Chrysler joins Association for Natural Gas Vehicles; is this a sign of what's to come?

Over the summer, Fiat chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne set aside some time to visit historic Mackinac Island near Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Marchionne found this site to be a fitting location to discuss how compressed natural gas (CNG) could fuel Chrysler's future. The CEO outlined Chrysler's commitment to CNG development, stating:

In the United States, there is a substantial domestic supply of CNG. CNG technology is readily available without extensive development time or expenditure of resources. Fiat already has a portfolio of CNG engines, both naturally aspirated and turbocharged. Chrysler Powertrain is actively investigating applications for CNG and is exploring solutions that would drive people to the technology.

If an automaker is actively considering selling CNG vehicles anywhere in the world, then it'd be a wise decision for it to join the International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) and that's exactly what Chrysler "just" did. According to Green Car Advisor, Chrysler would not offer comment on what drove it to join the NGV, but did issue this nearly useless statement: "We just joined." Gee, thanks Chrysler. Fiat is knee-deep in CNG vehicles and we speculate that Chrysler's re-entry (the automaker did produce CNG vans from 1992 to 1998) in this alt-fuel category is already in the works.

[Source: Green Car Advisor]