Is it going to be priced like a Mini too? Good luck with that.

A stripper Mini is pretty reasonable… but once you start adding a few minor options the price skyrockets rather quickly.

Can Chrysler please use the underpinnings of this to create a new Neon? I don’t care if people think the car was crap… it sold quite well and the SRT version was (and still is) a street monster. Eliminating the fun-and-friendly Neon in favor of the refrigerator-on-wheels Calibur was a huge mistake.

AND GET RID OF THE CVTS

In 18 months a lot of things can happen. I doubt it will be priced like Mini. I don’t think currently it even has slush box, it will be interesting to see what they will come up with, but CVT for this is definitely a strong possibility. Most of Nissans have CVT and their sales don’t suffer because of it.

I’m always a fan of the SRT4 Neon. The Caliber is just ugly and even more boring than a stripper Neon. I agree it was a mistake, and a Dodge based on this small wheelbase could result in something fun, I guess.

Chrysler sheet metal? Apparently someone forgot Chrysler went into bankruptcy for boring cars no one wanted.

Well, that marks the end of Chrysler. Remember this day – it will live on and forever change the automotive industry. Fiat will eventually end Chrysler and the name will die off – no matter what BS they shell out. First we get Fiat badged 500’s, then it will be something else Fiat badged, then Alfa Romeo will come. Where’s the room for 5 brands in one dealer? Answer – there isn’t.

Fix It Again Tony returns to America… they better push the rust-proofing

Its about time.

Chrylser went bankrupt because they chose to focus on SUVs and the “Hemi” when small cars with 4-bangers were the smart and fashionable thing to be driving.

Chrysler itself will probably dissapear… to be replaced by Fiat badged vehicles, Dodge will stick around simply because of its trucks, which will continue to sell like hotcakes when gas prices top $5/gal again. Jeep will most likely be sold off to someone else… the brand has a lot of history, but Wrangler is the only vehicle they have that sells in any appreciable quantity.

Jake, I don’t see it that way. In the short term not much will change. And before we see any Fiat sporting MOPAR clothing there will be a new 300/Charger, Grand Cherokee and hopefully even the 200C. If everything that is a Fiat underneath only serves to keep that CAFE number in check so that the real Chryslers can live on I’m OK with that.

Undercut the MINI by a thousand or two and offer us the Abarth and you have a success.

But will any customers be coming to a Chrysler dealer near you?

I know, JC – but honestly, I don’t see it lasting much past those models. FIAT will eventually get tired of having to rebrand the same cars as in Europe, and they will merge the two. It’s unfortunate, but Chrysler probably can’t live in the long-term, for that matter, I doubt Fiat will last any longer than Chrysler. Fiat will enevitable have some quality issues here, and can Chrysler ever manage to get past the bad publicity it’s had? Remember in the 80’s when they went down, they reamerged and paid back the loan early, it’s never going to happen now. I think people will forgive GM eventually, but they will still be a North American company when said and done, not Chrysler.

i agree with saved sol and raineman

Dodge Trucks have been on a steady increase in market share

Here is a report from PRN last summer:

Dodge Continues to Build Momentum in Commercial Vehicle Market

Commercial market is white space for the Dodge brand

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Aug. 22 /PRNewswire/ –

— Dodge leads all manufacturers with first-half 2008 growth of 132
percent in Class 3-5 segments
— Commercial sales grow to 20,177 units for first half of 2008, a 123
percent increase over 2007
— Total retail market share grows to 21 percent for Class 3-5
— Dodge Ram 3500 Chassis Cab maintains average retail share of 27
percent; Dodge Ram 4500 and 5500 Chassis Cabs grow to 16 percent share
— Dodge Sprinter sales increase 21 percent over the same period last year
— Dodge is now fourth largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles
— Dodge BusinessLink network grows to 507 dealers
— Dodge has introduced six all-new commercial vehicles since 2003 return
to commercial market
— Product portfolio boasts best-in-class fuel economy and low ownership
costs
— Industry-wide, nearly one out of every five new vehicles sold in the
U.S. is a commercial vehicle

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-22-2008/0004871821&EDATE=

-Sarge

As far as the HEMI The Hemi Increased sales for Chrysler Period !

