Carmaker unveils ‘aggressive’ vision
Fiat Chrysler goes full gear in 5-year plan
Fiat ChryslerAutomobiles wants to turn Jeep into a global brand and bring AlfaRomeo back to theU.S. as part of an aggressive five-year plan unveiled this month.
The company isworking to meldAuburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler Group withTurin, Italybased Fiat to create a more nimble, global automaker that can better compete with the likes ofToyota, Volkswagen and GeneralMotors.
“In a flatworld, you can’t be secure in your home market if you aren’t able to compete in others,” said SergioMarchionne, FCA’s chief executive.
The merged company— the product of Fiat’s gradual acquisition of Chrysler after theU.S. automaker’s emergence from bankruptcy in 2009— wants to increaseworldwide sales to about 7 million vehicles by 2018, up from 4.4 million last year. Fiat completed the acquisition this year and is creating Fiat ChryslerAutomobiles as the parent company for the two businesses.
“An automaker needs to reach at least 6 million units a year to be a long-term credible competitor,” Marchionne said.
Analystswere skeptical that the automaker could achieve all its goals.
“They have set some pretty aggressive sales and market share targets,” said Stephanie Brinley, an IHSAutomotive analyst who attended the automaker’s briefing inAuburn Hills.
Fiat Chryslerwants to segment its different brands better so they target different automotive markets.
Chrysler, for example, will come out with a compact sedan and be positioned as a mainstreamNorth American label.
AlfaRomeo will come back to theU.S. as a sporty European nameplate, competing with premium German brands.
Dodge will abandon the minivan market— the category it created when it introduced the Caravan in 1984— as it creates a performance-oriented brand.
Dodge also will absorb the automaker’s SRTperformance lineup, including theViper supercar. Chrysler will carry on the minivan business.
“It will be very expensive. But overall, I like theway they’re positioning their vehicles,” said David Sullivan, manager of product analysis for the consulting firm AutoPacific Inc. “I like that they’re turning the brands into more of a silo rather than have them overlap. Nowit will be a lot more clear-cut on what makes a Chrysler a Chrysler and a Dodge a Dodge.”
The storied Jeep brand is the linchpin for much of the automaker’s planned growth.
Marchionnewants to more than double Jeep’s global sales to 1.9 million by 2018 fromthe 732,000 it sold last year. It is intended to account for about half of the automaker’s growth through 2018.
About 75 percent of Jeep sales are in the U.S., but Fiat Chrysler plans to add six factories in Europe, China and Latin America as the automaker targets sales in those markets.
By 2018, FCA plans to manufacture1 million vehicles annually outsideNorth America, said MichaelManley, Jeep’s chief executive.
Jeep’s growth plans include developing a full-size luxury SUV that will make its debut in 2018.
The three-rowSUV will resurrect the long-dormant GrandWagoneer name and will compete with the likes of theAudi Q7, InfinitiQX60 and LexusGX.
Jeep will also introduce a new compact crossover in 2016, which is the brand’s 75th anniversary.
The unnamed crossover will compete with vehicles such as the ToyotaRAV4 andHondaCR-V and will replace the current Patriot and Compass models.
“In a flat world, you can’t be secure in your home market if you aren’t able to compete in
others.”
“Jeep is basically the key to growing the whole company outside of theNAFTAregion, especially in China and South America,” Sullivan said.
FCA also is looking at its Alfa Romeo brand for growth. Although Alfa hasn’t sold cars in the U.S. since 1995, it’swell-knownas a sporty upscale brand in Europe.
Still, sales have slumped in recent years. The brand will return to theU.S. later this year with the AlfaRomeo 4C, a mid-engine sports car that will sell for $55,000 to $70,000 depending on trim and equipment.
The automaker also is looking to its core Chrysler brand for growth. Itwants to more than double sales to 800,000 vehicles in 2018 fromthe 350,000 it sold last year.
Fiat Chrysler expects the surge will be led by several new vehicles. In 2016 Chrysler will unveil the100, a compact sedan to compete in a high-volume segment with the likes of theHonda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus.
Chrysler also will bring out a new-generationTown& Country minivan. For the first time, Chrysler will offer a plug-in hybrid version of the van.