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Originally Posted by Zabo
Not to mention the platform sharing from GM.. :/ Fiat is more or less the 'one night stand' company, that did it for the money. But now it seems that it actually found someone to latch onto long term.
There is a US market, though, for the 500 and some of Fiat's cars. Look at the Vibe, Small Toyotas, and the newly imported Fiesta and Focus from Ford Europe.
I see Fiat filling Chrysler's failing small car segment via platform sharing as intended. Fiat could then re-market itself as an intermediate brand like Buick and Mercury where it combines it's current platforms with Chrysler platforms to make a better competing company.
Dodge - Fiat - Chrysler - Jeep
Chevy - Buick - Cadillac - GMC
Ford would then lose out with it's lack of an industrial/4X4 oriented brand.. Interesting.
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I think that you're right about Fiat being very valuable for Chrysler right now.
Based on your lineup, I think we need to see some more direct competition between GMC and Jeep. You're right to point out that Ford lacks a truck only brand, but they did a good job of branding the F-150 as a solid product, so opening a new truck brand would be disastrous as a sales idea, especially in an economy that prefers lean companies over big ones. Ideally, I'd like to see every GMC car run on E85 and hybrid technology, in addition to competing directly with all of the Jeep product lines.