Alfa Romeo and Fiat in North America

[nordwulf]

I was driving by the Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan a few weeks ago and snapped some pictures of cars that were parked in their test areas. Besides the 500 and that other very expensive Alfa sports car, I don't really know what Chrysler is planning to do with the Alfa Romeo and Fiat brand in the US.

It would be cool to have some affordable and fun Alfas and Fiats. The 500 is nice but too small and cute for me.

Is the Chrysler merger going to be good for Fiat/Alfa or is it going to be like GM and Saab?

This is some kind of oval test track at the back of the property.



An Alfa (and red Fiat?)



I have no idea what this is.



Parked in other areas on the property



Fiat Punto?



Alfa Giulietta, I assume.



This looked like some kind of crossover because it was pretty tall. Is this something Chrysler is developing for the US market? Alfa and crossover just don't seem to go together. Or perhaps it is something that is going to be sold as a Dodge?



As I was leaving..

[#1SAAB12-17-11]

Great question. There is a huge contrast between Fiat/Chrysler and GM/SAAB.

It's now clear Marchionne has brought Chrysler back from the edge of the abyss. I'm not sure what future Dodge, Ram and Chrysler brands might have now, but before Fiat showed up all three of them were dead, Dead, DEAD. Wondering whether Americans will ever embrace the Fiat brand? Yes, the 500 is cute but its already selling well below expectations and the Alfas will be running uphill, too. The outlook for the Fiat and Alfa brands in America will clear up soon.

Unlike SAAB, Chrysler (circa 2007) had no product equity left to sell this side of a Jeep Cherokee. Unlike GM, Marchionne clearly has more leadership skills than Wagoner or anyone else who navigated GM straight into the ditch the past 20+ years. Thus I fully expect Chrysler to eek out an also-ran existence (just like it has for 80+ years), fortified with whatever technology they can grab out of the Italians' parts bin.

SAAB is dead because Wagoner (and his predecessors) couldn't get out of the way of their own shadow -- destroying stakeholder value at every turn -- until liquidating their investment for $0 was an even better alternative than licensing it to would-be buyers. By contrast, Chrysler will survive because somebody with a clue is pointing the business (so far) in a sustainable and profitable direction.

Which brings me to my central point.

Nobody in Sweden was in charge of SAAB except to the extent GM in Detroit let them be in charge. The fact that the Trollhattan factory is now vacant is testament to the lack of profits caused by the Swedes' mismanagement leading up to the 1989 reorganization, nor could solve in joint effort with GM management the following 10 years, nor fighting with their Detroit overlords the final 10 years. It's spelled M-I-S-M-A-N-A-G-E-M-E-N-T. It took plenty of it to destroy SAAB.

Chrysler, if not all of Fiat North America, isn't heading this direction.

Sorry... been mulling this one for a while.

[nordwulf]

Alfa Romeo always seemed to have a good reputation in Europe. Not always reliable and quality cars but fun to drive and a bit temperamental (in a good way). I don't know how the average American car buyer cares for the brand but I don't think many really know anything about it.

I would buy an Alfa but never a Dodge Dart. Mostly because I had a few Chryslers before (Eagle Vision and Dodge Dakota) and both were crap. I see 6 -8 old Chrysler trucks and vans and many are rusted out beyond repair.

Perhaps the problem will be to sell an average economy car like Fiats or upscale like Alfas are in Europe and try to turn it into a hip and luxury brand in the US.

It will also be interesting to hear how Europeans see this merger. Looking at the Lancia 300, I can't imagine it made a really good start.

[rpiereck]

Well, the new Lancia Thema based on the Chrysler 300 is a humongous improvement over Lancia's recent styling. I cringe every time I see a recent Lancia on the road, none are good looking, some are downright hideous.

Chrysler is one of the American brands that sells best in Europe, surprisingly and I see Chrysler minivans, Chrysler 300s and Jeeps wearing German plates (not US military) or even Swiss plates very often.

Marchione sure is doing something good at the helm right now, he just needs to take advantage of Fiat's small momentum in the US and continue introducing new Italian cars in our shores. Fiat cannot survive on 500s alone in America. Bring on the Panda, bring on the Punto, Doblo and Albea too.

[#1SAAB12-17-11]

Can't say I'm an expert on how well Marchionne's plans to sell American brand equity (like the Chrysler 300) to Europeans might work out, but I know damn well he's managing foreign brands in the USA at least as well as Alan Mulally at Ford and infinitely better than Wagoner ever did at GM.

Mulally got $1.5 billion selling off Volvo while Wagoner was lucky to get even $320 million for SAAB having already sent the brand to "administration" with the intent to get $0 at all! Wagoner made everybody a loser: Employees, shareholders, taxpayers, SAAB owners... you name it. How's that for "management"?

Mulally was reading the same market data Wagoner had access to from 2005-09. He was busy preparing Ford for the coming storm while Wagoner didn't. Senior executives must make tough choices but not all of them are up to the task. Chrysler will be fine with Marchionne around to guide the business for the same reason SAAB was doomed with Wagoner and his cohorts from GM screwing up everything.