Ciao! Fiat to build Chryslers in Italy?
Fiat is hard at work trying to come up with the best available use of its newly acquired Chrysler arm. Part of that plan may be to sell more Chrysler products in Europe, and Fiat just so happens to have an available factory to build them in. Automotive News is reporting that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne says the company would use its freshly purchased Carrozzeria Bertone plant near Turin, Italy. Fiat purchased the facility in July, just a few weeks after Chrysler exited chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Marchionne declined to discuss which vehicles would be built at the factory, but those following the Italian automaker have plenty of reasonable guesses. AN quotes sources who say the facility could open as soon as late 2011, and it could build the next generation Chrysler 300. The upcoming new 300 will reportedly begin production in the US in early 2011, and the 300's RWD platform is rumored to be used in future Alfa and/or Lancia models. The sources also claim Jeep models could be built in other Fiat facilities by using complete knock down kits shipped from here in the US.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req'd | Photo: DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
dukeisduke 2:48PM (9/17/2009)
Is Chrysler still building Magnums in Europe? One of the frauleins (the beautiful black woman) pictured today is clearly standing with a Magnum:
http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/frankfurt-2009-the-frauleins-of-frankfurt/#21
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jm 2:52PM (9/17/2009)
Its pretty much a Magnum, but over there its a Magnum body with a 300C front end and interior....
Pokey 5:22PM (9/17/2009)
That's not a Magnum, it is a 300C Touring.
Glock22 3:01PM (9/17/2009)
You can put whatever badge you want and build them anywhere I guess.
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Andrew 3:30PM (9/17/2009)
Yes, you probably can. However speaking as a European I can only say: "What's a Chrysler?"
F50 3:27PM (9/17/2009)
Could work, this isn't the first time there was a Chrysler built in Italy, anyone remember the TC?
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Andy 3:35PM (9/17/2009)
I saw a fiat 500 and some other four door fiat(that was quite fugly) driving down phoenixville pa about a month ago. Are they testing them over here?
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tchikes 3:56PM (9/17/2009)
Brainstorming table of Fiat-Chrysler.... hmmmm how can we make Chryslers even less reliable...
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Rob 2:36PM (9/18/2009)
Haha, don't downrank the guy, it was funny!
and003 3:11PM (10/15/2009)
After all that's happened, tchikes, I have a feeling they would want to AVOID going down that particular road again.
Brad 3:58PM (9/17/2009)
I thought this was to build the 300 replacement for the European market since their contract with Magna was ready to expire and since Magna would be tied to Opel. 300's for the NA market would still be built in Canada.
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Frank 4:10PM (9/17/2009)
So along with the new 300 they will build future Alfa/Lancia models from the same platform at the plant. Makes sense. If it's a good product they will get full utilization from the plant.
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smart Italian 4:19PM (9/17/2009)
Thank you for the $$$$$$$ America. We will take it and make our cars in Italy and ship to you. We will also close our American plants cuz we don't need them. Do you have any other companies that you want us to take over and rape.
Thanks again stupid americans
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Frank 4:53PM (9/17/2009)
I think you are confusing the Germans with the Italians...
Kumar 9:52AM (9/18/2009)
Remind us all where the 300 is produced now genius?
Bepotes 4:22PM (9/17/2009)
Fiat still make really cute small cars: http://www.madwhips.com/fiat/
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Patrick 4:38PM (9/17/2009)
I just got back from a vacation in Brazil and Argentina as part of an MBA trip. One of the companies we visited was Fiat Brazil, but they did not know much about the Chrysler operations and what vehicles were going to the US (or at least they didn't tell us).
In Buenos Aires, I saw a 300C Touring and I was digging it. It looks so much better than the Magnum.
I rented a Fiat Doblo minivan in Brazil and it was interesting to see how they strip the cars and put in cheaper components and solutions to lower the cost. For example, the car had a central locking system that locked/unlocked all doors at once with no options to only unlock 1 door. The doors did not have separate lock switches and posts, instead you push in the door lever past a detent to lock the doors. No airbags, no armrests, only 2 speakers in the front, and no CD player. It ran on alcohol, which is available everywhere in Brazil.
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Swede 9:36AM (9/18/2009)
The part about locking is actually quite common, in places where car jackings are a non-issue, people are annoyed by having to push twice to open all the doors. I quite like the push-past-detent manual locking, better than the asian "push away red" design. My own car has no manual interior locks, only electronic, and I cant say I miss manual locks.
Brian 5:25PM (9/17/2009)
So, we spent billions in taxpayer dollars to bailout Chrysler so they could create jobs in Italy?
Again, the term "domestic" is totally meaningless.
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Frank 6:01PM (9/17/2009)
Remember, it's too expensive to build moderate price cars in Europe and sell them in the US and Canada. Sure Mercedes can do it when they charge $50,000 for a car, but even they are building some vehicles in Alabama.
Well, the same applies in the other direction. You can't build a 300 here and then sell it in Europe and make a profit. To keep the cost down they have to build them there. As long as the plant in Italy is making 300's for European consumption I don't see a problem with it. I would expect that they would make FIATs here in America to be sold here as well.