It's not new news but it is news I'm surprised nobody here has brought up. The Chrysler group is now a fully owned division of Fiat. It's no longer an American (Domestic) car maker, It's an Italian owned brand, Fiat owns the majority stake in Chrysler. So when a guy in a Dodge, Jeep or Chrysler tells you to buy American, you can tell them to do the same. They still build cars and trucks here just like Toyota, Honda, BMW, Hyundai and many other foreign auto makers do. But the profits don't go to an American company anymore it goes to Fiat. Chrysler is now an import car company....kinda puts a whole different spin on "Imported from Detroit".
Source - NY Times
Quote:
Fiat�s New Management Structure Will Bring Chrysler Into Fold
By NICK BUNKLEY
Published: July 28, 2011
DETROIT � Fiat unveiled a new management structure on Thursday, taking a major step toward bringing Chrysler into its fold, a week after acquiring majority control of the once-bankrupt carmaker.
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Rob Widdis/European Pressphoto Agency
�We have now reached the right moment to step on the accelerator of the Fiat-Chrysler integration,� said Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler.
The reorganization assigns seven chief operating officers, four of whom will oversee Fiat and Chrysler in different geographic regions. Sergio Marchionne will remain the chief executive of both Fiat, which is based in Italy, and Chrysler, based in Auburn Hills, Mich., and have responsibility for their North American business.
Mr. Marchionne�s decision to put himself in charge of North America indicates the importance of the United States to the combined companies, even though Fiat currently sells only one model, the 500, in this market. Access to the United States, which Fiat abandoned in 1984, was a major factor in Fiat�s decision to become Chrysler�s partner in 2009 as Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy protection.
�We have now reached the right moment to step on the accelerator of the Fiat-Chrysler integration,� Mr. Marchionne said in a statement. The changes take effect Sept. 1.
The regional chiefs are part of a 22-member group executive council that will run the two automakers. Michael Manley, who will oversee Asia, is the only one of the four whose background is at Chrysler. Fiat�s head of purchasing, Gianni Coda, will be in charge of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Cledorvino Bellini, the head of Fiat in Brazil, will be responsible for Latin America.
Another Chrysler executive, Richard Palmer, the chief financial officer, now will have that title for both companies.
In all, nine executives from Chrysler will sit on the council, which the statement described as the companies� highest decision-making authority aside from the board.
Six members will be in charge of the various Fiat and Chrysler brands. Olivier Francois, who has been head of the Chrysler and Lancia brands, will become head of the Fiat brand and serve as the companies� chief creative officer. Saad Chehab, one of the executives behind a two-minute Super Bowl ad that highlighted the turnarounds occurring at Chrysler and in Detroit, will run Chrysler and Lancia.
�Sergio likes to think big and do dramatic things,� said Jeremy Anwyl, the chief executive of Edmunds.com, which researches the auto industry. �Fiat by itself lacked the scale to be a competitive player, and to receive the full benefit and cost savings you�ve got to bring the full operations together.�
Mr. Marchionne said the changes �reflect the multicultural geographically diverse nature of our businesses� and would help to make the combined companies �an efficient, multinational competitor in a global automotive marketplace.�
They also cut by more than half the number of people reporting directly to Mr. Marchionne, a tireless micromanager who has traveled frequently between Italy and Michigan since taking over at Chrysler.
He has spent the last two years gradually bringing the two companies together.
Fiat began consolidating Chrysler�s finances into its own at the end of May and now owns 53.5 percent of Chrysler. It expects to gain an additional 5 percent stake by year�s end. The companies� partnership agreement grants the increase after they begin producing a car based on Fiat technology that gets at least 40 miles per gallon.
Last week, Fiat paid $500 million to buy the United States Treasury�s 6 percent stake in Chrysler and $125 million for the 1.5 percent held by Canada. Fiat also paid $75 million to buy out the two countries� rights to purchase additional Chrysler shares from a trust fund for the United Automobile Workers union. The trust fund is the only remaining shareholder in Chrysler other than Fiat.
Chrysler on Tuesday reported a $370 million second-quarter loss, but Mr. Marchionne said it would have earned a $181 million profit but for a charge related to paying back Chrysler�s $7.6 billion in government loans.
