Chrysler has already inked a deal with Nissan that will see the Detroit-based automaker selling a Chrysler-badged Nissan -made small car in the U.S., and it looks as though Chrysler could be signing more of those kinds of deals in the coming years.
Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli says that he is open to buying more models from other automakers, as long as it makes fiscal sense for Chrysler. “We will not suffer from the not-invented-here syndrome,” Nardelli told the Detroit Free Press. “If we can have similar arrangements … and it makes financial sense and supports our dealer network relative to what customers are telling them they want, we’re going to go do it.”
Nardelli also said that Chrysler has sped up its small car development in the face of $4 a gallon gasoline and is gambling on hybrids and electric vehicles to be the technology of the future. “Hybrid, electric — if you’re at the roulette table, those are the two numbers we’re betting on,” he said.
Chryslers first hybrid vehicles — the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango – are set to go on sale later this year.
