Tag Archives: Fiat

Will Marchionne Move Alfa Romeo Production to the US?

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Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is in a big fight with the Italian government and Italian labor unions. He wants to build 11 new high-end Alfa Romeo and Maseratis, but strict Italian labor laws are making it very difficult to do it profitably in Italy. So Marchionne is threatening to move production elsewhere:

“The relaunch of Alfa Romeo will continue for sure,” Marchionne said. “Italy should decide if they want it to happen here or not as Fiat and Chrysler have several alternatives.”

Hey, why not build them in the US? Right now Fiat relies on Chrysler for profitability. Chrysler already builds the Alfa-based Dart in Belvidere, Illinois. And the US builds some of the highest quality vehicles in the world, which is something Fiat needs if they want to compete with the Germans:

“The only weapon we have is to get a slice of the high-end market, which we haven’t been able to tackle in the past because of laziness or inability — leaving our German friends alone,” Marchionne said. “We want to disturb the idyllic environment they’ve created for themselves.”

I don’t know about you but I’d love to drive a US-built Alfa Romeo. Maybe one with a Hemi? Via Bloomberg

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Should Dodge be the Big Muscle Brand?

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Allpar has an interesting take on the whole “Is Fiat Planning to Kill Dodge” thing that Ward’s Auto kicked off two weeks ago. Allpar claims that instead of losing Dodge, we instead might be looking at “the first real focus Dodge has had since it was named Dodge Brothers.” Allpar thinks that Dodge should be allowed to take the “‘big muscle’ rep” and run with it. I think that would be awesome. But there are a few problems with this idea.

1) Chrysler would lose Dodge as the bread and butter brand that it has been for a long time and force Chrysler to take that role, when Chrysler has historically been more of the “luxury” brand. And Americans aren’t going to accept Alfa Romeo or Maserati as substitutes in the a luxury area.

2) Chrysler has already invested a lot in the SRT brand.

3) CAFE standards. You can’t build a brand on performance and rear wheel drive anymore, unless you are talking high end, low volume (and that’s SRT).

This discussion reminds me of the whole Pontiac discussion a few years ago, and we all know how that ended… But read the article at Allpar and see what you think.

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