Was The FCA Merger a Complete Failure?
Vložit
- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- #FCA
Was the Fiat-Chrysler merger a complete failure? The train-wreck I expected it to be and a repeat of the Daimler merger?
Not exactly, and now that FCA has merged with PSA to form Stellantis, we can look back with hindsight at FCA and see where they stumbled and where they (surprisingly) succeeded.
Be sure to follow the Page on Facebook!
AllCarsW...
I love your videos, John, id love to see you collaborate with My Old Car or Big Car or Ed’s Auto Reviews.
That would be cool! I don't think those big guys know I exist. :) LOL
IMO, I’m grateful for the merger to the extent that it saved Chrysler as a brand post-bankruptcy. The alternative would have likely been liquidation or acquisition which would have made the brand go the way of AMC. FCA knew where the golden goose was and invested heavily in Jeep/Ram during their stewardship so it’s hard to fault them for following the money. Overall I give the merger a solid B.
I’m hoping Stellantis holds true to their word and injects more life into the Chrysler and Dodge brands in the coming years.
Discuss FORDS Premier Automotive Group the failed company of Land rover, Volvo, Jaguar and more.....
The Introduction to that ZF 8 Speed that Fiat brought over was another huge plus. That thing is a tremendous Transmission and at the time was only used by the likes of RR and Bentley. But FIAT CEO Sergio Marchionne was a huge fan of the Transmission and had them in the Alfa Romeos. So when they merged they started to use them, and now it's a staple throughout the Stellantis Lineup. And for about a good 10 Years, chrysler was the only Domestic Maker to use the Transmission
Maybe if Warren Buffet or Ross Perot Jr. bought the Chrysler Group, something good might happen. But Daimler abused Chrysler and nearly killed it, Cerabrus didn't do jack, and now Stellantis is on a mission to go "all electric" like the other automakers. I'm hearing no more Hemi come 2024. And if Chrysler became its own company again, I'm afraid Wall Street would screw it up too. They're all about the bottom line today and nothing else matters, certainly not customer satisfaction. Chrysler needs a maverick type with some of Lee Iacooca's qualities.
They got that Dakota that I believe is confirmed, so that's a start. But you're exactly right.
I have to wonder if the FCA PSA merger won't turn out to be wildly prescient. If the price of oil remains high and consumers rediscover the joys of vehicles that aren more fuel efficient than pickups or SUVs, the fact that Citroën and Peugeot have car platforms presently in production might give Chrysler and Dodge an edge in coming out with new car models sooner than say, Ford or GM, although I would have trouble believing that Ford and GM don't have some designs in their back pockets for just such a scenario.
Stellantis should work better than FCA alone. Peugeot should supply Chrysler and Dodge some car platforms to use for ICE vehicles, hybrids, and EVs. By the way, Motorweek just showed a Retro Review on the 1988 Mazda 929. You should check that out!
Yeah, I've had my eye on that one.
@@AllCarswithJon The 929 was an interesting near luxury car. Personally, I would want the 1990 929S sedan. It had standard antilock brakes and could be had with an automatic and air conditioning.
Jon if you think about it out of the present automobile companies out there today the stand alone companies will die off. (gm) sold off all of their models outside the US. Ford did the same thing. Today Stilantais might survive
In 2009 Fiat canceled the EVs lineup from the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge. Now, Dodge having a subcompact CUV as a Dodge Hornet rebadged Alfa Romeo Tonale. The Fiat Ducato badged as a Ram Promaster in the US, Canada. The Fiat Doblò badged as a Ram Promaster City in the North America market. Also, now the Stellantis making Chrysler as a EV brand w \ the Chrysler Airflow.
Two wrongs don't make a right, so putting to failing companies together doesn't fix them to make them a better company
Dodge has already cancelled the Journey & Caravan. Stellantis plans to drop the Charger & Challenger by 2024. The Chrysler 300 is aging and needs to replace. They need a new platform
The Charger will return this year as an EV and ICE versions will come in 2025. My guess is that the upcoming Chrysler Airflow EV will come in 2025 to replace the 300. I believe Peugeot will supply platforms for Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, and Jeep to use for cars, crossovers, hybrids, and EVs.
While not a total success, I would say that Fiat did some good for Chrysler. One area that is a win is powertrain. Previous Chrysler thinking had been to build an engine to accompany a chassis, and at the time of the merger, they were making 6 different v6 engines. FCA streamlined that down to just the Pentastar V6, which IMHO is a substantial upgrade over anything it replaced.
Those Italian engines are not reliable. Jeep isn't the same anymore before Fiat. Quality has gone down since merging with Fat
I was glad the merger kept Chrysler around. But it was semi useless. I thought they could badge engineer vehicles with Fiat stuff being small Dodge or Chrysler vehicles and the Charger/300 being some bigger cars for them overseas. Instead they starved Chrysler and Dodge cars down to nothing, bought over Fiat and Alfa Romeo and put them into separate dealerships. No one cared, in the US, about FIAT and Alfa. With the 300 going away soon but the Charger/Challenger getting a redesign....I can't even see the Chrysler line sticking around too much longer.
Fiat cars were a failure in the United States as Americans don't like Fiat. Since Fiat merged with Chrysler, their quality has gone downhill. The Jeep, Chrysler & Dodge vehicles with an Italian engine are not very reliable. Chrysler & Dodge brands haven't released new models in years since Fiat took over. Don't know what Stellantis plans to do with those 2 brands
As far as Dodge Chrysler Jeep slantis whatever you want to call it I think the only reason they're staying the float is because of Jeep SUVs ram pickups and the Challenger charger cousins that's it half of those charges or fleet sales to law enforcement in the rest are to young dudes with bad credit they can't handle the horsepower and tear them up in 6 months LOL... After they killed the neon they never really came back to making a decent subcompact or mid-size they tried to come back with that ugly ass caliber that didn't work they brought the dark over here it had liability issues they made a Chrysler 200 that didn't look shit like the 300 they killed off the Dodge avenger... They won't restyle the 300 and for some reason the 300 doesn't get a hellcat motor I don't understand that either so many things that this company does that I just do not understand... Out of the big three stalantis or whatever they call itself now got to be the most confused....
Sorry but I think Chrysler should have been allowed to go under when Reagan was in office. It was a lousy brand then and it's lousy now.