Sergio Marchionne's ambitious plan to revive Chrysler with a wave of new products divides the world into halves--one set of vehicles engineered by Chrysler for itself and Fiat and another set engineered by Fiat for itself and Chrysler.
The alliance starts to bear fruit in 2012 and gathers momentum with a spate of launches in 2013.
Marchionne said this month that the two automakers were now "inextricably intertwined."
The greatest cross-pollination of Chrysler and Fiat expertise will take place in the middle of the market. Chrysler engineers are taking a European Fiat platform called the C-Evo and re-engineering and widening it into a new platform called C/D that will spawn a fleet of vehicles.
If all goes according to plan, seven or eight new Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles will come off that C/D platform aimed squarely at the middle of the domestic market. There will be two compact sedans in 2012 to replace the Dodge Caliber and Chrysler PT Cruiser.
And in 2013 there will be a wave of vehicles, including a compact crossover to replace the Jeep Patriot; a midsized SUV to replace the Jeep Liberty; midsized sedans to replace the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger; a midsized crossover for Chrysler; and possibly a midsized crossover to replace the Dodge Nitro.
More than any other factor, it was the failure to field strong competitors to vehicles such as the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Ford Escape, and Toyota RAV4 that led to Chrysler's sales collapse and eventual trip into bankruptcy last spring.
Cross-fertilization
The two partners will lean heavily on each other to engineer and manufacture products.
"From an architectural standpoint, we're going to end up with the world [divided] into two parts," said Marchionne at the Nov. 4 unveiling of Chrysler's five-year business plan. "A part will be handled by Fiat for itself and on behalf of Chrysler, and another one will be handled by Chrysler for itself and for Fiat."
All vehicles below the compact sedan segment for Fiat Auto and Chrysler Group brands will be engineered in Italy and built there or in Fiat factories elsewhere. All larger vehicles--starting with the replacements for the Caliber and PT Cruiser and including minivans, large SUVs, and pickups--will be engineered by the Chrysler team in Auburn Hills, and most will be made in North American factories.
That means, for example, that Fiat will drop out of its minivan alliance with PSA/Peugeot-Citroen. Future Fiat and Lancia minivans will be engineered in Auburn Hills and made in North American factories for export.
On the flip side, starting in 2013, Lancia could export to North America a subcompact five-door hatchback that would become the entry model for the Chrysler brand. Dodge also will get a subcompact engineered by Fiat and imported to the United States.
But it's in the midsized segment that Chrysler benefits--starting in 2013.
In July, Fiat handed over to Chrysler the C-Evo platform with European specifications to serve as the underpinnings of a new group of vehicles.
For the United States, Chrysler is widening the platform by 1.6 inches. By redoing the platform, Chrysler could avoid the mistakes made by other automakers. In the 1990s, Ford brought its European mainstream Mondeo sedan to North America and rebadged it as the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique. But U.S. customers found the sedans too cramped.
Philippe Houchois, analyst for UBS in London, estimated that Chrysler and Fiat could produce a combined 750,000 units annually off the C/D platform.
A better fit than Daimler?
Dave Cole, head of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said the Fiat-Chrysler alliance balances the needs of two carmakers in a way that Chrysler's merger with Daimler never did.
Such synergies weren't possible between Daimler and Chrysler because "what they were essentially doing is taking two companies with little product overlap and somehow sticking them together. It was just not in the cards that they would be able to pull that off."
Marchionne and his team face some big obstacles as he aims for U.S. market share in the 13-14 percent range. Chrysler is now hovering around 9 percent.
Houchois said, "Marchionne's plan is probably too ambitious on market share and extremely cautious on market assumptions."
If Chrysler can't hit Marchionne's market share target, he said, it could still achieve sustainable volume if the market itself grows.
John Wolkonowicz, analyst for IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., said the plan sounds good, but Chrysler has to sell some vehicles between now and when the new products start arriving to pay for the planned new product assault.
"If they actually get to the new products," he said, "they have a fighting chance."
(Source: Automotive News)
The Lexus LF-A appeared at the 2009 SEMA Show.
(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)LOS ANGELES--Lexus has a plan to head off speculators when its limited-edition LFA sports car goes on sale in January 2011.
The company will offer only two-year leases for the $375,000 two-seater, said Brian Smith, vice president of sales and dealer development for Lexus division. Lexus will hang on to the vehicle's title.
