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Jeep Patriot, Compass Gain a Temporary Reprieve

June 21, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment

Two compact Jeeps will be replaced by one new model in 2017.

Is this the future Jeep pickup truck?
Is this the future Jeep pickup truck?

The Jeep brand’s two smallest models slotted above the Renegade may reach the 2017 model year after all. The Jeep Compass and Patriot, compact SUVs introduced in 2007, will be built until Dec. 23, 2016. A Brazilian-manufactured replacement vehicle bearing one of the two model names will launch in 2017, according to Automotive News.

Plant and Product Shuffling

The reprieve comes as Fiat Chrysler realigns its manufacturing base to build more SUVs. Both the Compass and the Patriot as well as the Dodge Dart are assembled in Belvidere, Illinois. All three models will be canceled or moved out to make way for the Jeep Cherokee.

The Cherokee is currently built in Toledo, Ohio, but will be moved to Illinois in an effort to provide additional capacity for the next-generation Jeep Wrangler and a much anticipated Jeep pickup truck. Following extensive retooling, Cherokee production is due to begin in May.

Jeep Cherokee

Jeep Cherokee.

The plant shuffling also extends to Sterling Heights, Michigan, where the Chrysler 200 midsize sedan is being built, but in modest numbers. FCA plans to lay off an entire shift of workers as it realigns Chrysler 200 production with demand. Sales of the 200 are down sharply over last year as consumers shift to pickup trucks and SUVs.

By 2018, the Sterling Heights plant will begin making the next-generation Ram 1500 pickup truck. FCA is still looking for a partner to build the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart, models it says it no longer have priority in its portfolio. So far, no manufacturer has been identified as a potential partner.

Lengthy Model Run

Eleven years is a long time for a model run and both the Compass and Patriot are showing their age. The two models were extensively updated in 2011 as part of a massive product overhaul conducted by the then Chrysler Group in advance of its merger with Fiat.

Strong incentives coupled with increased interest by consumers in all matters of SUV have helped Patriot and Compass sales stay strong. However, with new models above (Cherokee) and under (Renegade), customers have much better choices.

Jeep Renegade

Jeep Renegade.

Future Jeep Product

FCA has two significant moneymakers in its Jeep and Ram brands. However, unlike Ram, Jeep is now a global brand and will continue to provide the most significant growth and drive the greatest profits for the automaker going forward.

FCA is also holding down costs by building Jeep’s two smallest models overseas. Besides the Brazilian-built replacement for the Compass and Patriot, the entry-level Renegade is built in Italy. All other Jeep models are built in the US.

Slotted above the Cherokee is the Grand Cherokee and in its own special category is the Jeep Wrangler, the only body-on-frame Jeep model presently built.

Jeep Grand Cherokee

Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Jeep Grand Wagoneer Reprise

In a Jan. 2016 update to FCA’s 2014-2018 business plan, the automaker noted that future “white-space” products are planned – Jeep Grand Wagoneer and Jeep pickup truck.

The Grand Wagoneer name was last used in 1991, a model based on the Jeep Wagoneer, itself introduced in 1963. The original Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer was based on Jeep’s full-size truck platform. Later Grand Wagoneer models incorporated features common to today’s SUVs, including a roof rack with rails, power bucket seats, leather surfaces, and upgraded sound systems.

As for the new Grand Wagoneer we know it will be a three-row luxury model, based on the next-generation Grand Cherokee platform. Further, FCA has promised the grandest of all Jeeps will compete with Land Rover for luxury SUV shoppers. FCA will introduce the Grand Wagoneer to dealers only this August. As for the rest of us, expect the luxury Jeep’s global unveiling to take place in a major US auto show by early next year.


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Filed Under: Automotive News Tagged With: BRAZIL, Chrysler 200, DODGE DART, ILLINOIS, ITALY, JEEP CHEROKEE, JEEP COMPASS, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Grand Wagoneer, JEEP PATRIOT, JEEP RENEGADE, JEEP WRANGLER, OHIO, PICKUP TRUCK, SUV

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: Done Deal

January 31, 2014 by admin 2 Comments

Chrysler is the automotive manufacturer that refuses to die. Since the late 1970s, the company has experienced several near-death experiences, managing to get back on its feet with a lot of outside help.


Fiat Chrysler Automobiles


Government Loan Guarantees

In 1979, Chrysler received $1.2 billion in loan guarantees, designed to keep the automaker afloat. It also renegotiated hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, forcing its creditors to absorb those losses. Later, the company launched its K-Car line and an untold number of variants including its highly-popular Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan minivans.

Although hardly out of the financial woods by the time it bought out AMC in 1987, the move enabled Chrysler to get what it really wanted: Jeep. It also began one of its most ambitious product undertakings launching an all-new Dodge Ram pickup truck, its Viper sports car, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, and its line of LH front-wheel-drive large sedans. Chryslers resurgence and improved outlook caught the attention of Daimler-Benz, the German automakers and producer of Mercedes-Benz.

Daimler Buys Chrysler

In 1998, an all-new DaimlerChryslers entity was launched, what was supposed to have been a merger of equals, but never was. The two companies never managed to make a go of it, leading to a messy divorce that was finalized in 2007; the Chrysler portion was sold to Cerberus, a private equity firm.

Cerberus wasnt able to reorder Chrysler, watching its losses mount as the economy slid, with the automaker filing for bankruptcy two years later. That led to a historic government intervention that bailed out both GM and Chrysler, and gradually folded the latter into the arms of Fiat, the Italian automotive manufacturer.

