BALOCCO, Italy – There is a future for the Chrysler and Dodge marques and the Fiat 124 Spider. Fiat Chrysler will continue to sell Fiats in the U.S., and the next Jeep Grand Cherokee, on a modified Giorgio platform, will expand to both two- and three-row versions. These are a few of the revelations from a press conference with retiring Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne and Chairman John Elkann that capped the day long Capital Markets Day/Five Year Plan here.
“I’m convinced that we don’t need to go as far as the Giorgio architecture” for the next Dodge Charger and Challenger, which as originally intended under the previous Five-Year Plan announced in 2014, would have been on the market by 2019. Giorgio is better suited for European-style dynamics than a big, powerful muscle car, he said.
Instead, the next-generation sedan and coupe, which were to be trimmed to midsize cars for the Giorgio platform, will be on a highly evolved version of the current architecture, which dates back to 2005 and had Mercedes-Benz bones from the DaimlerChrysler years.
“Certainly by the time we’re finished with that architecture, you will not recognize it,” Marchionne said. It’s unclear whether that means it will be much smaller–the Dodge Challenger is a size up, in terms of exterior dimension than the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, because it uses the same tall front cowl as the Charger and Chrysler 300, and needs the overall length for proper proportions.
Fiat will continue to sell vehicles in the U.S., though concentrating on electric-powered city cars. In its Five-Year Plan, Fiat Chrysler referenced the mid-‘60s 500 Giardiniera, a sort of two-box station wagon version of the Fiat 500. A new EV edition of the 500 with wagon-like styling could be sold in U.S. dealerships by 2022.
The automaker also is committed to a future for the Fiat 124 Spider, as Marchionne referred to a contract with Mazda to assemble the sports car on the MX-5 platform, with unique sheetmetal and an Italian-built Fiat engine. Whether the model will survive after the contract ends or after the culmination of the Five-Year Plan in 2022 is a question for Marchionne’s replacement. Fiat Chrysler plans to name that man or woman in 2019.
Marchionne also confirmed that the Ram midsize pickup truck will be sold in the U.S., probably by 2021. Jeep and Ram chief Mike Manley announced the midsize pickup will be built as both a Ram and a Fiat for major global markets. Production is slated for Saltillo, Mexico, from where Fiat Chrysler recently moved production of its Ram heavy duty pickup trucks.
With the future of Chrysler and even Dodge as Fiat Chrysler marques in doubt, Marchionne was asked why there was very little information regarding their future products. Marchionne replied that he had announced before the conference that the automaker would concentrate on its big, global brands. Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo and Maserati account for 80 percent of the company’s annual profits.
Marchionne said that the Pacifica will not be Chrysler’s only model going forward, but he did not indicate Fiat Chrysler is holding to its previous plans of a 300 replacement and a large, three-row utility based off the Pacifica’s platform; only that the marque will specialize in practical people-movers going forward.
