in 2009.

“This is going to have an effect on your balance sheet,” said Gualberto Ranieri, vice president of communications for the company. “There have been a number of changes to the plan, but the (overall) investment has been bigger than was originally intended.”

Since emerging from bankruptcy, Chrysler has announced investments of more than $5.2 billion and added more than 13,000 hourly employees.

That has been great news for communities such as Sterling Heights, where a Chrysler assembly plant originally slated to close in 2009 has instead become a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility building the all-new Chrysler 200.

And it has not just been hourly employees that have benefited from a resurgent Chrysler.

When Ranieri showed up for his first day of work at Chrysler’s Auburn Hills headquarters, there were just 7,500 men and women working in the largest office building in the United States after the Pentagon. Today, there are 14,000 — and that is not counting the hundreds of employees who have been moved off-site to other facilities in metropolitan Detroit, including Chrysler House: the company’s new satellite headquarters downtown.

The headcount is not the only thing going up at Chrysler, either. The company’s U.S. sales have risen for 48 consecutive months. That is partly due to a rebounding U.S. car and truck market, but Cole said it also is a testament to Chrysler’s improved quality and upgraded interiors.

“It’s day and night from Nov. 4, 2009,” Ranieri said. “That business plan was labeled as wishful thinking. The question was: ‘Are you going to die in 2010 or 2011?’ Nobody thought we were going to be alive in 2012. The news today is that Chrysler is kicking and alive, when five years ago it was labeled as dead.”

Cole said he thinks there may be more news to come as Marchionne pursues his overarching goal of turning Fiat and Chrysler into a global automotive powerhouse capable of moving 7 million vehicles annually.

“They may not have the economies of scale they may ultimately need for that,” Cole said. “It wouldn’t surprise me to see another partner drop into the game. I would guess that Sergio is keeping his eye open.”

From The Detroit News: Fiat Chrysler maps out another 5 years | The Detroit News

 

SRT family of vehicles will be consolidated under the Dodge brand

Chrysler Group Announces Leadership Changes
May 6, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich. -

In conjunction with the outlined plans for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), Chrysler Group LLC today announced that the SRT family of vehicles will be consolidated under the Dodge brand. Tim Kuniskis will lead this effort as he continues his role as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Dodge Brand and head of the Company’s Fleet Operations. Ralph Gilles continues as the Senior Vice President of Product Design and President and CEO of Motorsports. The move is effective immediately.

“I want to thank Ralph for his dedication to the SRT brand,” said Sergio Marchionne, Chairman and CEO, Chrysler Group LLC. “Under Ralph’s leadership, the SRT brand expanded its vehicle lineup to include more highly customized models and received numerous automotive awards and distinctions.”

 

Fiat Chrysler's 5-year plan revealed

Fiat Chrysler's 5-year plan revealed

05/06/2014

FCA Investor Day

Published on May 6, 2014

Opening moments of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Investor Day where investment analysts are presented the company's five-year plan.

 

The 2014 Fiat Chrysler Five Year Plan: 2014 to 2018

The 2014 Fiat Chrysler Five Year Plan: 2014 to 2018

 

Chrysler Reveals 5 Year Plan for Brands

Chrysler Reveals 5 Year Plan for Brands

05/07/2014

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The combined Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is counting on expanding sales at Jeep, Alfa-Romeo and Maserati, a revival of the Chrysler brand, and some new vehicles to place it firmly in the top ranks of global automakers.

Italian automaker Fiat SpA and Chrysler Group, which formed a partnership five years ago and officially combined when Fiat finished buying Chrysler in January, jointly presented their future sales targets and product plans Tuesday in a day-long meeting at Chrysler's Michigan headquarters.

There are many new products, including a full lineup of cars from Alfa-Romeo, as well as some victims. Jeep is ditching the Compass and Patriot small SUVs in favor of a new compact SUV that will come out in 2016.

And to entice consumers to buy more Chryslers, the company must end its internal rivalry with the Dodge brand. So, after nearly 30 years on the market, the Dodge Grand Caravan minivan will be killed off in an effort to focus Dodge on performance cars and boost sales of the Chrysler Town and Country.

