The official announcement of the new Fiat-Chrysler production plan is scheduled to take place on October 30, yet details have already started to trickle out to the press.
Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reports that group CEO Sergio Marchionne will remain true to the agreement he made with the Italian government on September 22 and keep all of the local factories operational.
Mirafiori was rumored to face the axe, a move that would probably reduce Fiat’s €700 million expected loss this year. However, the plant won’t be shut down but it won’t get to assemble the two small SUVs that the company is getting ready, either.
These two models, the Fiat 500X and the related Jeep-badged small crossover will almost certainly be built at the Melfi plant, which will be the “hub” for both brands’ future B-segment cars.
Marchionne is reportedly hard at work to re-establish the failing Fiat brand image in the European market.
To do so, he is said to be considering a new stand-alone brand based around the successful 500 city car and its derivatives, much like BMW did with the MINI.
The newspaper also reports that the next Lancia Delta will be assembled in the Cassino factory, as will its Chrysler 100 twin that will be exported to the U.S.
By Andrew Tsaousis
3 Comments:
I'd like to see them become more than a mini competitor. Mini was cute in the beginning with a price that was very attractive to many. Load one up these days and you can be north of 40G! With each new version the mini becomes homelier and more costly, just like BMWs.
Its a bit out of date to say that they are considering developing 500 as a MINI type brand: The 500L, XL, and X models show that this process is well on the way.
My working class neighborhood in Brooklyn is now mostly Chinese families, which means there can be as many as six or seven silver minivans parked in one block. But still some of the old Italian types. So there's recent Chrysler stuff like 300's and Chargers and Challengers and whatever else they make. And a Fiat 500 on every block! I don't know if it's the Guidos or the Guidettes buying them. Plus a lot of Sonatas, and other stuff. Never a new (Opel) Buick Regal or Verano. Never see them. I don't think the Fiat 500's are quite making it here so much in non-Goomba areas.
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