"If someone buys it the first month and then decides to sell it, that could be damaging for the ownership experience," Smith said. "If it is not controlled and hits the speculation market, all bets are off."
Only 500 units of the 552 horsepower LFA will be built during the two-year period that begins in December 2010. No car will be built until it is ordered.
"You can personalize it right down to the stitching in the car," Smith said.
He said Lexus wants each customer to pay about the same price for the LFA, which will be powered by a 4.8-liter 10-cylinder engine. At the end of the two-year lease, customers can opt to buy the cars.
"We want people out driving the car and not just parking it in a museum or selling it at an inflated price," Smith said.
About 15 Lexus employees will get extensive training on the car before they start meeting with prospective customers in March. The LFA specialists will be stationed at each of Lexus' four regions around the country--West, Chicago, New Jersey, and Atlanta--and at Lexus headquarters in California.
Customers can choose their own dealer for delivery.
Dealers will not have to invest in special tools or training. Lexus will purchase the tools and hire trained technicians to perform the service at the stores.
(Source: Automotive News)
BMW's new 5-series incorporates many tech updates.
(Credit: BMW)
BMW released full details and photos of the new, 2011 5-series, representing a pretty significant update to the company's midsize sport-luxury sedan. An entirely new platform was developed, and is now shared between the 5-series and the new 7-series. The 550i model and 750i also share a power plant, a twin turbo 4.4-liter V-8. In the 550i, this engine produces 407 horsepower, bringing the car to 60 mph in 5 seconds. Other U.S. models are the 535i, powered by the same twin turbo 3-liter straight-six as the previous model, and a 528i.
The new 5-series serves as a platform for a host of driver aid technologies. Lane Change Warning alerts you to other cars in your blind spots while lane departure warning lets you know when you're drifting across lane lines. A night view system shows an enhanced display of the road on the LCD when it's dark out, and includes a pedestrian detection feature. Adaptive cruise control lets you set a cruising speed, and have the car slow down to match speeds with slower traffic ahead.
One of the more surprising driver aid features is automated parallel parking. This system is made possible by BMW's adoption of an electric power steering module for the 5-series. It uses sonar to determine if a parking space is long enough for the car, then automatically steers the wheel as you handle the gas and brake.
The 5-series gets the latest version of iDrive, but BMW is actually making it standard on all models. That means you get an LCD in the car whether you've chosen the navigation option or not. Without navigation, the LCD is a little smaller, and shows audio, phone, climate, and other car functions.
The midsize sedan segment is far from exciting, but Nissan attempts to add some thrills to its Altima by giving it a coupe treatment. In coupe form, it gains a more striking profile, while losing rear doors and a little headroom. We had the least sporty of the Altima Coupe variants, with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and a continuously variable transmission (CVT). It's a good thing that Nissan makes the best CVT in the business, offering a manual-transmission feel and excellent fuel economy.
A U.S. version of the tiny Mazda2 goes into showrooms in 2010.
(Credit: Mazda)
A burgeoning small car market in the U.S. convinced Mazda to finally sell its tiny Mazda2 here. The car, available around the world since 2007, will be shown in U.S. spec at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show. It joins the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Scion xD, and Kia Soul in a subcompact market that has seen increasing sales.
The U.S. spec Mazda2 will get a 1.6-liter four cylinder engine mated to a five speed automatic transmission. Cabin tech offerings will be minimal, although a Bluetooth phone system should be present, along with audio controls on the steering wheel.
The 1.6-liter engine is the biggest offered in its world-wide marketing, with smaller powerplants also available starting at a 1.3-liter engine. Diesel engines are also in the mix, along with manual and continuously variable transmissions. In Japan, the car can also be optioned up with navigation, something that won't be available here.
Check out our upcoming coverage of the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show for full details on the U.S. Mazda2.
You would be hard-pressed to find a car with a smaller engine for sale in the U.S., and have equal difficulty finding on in this price range that offers navigation as an option. The 2010 Fit Sport is a practical little city car with an interior that somehow seems bigger than the exterior. From a tech perspective, it has its faults, such as a pretty average drive train, and it also faces increased competition from Toyota, Nissan, and Kia. But it still manages to hold its own.
