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FIAT is buying 35% of Chrysler! What do people think? Please no Fix it Again Tony jokes... that was in the past, and FIAT builds some pretty nice cars. I don't think its a bad thing if the Chrysler brand continues to be on the road.
Fiat 500 for one. People in the US remember Fiats from the 80s when they were unreliable crap - so were Ferraris. These days Ferraris are much more robust and reliable - same goes for the rest of the Italian auto industry, 30 years down the road. Besides, Fiats, we'll get Alfas as well - 159, Mi.To - both great cars with great style.
Fiat brings to Chrysler what the Big 3 have been unable to do against the Japanese (and Chrysler by far the worst of the big three): Build inexpensive, reliable, fun-to-drive small cars.
Having spent a couple of years in Europe, I agree with Sayantsi that the reputation and quality of Fiat is miles what it was when the Fiat were here before. In my recollection, I would say it was the 70s. By the 80s, Fiat was pretty much gone from the American market.
The FIAT group also includes Alfa, Lancia, Maserati, Ferrari... so in theory, FIAT really never left the US since Ferrari was still sold here. I would welcome some of their Turbo Diesel vehicles in North America. In Australia I drove a Fiat Grande Punto Turbo Diesel and I loved it! In Tahiti I rented a Fiat Punto which was an economical yet comfortable car - it was fun to toss around. There was also talk of Alfa opening a plant in Ontario; one of their big guns is a Canadian-Italian. I saw a 500 in Australia last month -- looked quite nice.
Last edited by minibrings; 01-20-2009 at 11:38 PM..
man, i'm not a big car guy. could someone please tell me a car that fiat has ever made that someone wants to buy.
See minibrings post before (plenty of cars to pick from Alfa, Lancia, Maserati, Ferrari). Reduced to the FIAT brand the list gets much much smaller though.
Regarding the OP's question... wasn't there already a similar try between GM and FIAT which did not work out as planned?
I like Chrysler, and they are already talking about selling the 500 under the FIAT name in Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealers.
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