Thursday, November 5, 2009

Fiat’s plans for North American market

In 2010, Fiat will be back in the US after having succumbed to defeat in 1983. Fiat’s reputation in North America is still poor though. The brand continues to be perceived as unreliable particularly as it relates to its popular cars such as the 124 Spider.

Nonetheless, Fiat hopes to attract customers with the models that will be sold in “metro area” dealers. In 2010, the US version of the Fiat 500 will appear. This is followed by the Fiat 500 cabrio in 2011 and the Abarth 500 in 2012. Like most fans, we’re also hoping to get news of whether Chrysler and Fiat have plans to relaunch Alfa Romeo in the US market. But so far, there has been no confirmation. Meanwhile, Chrysler’s RAM pick-up and truck brand will have an aggressive relaunch, with a target of increasing sales from 285,000 to 415,000 by 2014. The RAM brand will also get to small commercial Fiat-based vans.