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.
... Read moreThe small and powerful Fiat 500 rolled into the scene in the 1960s. Since then, Fiat's vision of the 500 hasn't really changed.
The Fiat Abarth 500 was unveiled at the 2008 Geneva auto show. A 1.4-liter Fire engine with an IHI variable geometry turbocharger powers it. The Abarth 500 has 135 horsepower (101 kW) and 180Nm of torque, with the option with 160 horsepower and 206Nm in sports mode.
In this Web video, Vicky Parrott, and Autocar reviewer, takes a Fiat Abarth 500 Trophy on a test drive around a track.
TURIN, Italy--Fiat S.p.A. may turn to Chrysler for help in reviving its European lineup of prestige sedans.
The Italian group's upscale Lancia brand could get a replacement for its Thesis flagship from the next-generation Chrysler 300, due in 2011, a Fiat source said. It also may base a smaller Lancia sedan on the next-generation Chrysler Sebring.
Lancia stopped building the 7-year-old Thesis in the summer.
The source said Fiat aims to integrate the Chrysler brand more closely with the Lancia brand in Europe. He said Chrysler and Lancia will share distribution in Europe in the near future.
A version of the next generation of the Chrysler 300, due in 2011, could replace Lancia's Thesis, above. Thesis production ended this summer.
(Credit: Automotive News)Lancia could provide products for Chrysler, too. Chrysler could get a version of the next-generation Lancia Ypsilon small car, scheduled to arrive in Europe late next year.
Last week, in a step toward integrating the two brands, Fiat and Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne put Lancia CEO Olivier Francois in charge of the Chrysler brand. Francois will remain Lancia chief and remains head of marketing for Fiat S.p.A.'s Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Abarth brands, and Fiat Professional light vans.
He also will coordinate worldwide marketing, brand development, and advertising for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge cars, and Dodge Ram trucks.
Lancia sold about 110,000 units a year from 2005 to 2008, all in western Europe. Through August, Lancia's sales were flat at 79,683 units in an overall market that declined 7 percent, according to ACEA, the European automakers association.
Francois, a marketing expert, is credited with keeping Lancia sales stable during the economic crisis, helped by advertising campaigns. The French native joined Fiat Group Automobiles in 2005 from Citroen, where he was the French brand's Italy chief.
(Source: Automotive News)
FRANKFURT--By adopting a platform strategy put to good use in Europe, Fiat says it can help Chrysler Group differentiate its three brands quickly and economically.
The group's product strategy calls for greater differentiation among Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles. About 80 percent of Chrysler Group dealers now sell all three brands.
The goal is to create distinct differences at the lowest possible cost.
Preview for analysts
Fiat-based Chrysler models are still a couple of years away. Harald Wester, Fiat's chief technical officer, this month gave a group of analysts here a detailed look at how the Italian company can help reduce the cost of launching vehicles and cut the time needed to do it.
Chrysler reorganized along brand lines after emerging from Chapter 11 in June. Fiat owns 20 percent of Chrysler.
Under Fiat's standardization approach, Wester said, only 25 to 30 percent of vehicle production costs come from components that differentiate models and brands. Those components are mainly the upper body, doors, windows, seats and interior trim, exterior trim, instrument panel and front and rear lamps. Most other costs are common among vehicles that share an architecture.
... Read moreFRANKFURT--The Chrysler brand will handle U.S. distribution of the Fiat 500 minicar, said Peter Fong, Chrysler brand CEO and head of sales for all Chrysler Group brands.
Fong said the 500 most likely will have a dedicated corner in Chrysler-brand showrooms. The limited volume planned for the 500 prevents creation of a dedicated retail network.
About 80 percent of Chrysler dealers now offer all three of the group's brands: Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep.
The Fiat 500 probably will have a dedicated corner in Chrysler-brand stores.
(Credit: Automotive News)Fong said no decision has been made on how many dealers will sell the 500. The plan is for the 500 sedan to be built at Chrysler's plant in Toluca, Mexico, beginning in late 2010 or early 2011, says a supplier source.
Fiat prefers Mexico mainly because of its free-trade agreement with Brazil. The Italian automaker, which is the market leader in Brazil, plans to export about a third of the 100,000 Fiat 500s planned for yearly production in Toluca to Latin American countries.
Eventually, Fiat is expected to offer in North America the entire range of 500 body variants: hatchback, convertible, wagon, and a sporty version sold under the Abarth brand name.
(Source: Automotive News)
For years, style was absent without an excuse from American subcompacts. But the days of slab-sided, no-frills hatchbacks may soon be history.
For decades, something was missing in the small cars designed, built and sold in the United States. It was gone for so long that most American consumers probably didn't know what it was.
But to Ralph Gilles, Chrysler Group's chief designer, the missing ingredient was obvious. U.S. subcompacts lacked emotional appeal.
"Small cars of the past were not necessarily done with passion," he said.
Generations of Detroit designers seemed to say: No one buys a small car for its styling, so why bother? Uninspired, appliancelike econoboxes? What else did you expect?
American subcompacts had none of the attributes found in the cool, quirky and even elegant small cars created elsewhere in the world, from the original BMC Mini to the first Peugeot 205 to the modern Citroen C3.