While the company won't officially be known as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles until a Fiat shareholders meeting this summer, the 400 analysts, media and other attendees at Tuesday's event were welcomed by a sign with the new company name at the entrance to Chrysler's sprawling campus north of Detroit.

Shares of the combined company are expected to begin trading jointly on the New York Stock Exchange and in Milan, Italy, by Oct. 1. It will be officially based in the United Kingdom, for tax purposes, but is retaining headquarters in Italy and Michigan.

Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says the combined company wants to grow sales 60 percent to more than 7 million cars and trucks by 2018. Fiat and Chrysler sold 4.4 million cars and trucks last year, compared with 6.3 million for Detroit rival Ford. Toyota was the global leader with sales of 9.98 million vehicles.

"Today we stand before you as a global carmaker," Marchionne said. "Today is much more than a new chapter. We are beginning to write a completely new book."

Among Fiat Chrysler's plans:

— Chrysler will become the mainstream brand for North America, designed to compete with Toyota and Chevrolet. The Town and Country minivan will get an update and add a plug-in hybrid version in 2016. A new compact car, the 100, will compete with the Toyota Corolla, in 2016. A year later, a full-size crossover will be launched to compete with the Ford Edge and Nissan Murano. The crossover will also come in a plug-in hybrid version.

— Dodge will lose the Grand Caravan and the Avenger sedan and concentrate on being a sporty, performance-oriented brand designed to appeal to younger buyers. The SRT brand, which includes the Viper sports car, will be consolidated with Dodge and considered the "halo" of the Dodge brand.

Alfa-Romeo, which returns to the U.S. this year with the 4C sports car, plans to introduce eight vehicles globally by 2018, including small, midsize and full-size cars and two SUVs. Alfa CEO Harald Wester says the company will invest nearly $7 billion to develop and make the new vehicles. Alfa hopes to increase sales from 74,000 in 2013 to 400,000 in 2018.

— Jeep sales are expected to top 1 million this year, and can grow to 1.9 million by 2018 with an aggressive global expansion, particularly in Latin America and Asia, the company said. A new compact SUV in 2016 will replace the Compass and Patriot, and the seven-passenger Grand Wagoneer will launch in 2017. Jeep currently makes vehicles at three plants in the U.S. By 2018, it expects nearly half of all production to come from plants in Latin America, Europe and China.

— Fiat brand sales are expected to grow from 1.5 million in 2013 to 1.9 million in 2018. New vehicles will include a subcompact car and compact pickup truck for South America in 2015, the Fiat 500X crossover for North America in 2015 and a new Panda small car for Europe in 2018.

— Maserati, which sells four cars now, will have six by 2018. As a result, Wester expects sales to grow from 15,400 in 2013 to around 75,000 in 2018. Sister luxury brand Ferrari expects sales to stay around 7,000, but could rise to as many as 10,000 if demand increases. "There are increasing numbers of people who can afford a car of this caliber," Marchionne said.


Read more: Fiat Chrysler to drop Dodge minivan in wider revamp - News - The Leader - Corning, NY
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Grand Cherokee SRT Will Live & 300 SRT8 Won’t Be So Lucky

Grand Cherokee SRT Will Live & 300 SRT8 Won’t Be So Lucky

05/07/2014

Our sources within the company tell us that the Grand Cherokee SRT will live on for the near future for a very good reason: It’s the bestselling model to wear the SRT badge. The 300 SRT8 won’t be so lucky. Sources today confirmed to Car and Driver that the 300 SRT will leave the building shortly. It appears that although the automaker is on a ruthless push to, as CEO Sergio Marchionne put it, “establish a clarity of brand positioning,” sales numbers are still the ultimate factor in deciding the fate of any given model.

SOURCE

 

Fiat-chrysler’s five year plan

FIAT-CHRYSLER’S FIVE YEAR PLAN

05/08/2014

Yesterday CEO Sergio Marchionne laid out the next steps for the company and they’re pretty ambitious. There are basically five points to the plan.