The Hemi gets big: Marketing of V8 engine powers turnaround at Chrylser

By Neal E. Boudette

The Wall Street Journal

Jason Kanakis recently went to buy the car of his dreams, the 2005 Dodge Magnum R/T. Hours of haggling later, he roared the sleek station wagon off the lot in Jacksonville, N.C. for $31,000, the “absolute limit” he could afford.

“The power and mystique of the Hemi made me more willing to go up,” says the 34-year-old Marine. That’s the name for the car’s powerful V8 engine, which added $5,000 to the price. “I said to myself, ‘That’s 345 horsepower, my friend.’ ”

The Hemi engine, made famous by muscle cars of the 1960s and 1970s, is now helping make DaimlerChrysler a notable exception to the gloom that has descended on Detroit.

Amid the U.S. auto industry’s most severe crisis in a decade, the Hemi is revving up profits and market share. In particular, it’s reviving sales of passenger cars, a stark change from Detroit’s recent reliance on sport-utility vehicles and pickups.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/motoring/2002353598_hemi01.html

No one was worried about MPG during the 1st half of the 2000s This Myth of Companies building Cars no one wanted is such a Myth it is Totally Insane. They do not want them Now simply because Fuel Prices are too High not because they did not want them.

-Sarge

The Fiat 500 is Less Expensive Than The Mini And Kills The Mini On The Race Track Period !

Please View:

Fiat 500 VS Mini One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a545msmb2m0

They New Neon R/T has Arrived !

-Sarge

good they will have good small cars again. i think Chrysler will continue to be the behind it large cars trucks and suvs not fiat. i wonder if the 500 will become the hornet for dodge or if Nissan still going to make it, hopefully the 500. still miss the viper tho .

and will it bee the Chrysler 500 because that would be weird having the large car be 300, medium 200 and then small be the 500

I would pay $16-17K max for that car. It would have to come with AC and power windows for that price too. There’s no way I would drop 20 grand on a car the size of a Geo Metro that’s made in Italy and sold by the Auto Manufacturer Formerly Known as Chrysler.

Who knows, in 18 months gas could be dirt cheap again and all of the hippies will be buying HEMIs again.

(But still have their environmental plates mind you.)

Blah, I want MORE FIATS! Give us not only the 500, but the Grande Punto, the Panda, and the Bravo. I don’t want these Fiats “Americanized” like these new Chryslers would be. They would become heavier, less fun to drive and have terrible interiors. Screw the new Dodge Neon based on the Grande Punto, I want the Grande Punto itself. And I hope Alfa Romeo is still on track to come to the US. My dad wants to buy a modern Alfa Spider.

I never saw hippies in Hemis. Prius and next thing will be Insight.

@AFSOCSARGE –

I work for the people who buy many of the commercial Dodge products and the orders from them are miniscule to that of GM commercial and Ford commercial, – 10-20 to 1 Dodge, so I think your numbers are bloated to say the least.

Jake, I agree that numbers are bloated, butt Chrysler had huge slice of private/small biz sector. Especially with their diesels, since nobody could produce competitive truck. The guy who has his own business and does not have access to corporate programs will buy Chrysler, if he needs torque and economy. There is nothing else cheaper and more reliable.

May I ask how someone can make a blind claim with no source to substantiate that said claim ?

You can believe in Leprechauns,The Easter Bunnie, Santa Claus and even The Great Pumpkin Just because you believe something does not make it True or Fact

-Sarge

I see an initial success for the 500 if it’s designed and marketed correctly as a cute vehicle (like the re-born VW Bug). But sales will quickly drop after the cuteness factor wears off, as with the VW Bug. The 500 won’t have lasting power like the Mini.

