So what does Fiatsler do now and for the next year?

[tpl]

The deal seems to be done.  But what happens now?  I have seen several news reports and they all suggest that there will be no Fiatslers for 12-18 months with the 500 being the first.
The 500, ones suspects, will not be a big seller continent wide... it is a very small car.

Are they expecting that the public will flock back to the dealers to buy the old Chrysler products?   I guess as long as they are sold very cheaply they'll get bought if only by rental companies.

Dodge SUVs, trucks and Jeeps.   Gas is 99.7c/litre today in my area.  Same problem for the Chrysler cars with the big engines.

It would be good to see a plan that would get some new small and medium cars into Fiatsler dealers.

Opinions?

[airbalancer]

500 is one the ugliest cars that I saw in Euroland
It will die if when they bring it over
On most Chrysler the exterior styling has been good , but their interior has been a big let down
They should just perfect the car they have now, and put a diesel in everything ( the Sebring has to go)
Builted a small pick up with a diesel

[Shnak]

Doesn't Ford own the rights to '500'? I know it's not spelled the same 'Fivehundred' vs '500', but it still sounds the same and Ford could easily make the point that it'll confuse consummers into thinking that Ford is bringing back the '500' and it's a pile of crap.

Or is that not a concern as Ford has discontinued their 'Fivehundred'?

[tpl]

The Fiat 500  is also built on a Ford platform no?   The Ford Ka mk 2.   So I don't know what will happen there.

[Mitlov]

Doesn't Ford own the rights to '500'? I know it's not spelled the same 'Fivehundred' vs '500', but it still sounds the same and Ford could easily make the point that it'll confuse consummers into thinking that Ford is bringing back the '500' and it's a pile of crap.

Or is that not a concern as Ford has discontinued their 'Fivehundred'?

Fiat's been using "500" a whole lot longer than Ford has.



Besides, it's just a number.  And a round, even one at that.

[aquadorhj]

Doesn't Ford own the rights to '500'?

Fiatsler could easily call it "cinque centro"..  sounds plenty different from "five hundred"   
but then, it sure sounds bad...  500 is just not a good name, whether used on ford or fiat.

500 is one the ugliest cars that I saw in Euroland
It will die if when they bring it over

500 is one of the cutest car design i've ever seen.  better than the new mini, and the interior of 500 seems at least comparable in material and design to the Mini.

Mini isn't big, especially in the inside, but there are plenty of people driving it around.  (personally I wouldn't....  My car NEEDs to be able to haul my golf club or snowboard.)

If they DO bring it over intact, meaning the interior doesn't look like any chrysler, I think it will sell really well.  could very well be the mark of successful return of Fiat to NA, if they just price it right.   maybe 17K to start, going up to 29 or so for the top spec Abarth..   unlike Mini where it starts at 22 then going up to 40.

[Humordor]

The Fiat 500  is also built on a Ford platform no?   The Ford Ka mk 2.   So I don't know what will happen there.

The 500 platform shares with Ford. The Ka and the 500 models are built in Poland at the Tychy plant. 

Don't they only have 20% stake in Chrysler? I can't see how much Fiat will have an influence with Chrysler. Beside Fiat and Chrysler are one and the same. The have very similar build and reliability issues. The products do look amazing just like Chrysler. 

[Squishy]

I thought numbers couldn't be trademarked, and that's why letters are usually thrown in.

[tpl]

 My real question was:

What can Fiat do to get a Golf/Corolla/Focus/Astra size car here reasonably quickly... one that will sell.  

[Scaerio]

My real question was:

What can Fiat do to get a Golf/Corolla/Focus/Astra size car here reasonably quickly... one that will sell.  

Quickly modify the Bravo and Grande Punto?  Bring the Alfa MiTo over ASAP? 

[tpl]

Problem is that those cars were probably designed around EU specs with no thought for NA. It might be more work to redo them than it would be to design a whole new car.

[My Old Buick]

Chrysler needs to produce better midsize cars like this to survive.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/11/detroit-2009-chrysler-200c-concept-what-the-sebring-should-hav/

[carcrazy]

I was asking myself the same questions as TPL. Now what? I could not find an answer. I guess the Fiats are not designed for N/A so no quick import is possible. I haven't seen/heard of any new platforms/engines/models (real world models not EV) coming out from Chrysler so I would think we won't see anything new for the next 12-18 months. The only thing I can think of is they would scrap even more models (better than lose money making unwanted cars), only sell few models and eventually improve the interior quality and tweak fuel economy. Just my 2 cents ...

[articsteve]

If it weren't for GM going bust at the same time the US government would have let Chrysler die.

There is no short term plan to bring new vehicles to market.  TARP will finance Chrysler's fire sales for the foreseeable future thru GMAC enabling limitless "0%" and cash back.  Same situation for GM. 

The result of all this will be to drive Ford out of business because Ford can't play the discount game for the next two years.  There is no market for 3 domestic auto manufactures and everyone knows it. 

[Mitlov]

I was asking myself the same questions as TPL. Now what? I could not find an answer. I guess the Fiats are not designed for N/A so no quick import is possible. I haven't seen/heard of any new platforms/engines/models (real world models not EV) coming out from Chrysler so I would think we won't see anything new for the next 12-18 months. The only thing I can think of is they would scrap even more models (better than lose money making unwanted cars), only sell few models and eventually improve the interior quality and tweak fuel economy. Just my 2 cents ...

Small cars WILL come, just not in 12-18 months.  But you can't expect Fiat to swap out half the Chrysler models in a couple months.  These thing take time.

As for "eventually improve the interior quality," that was Chrysler's top priority even before the merger.  First, the new Ram was a great leap forward.  Its new interior:



Second, the Grand Cherokee has just been dramatically reworked, dramatically boosting both fuel economy and refinement.  The new interior:



Finally, we've also gotten a teaser pic of a Chrysler 300 with an interior that appears to rival the Hyundai Genesis sedan.  The teaser shot has funky lighting, but it still gives you a taste:



So Chrysler's putting more energy into its larger cars (the Grand Cherokee, the Ram, and the LX cars are the three big successes for Chrysler where I live) and just waiting for Fiat to get the small cars ready.  Seems like an appropriate plan for me.

[tpl]

Just this w/e in the Toronto Star  it seems there is a plan to build some Alfas in a Canadian plant, not to sell here but to export back to Europe. That will keep some people working I suppose although IIRC its only 10,000 cars a year.

[Mitlov]

Just this w/e in the Toronto Star  it seems there is a plan to build some Alfas in a Canadian plant, not to sell here but to export back to Europe. That will keep some people working I suppose although IIRC its only 10,000 cars a year.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/15/alfa-romeo-to-build-169-sedan-on-same-platform-as-chrysler-300/

First time a premium European car will be made in Canada. 

[Ontariodriver]

Alfa Romeo are horrible unreliable.  Fiats are not much better either. 

[Vil]

Just this w/e in the Toronto Star  it seems there is a plan to build some Alfas in a Canadian plant, not to sell here but to export back to Europe. That will keep some people working I suppose although IIRC its only 10,000 cars a year.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/15/alfa-romeo-to-build-169-sedan-on-same-platform-as-chrysler-300/

First time a premium European car will be made in Canada. 

I guess they forgot all those Volvos assembled in Halifax for 30 odd years.

[Scaerio]

Alfa Romeo are horrible unreliable.  Fiats are not much better either. 

Actually the Panda, Multipla, and Punto do not do poorly in European reliability reports.  Peugeot, Renault, and Citroen usually do worse...