U.S. automakers were forced to churn out small cars to raise corporate average fuel economy averages, so they could keep selling big trucks. Small-car design? An oxymoron.
But consumer preference has shifted -- the result of higher gasoline prices, new fuel-efficiency standards and concern about climate change.
"Small cars and vehicles powered by four-cylinder engines have been on a steady increase since 2004," said Ford Motor Co. sales analyst George Pipas.
U.S. fleets must average 35.5 mpg by 2016, compared with 25.3 mpg this year. Combined with stricter emissions standards, it means the number of small-car nameplates for sale in the United States will increase.
And when a market segment gets crowded, automakers must rely on styling to set their vehicles apart from the crowd.
"It's not business as usual for small cars here anymore," said Moray Callum, Ford Motor's design director for cars.
The expanding lineup of new small cars means styling will get a lot more creative and appealing, just as it did with mid-sized cars recently. (Think of the modern Chevrolet Malibu, the new Ford Taurus and the current Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.)
... Read moreBALOCCO, Italy -- Chrysler Group may incorporate Fiat's new MultiAir fuel-saving technology in some gasoline engines, Fiat sources say.
Fiat S.p.A. considers the variable valve timing system a breakthrough. The company says MultiAir improves power by about 10 percent and reduces fuel consumption 10 percent.
MultiAir's electrohydraulic command of intake valves increases fuel economy.
(Credit: Automotive News/Fiat)The MultiAir system provides direct control of air and combustion in engines, cylinder by cylinder and stroke by stroke, without using the conventional throttle. That saves energy wasted in traditional systems.
Fiat will offer its first MultiAir engine in Europe this month on the Alfa Romeo MiTo small hatchback.
The sources say Chrysler is considering MultiAir technology for these engines:
-- 2.0- and 2.4-liter four-cylinder units produced by the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance, which Chrysler operates with Hyundai and Mitsubishi. The engines are used in the Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Caliber and Avenger and Jeep Compass and Patriot. MultiAir units could arrive in late 2011.
-- The Pentastar V-6 engine family now under development. The 3.6-liter Pentastar family will replace seven Chrysler engines. The new V-6 will debut next spring on the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. MultiAir could be added in the second half of 2012.
(Source: Automotive News)
What do you get when you cross the super-cute Fiat 500 with a dash of Abarth tuning and a coat of Scuderia Red paint? You get Ferrari's special edition, the 695 Tributo Ferrari.
The 695 Tributo is the result of a collaboration between Ferrari and Abarth, Fiat's in-house tuning division.
Starting with the 1.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engine, the 695 Tributo's power plant sends 180 horsepower through a six-speed automatic transmission with F1-style paddle shifters to the 17-inch Ferrari-inspired alloy wheels. This is still a Fiat, so power will reach the ground through the front wheels. Red Brembo brakes match the Scuderia Red paint and shave off speed before it's time for the uprated suspension to do its thing in the corners.
I still need to check my facts, but I have a hunch that the 695 may offer the most trunk space of any Ferrari ever.
(Credit: Auto Express)Interestingly, this isn't the first Ferrari special edition Fiat 500 offered by the automaker. That honor belongs to the 500 Ferrari Edition offered in 2008 exclusively to Ferrari owners. However the 695 will be the first to bear solely the Ferrari nameplate and special tuning.
The 695 Tributo is set to bow at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show alongside the 495 Italia supercar.
(Source: Auto Express via Jalopnik)
Has the U.S. auto industry finally hit bottom? U.S. will get a new small SUV from BMW--and perhaps a new mini Miata. Plus, we take you for a ride in a really nice car that could be so much better.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
SHOW NOTES
The BMW X1 will come to the U.S., slotted beneath the X3 as a utility stablemate to the 1 Series.
(Credit: BMW of North America)• How Toyota's geared CVT works -- see an animation
• Fiat's 500 will come to the U.S., but not stablemates
• See BMW's new fuel, weather and stocks screen
BALOCCO, Italy--Chrysler will build and sell four versions of the tiny Fiat 500 in North America starting in 2011: a hatchback, convertible, station wagon, and sporty hatchback.
A fifth model--a small, four-wheel-drive SUV--also is possible.
They will wear the Fiat brand, and no longer-term plans exist for other Fiat-badged models here, the company said.
Roberto Giolito, designer of the 500 and head of styling for the Fiat brand, confirmed the plans here last week at the launch of the 500C convertible.
The sporty hatchback is the Abarth version of the 500 hatchback, the popular 2008 European Car of the Year that Chrysler/Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne calls "our iPod."
The 500, which debuted in Europe in 2007, is scheduled to go on sale in the United States in the first half of 2011, said Fiat brand CEO Lorenzo Sistino. Production in North America is expected to begin in early 2011 at a Chrysler plant either in the United States or in Toluca, Mexico.
At 139.6 inches, the 500 hatchback is 33 inches longer than the Smart ForTwo but seats four adults instead of the ForTwo's two. The 500 is about 10 inches shorter than Toyota's Yaris hatchback.
On the wagon version, the wheelbase is stretched 3.1 inches, to 93.7 inches.
(Source: Automotive News)
