Jeep Plans Its China Comeback

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: October 22nd, 2012

The first American automobile built as a joint venture in China could soon be built at a China joint venture again. Fiat plans to bring Jeep production back to the Middle Kingdom, Bloomberg says.

Mike Manley, COO of Fiat and Chrysler in Asia told Bloomberg that Fiat is in “very detailed conversations” with its joint venture partner Guangzhou Automobile (GAC). Manley is currently evaluating whether his company should “be localizing the entire Jeep portfolio or some of the Jeep portfolio.”

Chrysler currently builds all Jeep SUV models at plants in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. Manley referred to adding Jeep production sites rather than shifting output from North America to China.

Despite being imported at high prices from America, Jeep sales in China have more than doubled to 33,463 this year through September. The brand topped total deliveries for all of 2011 by July of this year.

The Jeep Cherokee XJ was the first joint venture car in China. In 1985, the first kit-built Cherokees rolled down the line in the new factory in Beijing. When Chrysler bought AMC, it became the new owner of the 50 percent share of the Beijing-Jeep joint venture. In 2009, Chrysler abandoned the Beijing-Jeep joint venture. The Cherokee lived on as the BAW Qishi S12. It still is in active duty at the Chinese army.

#BertelSchmitt #China #Chrysler #Fiat #GAC #Jeep

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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3 comments

AJ on Oct 22, 2012

I don't see much difference between the UAW building vehicles and the Chinese.

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Pete Zaitcev on Oct 22, 2012

It would be great if they kept Liberty produced in China.

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- Solracer on Oct 23, 2012
  
  Really? As the former owner of a Cherokee I never warmed to the Liberty, the gen 1 I rented seemed tippy by comparison and too plasticy inside. Not to mention the styling never really did it for me and the gen 2 redesign made it even worse. But as the new Grand Cherokee is great-looking I have high hopes that the next-generation Liberty (which may be called Cherokee) will get back to the roots of the original Cherokee but in a modern interpretation.
  
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