First, they plan to put a lot more resources behind Maserati and Alfa-Romeo. Those brands will be built in Italy in underused plants to boost the company’s capacity utilization. The goal is to sell 75,000 Maseratis and 400,000 Alfas worldwide by 2018. In North America, Alfa is slated to get 8 models and a sales target of 150,000 cars and crossovers. In the U.S. both Alfa and Maserati will be sold in, and I quote, “the best Fiat dealers.”

Second, in Europe they will move the Fiat brand into more upscale products, namely CUVs and SUVs. But the company will not invest any money to try and grow Fiat’s market share in Europe. Instead, Fiat will concentrate on growing outside of the EU.

Third, and perhaps the most important part of the plan is to grow Jeep sales to 1.9 million vehicles by 2018. They’re going to build three Jeep models in China which is where most of that growth will come from. The Compass and the Patriot will be dropped in 2016 and replaced with a C-class SUV. And in 2018 Jeep will revive the Grand Wagoneer to push the brand further upscale.

Fourth, the goal is to hit 7 million vehicles in sales, including its existing joint venture partners, mainly in China. Sergio Marchionne says they can hit this number without taking on any other partners. Marchionne says, “If I can get to 6 million cars, it’s D-Day,” meaning the company can survive on its own. That would seem to squelch rumors that Fiat was looking to join forces with a Japanese automaker.

And the fifth step in the plan involves how to pay for it. Marchionne says Fiat-Chrysler will be able to generate all the cash it needs and will emerge as a debt free company in the next five years. By 2018 he wants revenue of $175 billion and a net profit of $7 billion.

Those are the five main steps, but there are a tremendous amount of other details. For example, the Chrysler brand will now become the company’s main mass market brand in North America, and will get a full lineup of products to compete effectively with Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota. That will include a plug-in hybrid version of the Town & Country minivan and a plug-in full size crossover. Dodge will focus primarily on muscle and performance. So the Avenger and Grand Caravan get axed. And SRT will no longer be a stand-alone brand. It gets moved back into Dodge. So yes, you can call it a Dodge Viper once again. And no more SRT Jeeps or Chryslers. Ralph Gilles, who had been running the SRT brand, will continue to head up Chrysler design and motor racing activities. The Ram brand, which has been wildly successful, does not change at all.

Once they hit their plan, Marchionne says he would like to spin Ferrari out and issue an IPO. He says Ferrari generates a billion in cash every year and half a billion in profits. And he scolded analysts who value Ferrari at $5 to $7 billion, saying its actually worth twice that. And he says if the company desperately needed money it could always do this sooner.

And finally, Sergio plans to hang around as CEO until the plan is successful. But he hinted that if the company hits the $7 billion profit goal ahead of time, that’s when he’ll step down.

SOURCE

 

Detroit, May 6 -

Newly merged Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is moving ahead as a global force, Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said Tuesday as he unveiled the company's new five-year strategic business plan.

"Today we begin to write a new book, not just a new chapter," said the Canadian-Italian Marchionne, whose plan includes developments in the Maserati and Alfa Romeo brands as well in Chrysler's divisions.
"It's a big day," with a unified plan that represents a "courageous" break with the past for the former Turin-based Fiat and Michigan's Chrysler. The plan for 2014 through 2018 is designed to help the combined group, the world's seventh-largest, become a major global force in the auto industry.
That includes seeing Chrysler's popular Jeep division hit its target of selling one million vehicles in 2014, said the division's chief executive Mike Manley.
By 2018, the SUV-maker aims to be selling 1.9 million vehicles annually, more than double its 732,000 sold in 2013, according to the FCA industrial plan.
Meanwhile, Chrysler aims to more than double its current sales in 2018, brand CEO Al Gardner said. Driving the projected growth are two new models, the Chrysler 200, on the US market this year, and the Chrysler 100, available in 2016.
And Fiat aims to sell 1.9 million cars in 2018, up from 1.5 million sold last year, the Italian division announced.
Marchionne told shareholders in late March that he plans to see a combined output of more than six million autos per year by 2018.
He also said he expected to see FCA listed on New York's premier stock market before year-end and possibly as early as October.
By listing on the New York Stock Exchange, FCA would be more widely traded and better able to raise capital.
Marchionne hatched the audacious idea to take over the Detroit automaker after Fiat rescued bankrupt Chrysler amid the US economic crisis in 2009.
Five years later, Fiat finally gained full control of Chrysler in a $4.35-billion US deal with a United Auto Workers union healthcare trust approved early this year.
FCA has also become more global, with FCA's new headquarters in the Netherlands, its tax base in the UK, and it will be listed on the New York and Milan stock markets.
Despite that international reach, Marchionne has said that Fiat has not abandoned its roots in Italy.
Still, he remains concerned that Europe's auto market has not yet recovered from years of economic struggles that have contributed to six years of weakness in auto sales.

