The new Chrysler Group “will sink or swim” on the type of larger vehicles produced at such plants as the Brampton and Windsor facilities in Ontario, the co-author of a report forecasting the automaker’s future product lines in North America said, according to a Canadian media report.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
“I think the new Chrysler is going to sink or swim on the larger products, not the smaller products,” John Wolkonowicz, automotive analyst with IHS Global Insight in Detroit, was quoted as saying.
“This goes directly against what the US government believes. I think the US government is wrong. It’s going to be the LX cars – Dodge Charger and Challenger – in Brampton and the minivans in Windsor and the Dodge Ram pickup trucks that are going to carry Chrysler. It’s not going to be the Fiat stuff.”
Though the strategic alliance with Fiat was intended partly to give Chrysler help with in small car, fuel-efficient technology, Wolkonowicz said Chrysler’s traditional product line would prove more popular with North American consumers than Fiat’s offerings of small vehicles, such as the 500.
“You want a small vehicle, you buy a Honda Civic,” Wolkonowicz said. “You want a big pickup truck, you get a Ram or a (Chevrolet) Silverado, or a (Ford) F-150.
“People go to a Big Three auto company for that kind of a vehicle. So, I believe the products Chrysler is building in Canada are among the most important in their product range for their survival in the future.”
According to the report, Wolkonowicz and two other researchers have predicted that the new Chrysler would will use Fiat technology in six of its vehicles and build six Fiat-brand cars at plants in Mexico, the US and Brampton.
Fiat platforms would be used in redesigned versions of Chrysler’s Dodge Caliber, and Journey and Jeep Liberty SUVs, the IHS Global Insight report said, according to Canadian media.
