FCA - Product Plan (Notizie - Riassunto a pag. 1)

[Cosimo]

quel dodge è da sbavo in effetti.

[ruggero]

Anche questa non sarebbe male... imho http://www.noticiasautomotivas.com.br/images/img/f/jeep-trailhawk.jpg

[pennellotref]

An Interview With Maserati/Alfa Romeo CEO Harald Wester

[h=1]An Interview With Maserati/Alfa Romeo CEO Harald Wester[/h] [h=2]Catching up with Harald Wester - Maserati and Alfa Romeo's CEO[/h] Matt Zuchowski

A little known fact: two of the greatest automotive symbols of Italy are managed by the calm and analytical industry veteran Harald Wester. By giving some German ordnung to these romantic brands he aims to restore their former glory - a thing we have waited too long to come.

What does Maserati mean to you and what are your ambitions for the future?

I'm not with Maserati to change any of its aims. Maserati is the symbol of Italian style, involving performance and elegance, no one wants to change that. We only want to bring these values to our cars more effectively.

Nevertheless, Maserati is undergoing a huge transformation right now. Since 2013 we have seen premieres of two completely new models - Quattroporte and Ghibli - and before long an SUV. You're also working to reinvigorate the second brand you represent: Alfa Romeo. To what extent will the development of Maseratis and Alfas be integrated?

My role at Maserati is different from that in the Alfa Romeo as the latter is better integrated into the Fiat Group. My job there as global brand leader is to oversee the technical development of the new cars, the first of which will be presented this June, along with the completely renewed Alfa Romeo museum in Arese, Italy. But the new Alfa car won't share any parts with the current Maserati model. I'm not planning any technical merging of these two makes.

Do you see any chance of repositioning either Maserati or Alfa Romeo within the Fiat Group, now that the brands will have totally new model line-ups with different type of products?

When we think of the Fiat Group, we need to take into consideration that only ten years ago our position was fundamentally different from that what we are having today. We didn't have money, though we had a decent status in Europe, but a weak one in the USA and Asia. Today, thanks to the Chrysler Group, the situation is exactly the opposite in each of these cases.

What we have seen in Europe is the problems of factory overcapacities, price wars, and extreme competition overall. Nobody makes money selling compact cars now, which used to be the core business of the Fiat Group. Everybody in that segment has lost huge cash, Fiat included. It is fully justified then to invest money in a completely new range of global products, which will also be profitable in Europe. Thanks to this, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Jeep have come to be strategically important to the whole Fiat Group. Their success will bring us two things: first of all, we will bring back the workers who were laid off in Italy; also we'll have totally different products in different segments, with hopefully significant profit margins.

Harald Wester Maserati Ghibli

In 2012, Maserati was making around 6000 cars a year, the first goal is to surpass 50,000 cars annually. How is that progressing and what's the future goal?

That was just an intermediate step in our journey to have six models and the global sales of 70,000 in 2018. Our goals currently depend on the availability of the third model, the SUV, which we presented in 2011. Since that first outing everything in it has been shuffled: we have moved the production from the US to Italy, where it will start early next year. Our current forecast is that our sales volumes which were 36,500 last year will remain flat this year and when we have the Levante SUV we'll achieve the next sales level.

Are you tempted to go beyond the 70,000 level afterwards, transforming Maserati into one of the biggest premium players of the car industry?

No. Maserati is not and won't be BMW or Mercedes-Benz. We are part of a group that has fourteen brands, so each of them has limited market space. For example, Maserati can't make an SUV of the Audi Q5 size - this is the job of Alfa Romeo and Jeep. Maserati will remain where it is - even after adding the Levante to the line-up, seeing one on the street will be an event.

What is the advantage of Maserati over the American or German premium brands other than greater exclusivity of the products?

They evoke emotions! It is much more of a kind of a car that arouses a feeling that you're really driving the car. You're an integral part of the system, you're in control. In many other cars, you have more of a feeling that you are driven. You can even see this if you compare the slogans when some of the other brands are claiming their advantage through technology.

But some of the trends are impossible to avoid. Is there any room for hybrid drivetrains at Maserati?