SOURCE

 

Fiat’s fix-it man

Sergio Marchionne: Fiat’s fix-it man is out to prove he’s a car guy too
In his 10 years at the helm of Fiat SpA, Marchionne has turned the car-maker’s fortunes – but if he wants to boost sales further, he has to show he can build cars that people want

06/03/2014

Ten years ago, a sombre Sergio Marchionne stood in front of a crowded Turin press conference in a formal suit and dark tie to say that he would work hard to pull Fiat SpA back from the brink of bankruptcy.

Brought in by the controlling family hours after Chairman Umberto Agnelli had passed away, the chief executive officer faced losses at the automaker that had ballooned to more than €6 billion from 2001 to 2003. After returning the car giant to profit and completing the acquisition of Chrysler Group, Marchionne (61) marked his first decade as chief executive at the weekend and is again at a turning point, with some investors skeptical over his plan to boost sales 61 percent to 7 million cars in 2018.

To do so, Marchionne will have to prove that not only is he a talented dealmaker, he also knows how to build cars that will resonate with consumers. “The turnaround maestro, who saved Fiat and Chrysler helped by his financial skills, must now show, by making the right products, that he’s a ‘car guy’ too,” said Giuseppe Berta, a professor at Bocconi University in Milan who knows Marchionne personally.

Since taking over on June 1st, 2004, Marchionne has tripled revenue, operating profit and the share price. His goal now is to boost net income to about €5 billion euros in 2018 from the €904 million earned last year by selling more upscale vehicles, including new Alfa Romeo models built in Italy.

“I only have one objective: to bring that home,” Marchionne, who has long since ditched the formal suits for casual sweaters, said of the new strategic plan he announced in early last month. “It’s that simple,” he said, adding that he’d celebrate his 10th anniversary as CEO by “working”.

The Italian-born executive, who moved to Canada with his family when he was 14, is more recognised for the deals he sealed at Fiat, including a $2 billion pay-out from General Motors to exit a partnership in 2005, than for creating models. Helped by the GM deal, he managed to return Fiat to profit in 2005, his first full year as CEO.

The 500 is by far the most successful model introduction under Marchionne, with over 1.2 million sold since he brought back the iconic car in 2007. He’s also managed to boost the Maserati brand with the Quattroporte and Ghibli, which are helping the luxury brand more than double 2014 sales. Thus far, he hasn’t succeeded in rejuvenating Alfa Romeo, with models such as the Brera hatchback and the 159 failing to win over buyers.

Marchionne is now pushing the reset button on the marque, a key part of his 2018 plan, by dumping all its autos except one and starting fresh. He’s also reducing the Lancia brand to a single vehicle to be sold only in Italy, ditching the Delta hatchback and Thema and Flavia saloons.

“The industry, I don’t think, thinks of Sergio as a car guy and clearly he has had success as a turnaround leader,” said Jeff Schuster, an auto analyst with LMC Automotive. “That’s his forte: he’s a fixer. But I think he’s also maybe a closet car guy.”

By investing €55 billion through 2018, Marchionne’s goal is to boost sales and profit with more upscales models from Alfa Romeo and Jeep that will be sold globally. Fiat will invest €5 billion alone to build eight new Alfa Romeos in Italy as part of a strategy to boost the brand’s sales to 400,000 in 2018 from about 73,000 last year.