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It's been the big 2 since Daimler "merged" with Chrylser. I think Fiat's a better owner/partner for Chrysler anyways.
in many ways i just wish the entire company would go away, I think in time fiat just as Daimler did, will realize its not a good investment
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
Rodimus Prime wrote:in many ways i just wish the entire company would go away, I think in time fiat just as Daimler did, will realize its not a good investment
Why? Chrysler has a good portfolio of vehicles just had bad management for far too long penny pinching on parts they shouldn't have. As long as they get their @!#$ straightened out and put out reliable cars they'll do fine. Don't agree with some of their decisions such as Fiat watering down Lancia's portfolio with rebadged Chryslers or continuing production of the Dodge Nitro and Jeep Compass/Patriot. If the next Dodge small car is based off of the Fiat Punto then I think they'll be giving ford & gm a run for their money in the compact car wars.
So does this mean we get more Fiats, and maybe even some Lancias here in North America? I would like to see Fiat and Lancia handle small to mid size cars in that partnership. Its something the Italians do fairly well, and Chrysler has always done a mediocre job of at best.
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Tony T Crams wrote:So does this mean we get more Fiats, and maybe even some Lancias here in North America? I would like to see Fiat and Lancia handle small to mid size cars in that partnership. Its something the Italians do fairly well, and Chrysler has always done a mediocre job of at best.
Have we forgotten about the K-car line that saved Chrysler the first time in the 80s?
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^which were some of the worst cars ever made
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
LMAO.. the K-cars were @!#$ terrible. I test drove an Aries and it broke down on me a mile from the dealer. Not to mention the other ones my friends owned when we were fresh out of high school.
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Wow Troy, you really just brought up the K-car's as a positive for Chrysler?!? Yikes.
(tabs) wrote:z yaaaa wrote:its not much fun trying to argue with a wall.
oh, trust us, we know
sndsgood wrote:apparently reliability on allot of chryslers products has improved allot this past year.
They've always had great "initial quality". It's no secret Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge built their entire company around leasing. Every car was built to be be disposable after the first 3 years (when the warranty usually wears off) It's the used market where Chrysler products fail. They literally fall apart, and rust out after the first 3 years. Think of how many 90's era Ford Tauruses are still on the road running, now think when was the last time you saw a 90's era Intrepid. I just saw a 2002'ish Dodge stratus R/T the other day (I have not seen one of those in a long time, and it was only a 10 years ago this car was made) It's paint was all peeled back oxidized. The guy accelerated and tons of smoke out of the tail pipe.
The moral of the story is. Chrysler's whole business plan was to lease people new cars and trucks. they never built and quality into their vehicles because they didn't care, they knew 2, 2 1/2, to 3 years later they would get repeat business and sell a new car or truck anyway, so they made a profit regardless. They didn't have to build quality products that are built to last, just good enough to make through a lease period. You will notice when the finance market crashed in 2008 and Chrysler stopped it's leasing program, they were the first to fall in to a financial tailspin. They were also the ones in the most amount of debt. Chrysler's bail out was far more than GM's was. The reason for this was nobody in their right mind would "BUY" a Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep. The commitment was too risky when a savvy car buyer knows their cars are unreliable past 3 years more so than any other manufacturer. it's one thing to lease and have the safety net of a warranty, but a how 'nother bag when you're on your own.
I don't think they're quality is improved, i think they've decided to improve materials. it's too hard to judge the "quality" of brand new cars, with brand new motors (the penta-star motor is new for 2010) kind of hard to take a company's "quality" claims serious that has top notch union workers constantly being caught by TV news cameras smoking weed, and drinking in the parking lot AT WORK on their breaks. It might happen at every car maker, guys like that. But other car makers don't have the black cloud reputation for questionable quality like Chrysler does.
2007 Corvette Z51 | Suzuki Swift GTi SCCA racer | 2008 Edge
, to be honest I'm suprised there as many 1990's cars still running at all given how much salt they dump on the roads here in winter 
. As long as you take care of them they can last longer than 3yrs. My friend has a '01 or '02 Stratus sedan that still runs & looks like new. She gets the oil changed every 3-4,000 miles and gets it repaired when it needs it, hasn't had any major engine or transmission repair yet. No doubt Chryslers of that vintage needed a bit more TLC as you noted they weren't building vehicles for the long term. 