Chrysler badge will disappear from cars sold in Europe by 2011

By 2011, the Chrysler badge will cease to appear in cars sold in Europe . This leaves Jeep as the carmaker’s only nameplate in the continent. In order to streamline capital expenditure and distribution costs, Chrysler and Dodge cars will be rebadged as Lancia or Fiat models.

This action is in line with Fiat S.p.A’s restructuring plan for Chrysler Group. This leads to the question of what else is included in Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne’s plan.

To sum it up, the restructuring calls for (1) Selling the Chrysler Voyager as a Lancia model to replace the Italian brand’s Phedra minivan; (2) Rebadging the next-generation Chrysler 300C as a successor to Lancia’s flagship Thesis sedan; (3) Selling Chrysler’s next Sebring sedan and new mid-size crossover as Lancias; (4) Selling the Dodge Journey as a Fiat-branded replacement for the Ulysse large minivan; and (5) Replacing Fiat’s Croma hatchback with a Dodge-based mid-sized sedan while the Italian brand’s Sedici crossover will replaced by the Dodge Nitro successor.

Olivier Francois, CEO of the Chrysler and Lancia brands, said that Lancia models will complement the Chrysler brand in North America but that the opposite will happen in Europe . Michael Manley, CEO of the Jeep brand and head of Chrysler Group international sales, said Jeep will become Chrysler’s Group’s only global brand. Outside of North America , the Dodge and Ram brands will only have special or regional roles. It’s also interesting to note that during the first 10 months of 2009, half of Chrysler Group’s sales outside North America were Jeep models.