Marchionne has dismissed arguments that he’s not deeply involved in the models the automaker builds and said last week it will take time “for opinions to change” that his targets are achievable. “We are working our asses off for it,” he said. “Let me go work and I’ll try to make the guidance.”

SOURCE

 

Fiat Chrysler will sell holdings worth $820 million to fund upscale shift

Fiat Chrysler will sell holdings worth $820 million to fund upscale shift

06/20/2014

LONDON (Bloomberg) -- Fiat Chrysler plans to sell holdings valued at about $820 million, freeing up cash to invest in an expansion of its upscale brands.

The automaker will sell 3.5 percent of Fiat's shares as well as 2.5 percent of truck and tractor maker CNH Industrial NV to American investors, CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters on Thursday in Basildon, England.

The effort would help build relations on Wall Street as the carmaker prepares to establish its primary listing in New York in the first two weeks of October following the formal creation of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. The merged company is aiming to more than double profit and lifting annual deliveries 61 percent over the next five years.

Those targets are underpinned by a 55 billion euro investment plan that calls for expanding the upscale Maserati and Alfa Romeo brands as well as making Jeep a global nameplate.

In a sign of progress on the CEO's strategy, the Maserati brand will double its dealership network to about 500 by 2015 to sustain growth for models like the new Ghibli compact model, Harald Wester, the brand's chief, said in an interview on Thursday. The carmaker expects its expansion to help it match 2013's full-year deliveries of 15,400 vehicles already by the end of June.

Marchionne is also betting that a 5 billion euros ($7 billion) investment in Alfa Romeo will reverse a decade of losses and seven years of collapsing sales at the brand. The CEO plans to add eight new Alfas with the goal of boosting the brand's global sales to 400,000 vehicles in 2018 from 74,000 last year.

Fiat bought full control of Chrysler in January, with the merger part of Marchionne's decade-long effort to turn the Italian company into a carmaker big enough to challenge General Motors Co., Volkswagen Group and Toyota Motor Corp.

Marchionne on Thursday also described how he planned to sell Chrysler's "Cinderella" story to U.S. investors.

SOURCE

 

2018 Wrangler

Jeep says lighter and thriftier 2018 Wrangler will have its own platform

Could boast an aluminum body

07/02/2014

Jeep boss Mike Manley has shed some light about the next generation Wrangler set to arrive as a 2018 model year.

Unlike the Jeep Cherokee which was developed on a Fiat platform, the all-new 2018 Wrangler will get a proprietary platform as Mike Manley promises "there will be no compromises" and "it has to be its own architecture." The engineers will also focus on weight reductions and the model could end up boasting an aluminum body.

Thanks to what is believed to be a considerable diet, the next-gen Wrangler will be significantly more fuel efficient in order to meet more stringent federal regulations without having a negative effect on the car's versatile capabilities. Manley also said a "major focus" is on bringing engine improvements in order to create a product that will "push the benchmark even further."

Source: edmunds.com

 

Chrysler shifts to Fiat platforms, adds mpg

Chrysler shifts to Fiat platforms, adds mpg

09/01/2014


In the next four years, the Chrysler brand and Jeep lineups will expand, Dodge's will contract and all Chrysler Group vehicles will go farther on a gallon of fuel.

The automaker's five U.S. brands -- Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat -- will benefit from new, more efficient engines that are under development.

A revamped 2.0-liter inline-four engine, code-named Hurricane, promises improved power and fuel economy for the automaker's smaller vehicles. Meanwhile, improvements coming to the Pentastar V-6 engine family will provide smaller displacements and better fuel efficiency in larger vehicles.

By 2018, almost all front-wheel-drive-based Chrysler Group vehicles will come standard with a nine-speed automatic transmission, while rear-wheel-drive-based large cars, crossovers, SUVs and pickups will stay with an eight-speed automatic.

Today, Chrysler has regained much of its pre-bankruptcy market share with just a few new vehicles and well-received upgrades of existing ones.

The company will continue to move vehicles to Fiat platforms and eliminate segment duplication across its brands.