The Toyota 4Runner Trail is aimed at drivers with off-road ambitions, while the Limited increases its on-road capabilities.
(Credit: Toyota)When we last discussed Toyota's 2010 4Runner, I was nitpicking a very silly gimmick called "Party Mode." Since then, the new model has been released and is available.
Starting with the basic SR5 model, the 4Runner's upper trim levels (Limited and Trail) head in two very different directions with two very different sets of suspension technologies.
The Limited features X-REAS, a sort of pneumatic sway bar system that links the dampers of each front wheel with the rear wheel on the opposite side of the vehicle. When the left side of the vehicle is compressed during, for example, a hard right turn, the X-REAS system exerts a downward force on the right wheels, keeping them in contact with the pavement and increasing overall traction. Because this is a cross-vehicle system, X-REAS also works to counteract lift and dive weight transfer during hard acceleration and braking.
Instead of the on-road only X-REAS technology, the off-road capable Trail-trim level gets a very different suspension tech cocktail. In addition to a lever-actuated 4x4 system, front and rear skid plates, and a rocker panel deletion that increases center ground clearance, the 4Runner Trail is the only trim level that features the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS). Essentially, KDSS replaces the vehicle's standard sway bars with beefier units that are pneumatically linked on one end.
During regular on-road driving, the KDSS works like a regular sway bar, linking the left and right suspension components and increasing traction. However, when driving off-road, the pneumatic link of the KDSS loosens up, allowing the wheels to move more independently. This increased wheel articulation allows the wheels to maintain better contact with uneven surfaces encountered during, for example, rock crawling, where a vehicle with a fixed sway bar would lose contact with the ground.
Other new features that cross trim levels include available third-row seating, DVD-based navigation with XM satellite radio and traffic, and available iPod and Bluetooth connectivity. Check out our gallery for more photos and details.
So far, Audi's odd-numbered cars have been pretty desirable. The A3 is a practical and sporty little wagon, while the A5 is one of the better-looking cars to come out recently. But now Audi is replacing the A4 Cabriolet with a convertible version of the A5. Gone is that gracefully sloping roof, replaced by what is basically an umbrella, albeit one with acoustic damping built in to lessen road noise.
But Audi does equip the 2010 A5 Cabriolet with plenty of tech, including a navigation system with absolutely beautiful 3D maps. The drive technology is also interesting--it features a direct-injected turbocharged four cylinder, which strangely doesn't deliver on its promise of power and fuel economy.
DETROIT -- Chrysler brand CEO Olivier Francois startled an audience of more than 400 journalists and analysts last week by showing video footage of a couple passionately making out in the back seat of a Chrysler 300.
A voice says: "Let's design cars people want to make out in again, cars people want their pictures taken in." The clip shows such fashion icons as Coco Chanel and Giorgio Armani and lays out a bold new vision for the Chrysler brand.
The voice says: "What ever happened to style? It wasn't too long ago America had it. At Chrysler, we believe it's time to get it back, to regain the style."
Last week Francois was one in a parade of Chrysler Group brand bosses seeking to reclaim lost glory with daring plans. Group CEO Sergio Marchionne is betting Francois and his peers at Dodge, Jeep and Ram truck will redefine their brands for new customers with the help of fuel-efficient, Fiat-based vehicles.
The challenge is daunting. In recent years, General Motors gave Saturn highly regarded vehicles based on European Opels. The brand failed anyway.
On the other hand, the Mercedes-influenced Chrysler 300 was the biggest hit of the decade-long DaimlerChrysler alliance.
Observers were impressed by the plan unveiled by Marchionne and his team to reinvent its old brands for a new generation of customers.
Chrysler will spend up to $23 billion on new products, manufacturing and brand building over five years, hoping to push market share from its current 9 percent to more than 13 percent. Planned are about a dozen new vehicles underpinned by Fiat platforms and technology.
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We had high hopes for the updated Subaru Outback. At recent auto shows, the company seemed like it was going tech-forward, displaying new Harmon Kardon audio systems in the Legacy and Outback. But our review of the 2010 Outback showed us that the company is still well behind the curve of car technology. Sure, the all-wheel-drive system is great, as is the car's general utility. And in how many SUVs can you get a manual transmission? But, aside from that new audio system and a very basic Bluetooth phone system, the new Outback doesn't have much to offer in the cabin tech department.