Fiat Takes Control

Since 2009, Fiat took control of Chrysler and was awarded increasing shares in the automaker as it met each required threshold. Fiats intent from the start was to acquire Chrysler and snapped up the 41.5 percent stake it did not own earlier this month, paying the UAWs trust $4.35 billion to do so.

On Jan. 29, 2014, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) was formed, a company organized in the Netherlands, but a resident for tax purposes in the United Kingdom. Shares of Fiat stock will be exchanged one-for-one for FCA stock, with common shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as well as on the Mercato Telematico Azionario (MTA) in Milan, Italy.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

Very little in the day to day operation of the combined automaker will likely change. Fiat and Chrysler have been working toward this day for more than five years, with Sergio Marchionne guiding the transition. What is new is the logo, a modern design that will soon be seen everywhere. It is the work of RobilantAssociati, but there is much significance in its design.

In developing the design, the branding project looked to demonstrate a transition from its past without severing its roots while also reflecting the global scope of FCAs work.

There is a geometric configuration at work in the logo too with the F, derived from a square, symbolizing concreteness and solidity. The C, derived from a circle, represents wheels and movement, and also symbolizes harmony and continuity. The A, derived from a triangle, indicates energy and a perennial state of evolution. Both Fiat and Chrysler corporate logos will give way to the new logo although both Fiat and Chrysler car brand logos are expected to remain unchanged.

Sergio Marchionne Comments

Following the vote by Fiat S.p.A.s board to approve the corporate reorganization and formation of the FCA, CEO Sergio Marchionne remarked how the two companies worked tirelessly …to transform differences into strengths and break down barriers of nationalistic or cultural resistance. Marchionne noted that the now global automaker has a mix of experience and know-how on a level with the best of our competitors.

Theyll need that to compete in a market where Toyota, Volkswagen, and General Motors are the top three manufacturers and with Hyundai-Kia, the Ford Motor Company, Renault-Nissan, and Honda competing for the same customers. Moreover, with increased consolidation and cooperation likely in the coming years, FCA will need to continue to form its own framework for success, including crafting it own partnerships.

Long-Term Business Plan

As far as the company’s long-term business strategy, the automaker will submit a business plan to the financial community by early May 2014. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has reassured supporters that the merged entity will not reduce headcount and that it will continue to maintain operations in Turin, Italy, and in Auburn Hills, Mich., avoiding potential political controversy in both nations.

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Photo courtesy of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V.

Filed Under: Automotive News Tagged With: BANKRUPTCY, CHRYSLER, FIAT, FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES, ITALY, Jeep, MERGER, SERGIO MARCHIONNE, UNITED STATES

Fiat 500: 5 Key Italian Facts About FIAT’s Biggest Hit

August 15, 2012 by admin 2 Comments

Only a few cars could ever claim to be as quintessentially Italian in their essence as the Fiat 500 is. But if the exploits of this model across Italy’s borders are recent history, its tradition in its sun-kissed homeland goes back a long way and springs up in subtle ways even in its most recent reincarnation.

And no worries if you don’t know much about tradition: we have gone under Fiat 500’s skin to reveal the 5 key Italian facts behind the city car that sold 100,000 units in the UK over the last five years and still enjoys an enduring success on the main online sales websites such as eBay Annunci.

Fiat 500 Guccisuccess because of Italy’s pre- and post-World War II struggles. Rivaling the German New Beetle, this was also a rather expensive car which was worth 20 times the wage of an Italian factory worker of the time. But, FIAT hit back in style after the war and in 1957 introduced “Nuova 500”, simply called 500. To the whole of Italy, this became the one and only 500, much more affordable than its predecessor and worth 13 salaries of a factory worker. The 500 grew up to be a symbol of the country’s economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s its stylish, unmistakable silhouette and its 3 meters of length which only made room for 2 passengers turned it immediately into an icon: the 1.5 million units sold between 1966 and 1971 are there to show it.

2) A Bold Car Consider it a little detail, but no other Italian city car has been able to build upon such legacy and carry the banner of its country abroad: with two flag stripes running across its sides as one of the available customizations, the 500 is Italian through and through definitely not a shy car.

3) A Fashionable Car Could you actually separate Italians from style? You probably wouldn’t bother trying. And you can’t take away the style from the 500 either: topping the most fashionable cars of the last few years is the 500 Gucci, a unique collaboration between the Turin manufacturer and Gucci Creative Director, Frida Giannini. Combining red and Gucci’s trademark green stripes on the sides, with ivory and black interiors and Gucci logos on the alloys, the luxury feel of this car is simply magnificent.

4) A Migrant Car Millions of Italians migrated to the USA at the beginning of the 20th century. A new ad for the American market portrays FIAT 500 as a migrant car, one that is now gearing up for success across the Pond. Once again, the 500 is a symbol of Italian legacy as well as change: in 2010 it became the first Italian car to sell more units abroad (54 percent of the total) than at home. This is quite impressive for a 55-year-old model!

5) and it Makes Coffee! Italian coffee tastes great, is perfect for a break and helps you stay awake…so why not install an espresso machine is an Italian car? This comes as an option available in the new 500L, one only few Italians could ever do without. Supplied by Lavazza, another local institution, the built-in coffee machine will make getting from points A to B a much tastier task.

Italy’s Finest

So, there you have it: the Fiat 500 is Italy’s most popular motorized export, delivering value, good looks and a fun to drive experience like no other car from this sun-kissed southern European nation.


See Also — Fiat 500X Marks the Spot

Filed Under: New Models Tagged With: FIAT 500, FRIDA GIANNINI, GUCCI, ITALY, LAVAZZA, UK, UNITED STATES

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