To keep pace with ever-tightening fuel economy requirements, Chrysler will adopt electrification, offering a plug-in hybrid minivan for the first time and a plug-in hybrid crossover.

Meanwhile, the Jeep Wrangler is likely to get an aluminum body to shed weight and improve fuel economy.

Pickups and SUVs will remain key to the company's sales goals, and the Ram and Jeep brands will continue frequent product upgrades.

In North America, Chrysler and corporate parent Fiat believe they can grow their sales volume by roughly 1 million vehicles to 3.1 million annually by 2018.

SOURCE

 

Next-Gen Chrysler Town & Country Minivan

Next-Gen Chrysler Town & Country Minivan to Spawn a Plug-In Hybrid Variant

10/06/2014


Although the Dodge Grand Caravan won't live on for a new generation, the Chrysler Town & Country is going to receive a plug-in hybrid model in late 2015. That's a year early compared to what the carmaker indicated during the May 6th Investor Day event.

This bit of information follows Sergio Marchionne's declaration at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show, during which the Fiat Chrysler helmsman told the next-gen Chrysler Town & Country's development is roughly "95 percent" finished and the new model will be on sale in the following "24 to 30 months." According to the two reports, the new Town & Country is going to hit dealerships by the end of 2015 as a 2016 MY.

As for the plug-in hybrid variant of the people carrier, Chrysler officials present at the Paris Motor Show hinted it will use a traditional layout consisting of an electric motor and a gasoline internal combustion engine. Moreover, Chrysler's brand head Al Gardner dropped a curious bit of info earlier this year, declaring that a Chrysler-badged PHEV minivan could achieve the same fuel economy as the Prius PHEV.

That may translate to 95 MPGe rating (or 75 MPGe according to a previous report) and a combined fuel economy figure after the battery runs out of juice of 50 mpg, but this plug-in hybrid layout begs the question just how much space will be taken by the the large battery pack, electric motor and others.

A raised boot floor or a deleted third row of seats come to mind, but fingers crossed the men and women engineering the upcoming 2016 Chrysler Town & Country plug-in hybrid won't sacrifice too much space to the detriment of PHEV modifications.

SOURCE

 

Maserati sees sales topping 35,000 this year

Maserati sees sales topping 35,000 this year

10/06/2014


PARIS: Maserati expects to sell more than 35,000 cars this year and reach its 50,000 sales target in 2015, subject to the availability of a new sport utility vehicle (SUV) to be launched late next year, the head of the brand said.

“For the end of the year we will be significantly beyond 35,000, but not beyond 40,000,” Harald Wester said. Maserati sold 15,400 vehicles in 2013.
Wester said the brand was still on track to launch the much awaited Maserati Levante SUV by the end of next year.

It plans to build at least 25,000 of the Levante per year from 2016.
The revival of the luxury Maserati brand is a key part of owner Fiat’s drive to return to profit in Europe, along with the relaunch of the Alfa Romeo marque.

Maserati’s product offensive is the most ambitious yet for the Italian brand founded a century ago in Bologna by five brothers and which Fiat bought in 1993.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Paris auto show, Wester said the idea of keeping annual Maserati sales capped at 75,000 — a level it hopes to reach by 2018 — still stood, but he “would not be dogmatic about it.”


“The core of the message was: Maserati will remain an exclusive brand,” he said.

“We will not offer a product below the Ghibli (sedan), we will not compete on price as other people are doing. Volume is not the most important parameter for the business.”

He said the number of dealers selling Maserati products would grow by another 100 from the current 354 by the end of 2015 and that should be sufficient to sell the product, even at future levels of around 75,000.

The brand’s current line-up includes the four-door GranTurismo sedan, the Quattroporte and the compact, lower-priced Ghibli.

After the Levante SUV, the company has promised the Alfieri, a sporty two-seater, which will also come in a cabriolet version.

The US remains Maserati’s main market, closely followed by China, which is also the biggest market for its Quattroporte model.

Wester, who also looks after Alfa Romeo for the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group, said the company would “work very hard” to get close to last year’s sales figures for the sporty Alfas of 74,000.

SOURCE