Personally, I’m dumb enough to have purchased a Fiat once, but I’m certainly not stupid enough to purchase a Fiat again. I’d like to see the Chrysler brand disappear altogether — their ass has been saved two times by the US Government, and that’s two times too many.

First the Germans (Daimler-Benz). Now the Italians with Fiat.

The “Real” Chrysler died many years ago. What exists (for now) is nothing more than a brand with practically no value left.

Sad.

I agree with JakeK66. There will be too many brands. It will start to look like the old GM and we know what happened with them today. As for a Neon based of the Fiat 500. It won’t happens because it would eat into the sales of the 500. I do agree that Chrysler will disappear eventually. I give it 5 years.

They said Chrysler would be Dead in 1979 and Fiat 4 Years Ago GM was going to buy Fiat but thought it would be a Loss. Fiat is doing Great now and Chrysler was doing so well in the 90’s Mercedes brought them. Chrysler will survive.

-Sarge

This car wont do well in America just like it isnt in Australia.

You can’t offer a well styled, sophisticated European car to a country where they drive Voltron-looking cars that are as big as a bus to haul around some fat arse who loves Automatic transmission on their way to Popeye’s. Americans and Australians detest European chiche’ values in return for “bully” values.

i’m looking forward to seeing this one out on the roads.

I hope they sell a $25k Abarth version here as well.

Depending on pricing, they could do fairly well. Positioning it vs the MINI as opposed to the New Beetle, or moving even further down the food chain in the Rio/Yaris/Fit ballpark, is a smart thing for them to do. Then again, if its $20k for a “meh” package…I would look elsewhere.

A truly adorable modern-retro car. Too bad the engine is in the front instead of in the back where it should be

I think this has a good chance here if and only if it proves to be reasonably reliable. FIAT had a bad reputation for a long time for good reason, and they are still rated fairly poorly in Europe. The American public (by running away from American made cars in droves) has dramatically demonstrated that we will no longer put up with unreliable rusting junk. This is a cute car, a fun car, but it also has to be a reasonably good car. It doesn’t need to be Toyota good obviously, it just needs to be decent. If any of the old FIAT reliability problems manifest, the word will get out and sales will plummet in short order.

Maybe Chrysler could use this platform for a Dodge Hornet, like the concept seen in the past couple years. I really wish Fiat would bring the Panda 100hp to the states, badge it a Chrysler, call it the Chrysler 100 and let the sales (and fun) begin. Really, can you imagine if WE had my proposed Chrysler 100 here in the states, priced at around $15k? It would be a success, if the quality is good. It certainly would represent a good value.

Ok Ok Ok guys girls car fanatics, Fiat is going to revitalize Chrysler. American cars have been terrible since muscle cars were roaming the roads. They were cool, because they had huge lumps of power and a bada$$ nature. Which made them cool. Nothing lately has come to the same par as those cars. These other European car manufacturers will revitalize the struggling American market. The introduction of the Fiat 500 is great, one because its a cheap alternative to any Chevy, which these will come with alot more safety and options standard, unlike the Chevys which are expensive and have no safety options standard.I was supprised to find out they still put DRUM BRAKES standard. In these times of more and more safety concerns with motoring, how can these companies get away with that. But the real reason Im so looking forward to this is I hope and pray that they bring the Little Nutter ARBATH!!! If you have never seen it, its worth looking up. GO FIAT GO ARBATH!!!!

Has anyone seen the Consumer Report on the Fiat in Europe? They just recently were ranked dead last in their reliability, such as Chrysler did in America. Now what will happen when they start underpinning cars here in America and import Fiats as Chrysler’s? It will still be in dead last. Oh boy, its gonna be fun to see what happens to these two brands internationally. Will it be another Daimler situation? Its a fact that European builders screw Americans to the fullest potential

Clarkson: HONDA and TOYOTA still use DRUM BRAKES on some models as well. And theres nothing wrong with drum brakes in the rear, they work quite well.. I prefer them actually… which is saying ALOT because I hate working on drum brakes!