It is a technology that is well known to us and I deem it unavoidable to utilize it. For various reasons, it will become very important in the next five to ten years. In the segments where Ghibli, Quattroporte and Levante do or will operate, it is forecast that hybrids will make 40 to 50% of the global sales. We are working on a plug-in hybrid system and we will start to offer it in the second half of 2017 starting with Levante and then moving to the other cars. Our plug-in hybrids aim to cover twenty to thirty miles driven solely by the electric motor.

What is your personal view on this trend?

Look at the numbers. Based on CO2 emissions, we are claiming that two tons' SUVs have a smaller environmental impact than a basic city car. In many countries, it's the owner of the latter that will pay higher road taxes, and in some places, the drivers of these big monsters will be even exempted from paying. All that comes from a fact that we assume that electric energy coming from plugs doesn't create CO2, which is not true. Hybrids don't save the world, but for the time being the rules are what they are.

We're running out of time let's do a quick round of yes or no questions:

Do you see any room for a sportscar positioned above Alfieri?

Yes

Do you see any room for a Ghibli station wagon?

No. It's a niche, unsellable in regions other than Europe.

Harald Wester

How about extended wheelbase Ghiblis or Quattroportes?

No, the cars are big enough as they are.

One-offs with bodies built by coachbuilders like Touring or Zagato?

Potentially yes.

Motorsport activities?

No. The only thing of that type we're doing now is the Maserati Trofeo racing series for our customers, but it doesn't have any marketing effect. The only motorsports with a global impact are Formula 1 and four or five of the 24-hour races. The rest may be interesting for enthusiasts, but it doesn't really have any benefit for the business

[pennellotref]

http://www.autonews.com/article/20150519/OEM01/150519852/some-jeep-renegades-being-held-for-drivetrain-software-issues

Some Jeep Renegades being held for drivetrain software issues

Wrangler aluminum plans changed

Hundreds of Jeep Renegades are being held for software issues parked door-to-door around a two-mile long test track outside Toledo, Ohio.

Larry P. Vellequette

Automotive News

May 19, 2015 - 10:18 pm ET

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said some new Jeep Renegade subcompact crossovers are being withheld from dealers because of software problems.

Marchionne said the Renegade’s quality issues are similar to those that plagued the 2013 debut of the Jeep Cherokee. He spoke late Tuesday after receiving an industry leader of the year award from the SAE Foundation.

The Cherokee’s 2013 launch was delayed several months because of the software controlling its nine-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive system. The Renegade has an identical nine-speed automatic but a different all-wheel-drive system than the Cherokee.

“I’m having a very bad engineering day,” Marchionne said. “It’s a combination of attributes of that vehicle that is making my life horrible.”

The Renegade went on sale in mid-March. In April, Jeep sold 4,214 Renegades, more than the more-established Jeep Compass.

He said the software issues are being addressed, and predicted that any Renegades being held would be released by mid-June at the latest.

Wrangler and aluminum

In addition, Marchionne said the company had changed its plans for the next-generation Jeep Wrangler, which previously was planned to have an all-aluminum body. The CEO said Wrangler would now have aluminum components -- such as perhaps a weight-saving aluminum hood and tailgate, as well as aluminum doors -- but not an aluminum body.

“There will be a large portion of that vehicle that will be aluminum. It will not be all aluminum,” Marchionne said. “We've run the numbers and we've simulated mileage and the impact. Because of the difference in cost -- not just of the material but the actual assembly process -- I think we can do almost as well without doing it all-aluminum. I think we can get very close.”

An aluminum body would have required a complete refitting of the existing Wrangler plant, in Toledo, Ohio. If components made of aluminum are hung on a steel body, no such extensive factory revamp would be necessary.

In addition, the CEO said the next-generation Grand Cherokee, which had been due in 2017, may be delayed to allow it to be jointly developed with a higher-end Grand Wagoneer. The two vehicles would share a platform.

Speaking of the Wagoneer, which had been scheduled to go on sale in 2018, Marchionne said “development needs to coincide with a complete relook at the Grand Cherokee architecture, and effectively jointly develop them. And if there is a delay, it’s due to the joining of these two programs into something that makes sense. It needs to happen.”

Marchionne said the Wagoneer, which would be a luxury three-row version, would compete with Range Rovers and other large luxury SUVs at prices well above the most-expensive current Grand Cherokee.

Said Marchionne: “I think we need to go there with the next version.”

