By Sam HaymartPublished: September 8, 2009Posted in: IndustryTags: Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep, crd, Dodge, fiat, jeep, SUV
Fiat is now in the driver’s seat at the new Chrysler and likely still wondering what the hell they got into. While the company may be “all new” again, the current product line surely is not. In fact most of the Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep products were stale a couple years ago and have lost favor with the buying public. Add old tired products to a bad image from bankruptcy and you have a problem.
Fiat is surely scrambling to find ways to get new products to market that will get customers back into showrooms. The punky little Fiat 500 is coming soon which will be a great shot in the arm. But what about the fact that nothing significantly new and exciting is planned for the next couple of years relative to Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep product?
What Fiat might be very smart to do is to break the mold and power up the existing products with diesel engines. What most people would be surprised to hear is that virtually every vehicle in Chrysler’s portfolio already has a diesel engine option in place, being built right now in North American plants. Unfortunately, these highly desirable products are only offered overseas because the “Old Chrysler” felt Americans just “don’t want diesels”. We see where that kind of thinking got them.
This includes the 2.2 liter CRD in the small car platforms that include the Dodge Caliber, Jeep Patriot, Jeep Compass. The same engine and power train could easily go into the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring. In the larger rear wheel drive sedans, a 3.0 V6 CRD is already available in the Chrysler 300 and other RWD models.
Granted these engines are currently sourced from a partnership with Mercedes which is on shaky ground. But Fiat itself has a brilliant 2.0 turbo diesel that meets Euro spec emissions and could easily be adapted to our American market models. Their European manufacturing base could also round up a medium sized engine to power mid-size cars and SUV’s as well. Does anyone remember the CRD Grand Cherokee that never needed a rebate to sell?
In the end game Fiat could go a long way in redefining Chrysler as the American “diesel brand”. By offering 35, 40, and 45 mpg engines in existing product they could boost sales and get a whole new crop of customers into the showrooms in relative short order. It might just be the boost they need to get from point A to point B when all new product can be rolled out. Advice to Fiat: Inhale.
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