Chrysler won’t add Fiat in United States

Posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 3:03 PM EDT.

Chrysler Group LLC, the automaker run by Fiat SpA, said it won’t bring the Italian company’s namesake brand to the United States, while selling its partner’s 500 small-car model and Alfa Romeo luxury vehicles, Bloomberg reported.

The U.S. company, which is owned 20 percent by Fiat, may make the 500 a brand by itself, like Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s Mini, Gualberto Ranieri, Chrysler’s chief of public relations, told Bloomberg today. Fiat products to be sold through Chrysler will be limited to the 500 and Alfa Romeo, he told the news service.

The Chrysler Group, created June 10 from assets of bankrupt Chrysler LLC with U.S. government financing, is forming its future product plans, including what will be built in North America and at which factories, Bloomberg said. Sergio Marchionne, who serves as chief executive officer of both Fiat and Chrysler, has said the 500 may be sold in the United States by late 2010.

Fiat said it stopped selling its namesake brand in the United States in 1983 and Alfa Romeo in 1995, Bloomberg said. The company intends to build Alfa Romeo cars in the United States, to reduce costs, Ranieri told the news service. Other makers of luxury autos produce some models in the United States, mainly sport-utility vehicles, but Alfa Romeo currently doesn’t make any SUVs, the story said. (Bloomberg)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 3:03 PM EDT and is filed under Industry, Restructuring. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comments are currently closed.