Other news

Speaking to reporters, Marchionne also said:

-- FCA will fully cooperate with information requests and participate in a July 2 hearing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding its response rate for 20 recall campaigns.

“We have done and continue to do a phenomenal amount of work to ensure that we make our cars as safe as we can and that we respond to any recall initiative in an efficient fashion,” Marchionne said. “The real issue is, for organizations like ours and I’m sure for others, the process of adjustment to this new regulatory environment is going to be painful. We’re not used to this and I think that we need to just step up… and move it on.

-- A planned all-wheel-drive version of the next-generation Chrysler Town & Country minivan will either lose its foldable Stow 'n Go seating or use an independent electric motor to power the back wheels.

“You have two choices: you either trade the Stow 'n Go or you go with electric motors in the back. It’s not that complicated. We’re exploring both,” Marchionne said. The next FCA minivan is due to be revealed at the Detroit auto show in January.

-- FCA’s electrification efforts will continue to expand beyond a planned plug-in electric hybrid version of the upcoming Town & Country.

“I think electrification is coming -- whether you like it or not -- in some fashion,” Marchionne said. He said an electric minivan would be “most beneficial” to FCA’s fuel-economy fleet ratings, but said the automaker continues to explore hybrid options for other vehicles, including the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Said Marchionne: “We will continue to optimize our involvement in electrification by going through with the one that gives you the biggest bang for the buck.”

Certo che sarebbe ora che ZF si desse una mossa per risolvere i problemi de 'sto benedetto 9HP.......... FCA si lamenta, Land Rover si lamenta, Honda si lamenta..............ecchechezzz............SVEGLIAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!!!!

https://twitter.com/LarryVellequett/status/600864263956213760

Larry P. Vellequette ‏@LarryVellequett

Personal note: Sometimes Sergio makes so much news back-to-back-to-back that I want to yell "Stop, dammit, and let me catch up." #15hrdays

Modificato 20 Maggio 2015 da pennellotref

[TonyH]

Eeeeeeh......aspetta e spera. Che per far ammettere a un fornitore tedesco che sta cappellando, campa cavallo.

Se poi la critica viene dal mondo non-tedesco viene prontamente cataloga come "cazzata" e ignorata.

Mi ricordo del problema sulle guarnizioni del 1.3 m-jet....la Klinger negava anche di fronte all'evidenza

Modificato 20 Maggio 2015 da TonyH

[pennellotref]

Eeeeeeh......aspetta e spera. Che per far ammettere a un fornitore tedesco che sta cappellando, campa cavallo.

Se poi la critica viene dal mondo non-tedesco viene prontamente cataloga come "cazzata" e ignorata.

Mi ricordo del problema sulle guarnizioni del 1.3 m-jet....la Klinger negava anche di fronte all'esistenza

Allora ...........facciamo che gli gli italo-americani siano una massa di terroni-cialtroni-(gli italiani)-fallitti-mangia-hamburger-(gli americani)................facciamo che "cosa c@zzo vuoi che ne capiscano di tecnologia applicata all'auto gli inglesi".............I giapponesi ? Cosa sono invece i giapponesi ? Ninjaturtles-bevi-sakè ???? O almeno loro sono credibili e le macchine le sanno fare ??????

Modificato 20 Maggio 2015 da pennellotref

[jeby]

Certo che sarebbe ora che ZF si desse una mossa per risolvere i problemi de 'sto benedetto 9HP.......... FCA si lamenta, Land Rover si lamenta, Honda si lamenta..............ecchechezzz............SVEGLIAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!!!!

sono tedeschi, hanno tempi biblici e sono detentori delle verità assolute... c'è solo una cosa peggiore dei fornitori tedeschi... i fornitori svizzero-tedeschi (sto seguendo un progetto pharma, ogni volta che sento un fornitore mi sale il crimine!)

[stev66]

L'elasticità tedesca è quella cosa che gl ifa vincere le battaglie e perdere le guerre.

[justjames]

Fanno i gradassi solo con noi italiani, i giapponesi, invece, gli fanno passare i cazzi.

[Jack.Torrance]

Fanno i gradassi solo con noi italiani, i giapponesi, invece, gli fanno passare i cazzi.

Qualcuno ha detto, per caso, Suzuki?