Alfa Romeo and Jeep Will Share a Platform to Save FCA Some Dough

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Relaunching Alfa Romeo has been an expensive undertaking for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and the brand continues to hemorrhage cash while FCA scrambles to get the Giulia and upcoming Stelvio into driveways. While discussing the company’s fourth-quarter earnings, CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed that Alfa was a financial vortex last year and will remain that way until Americans see more than just the occasional 4C cruising down the boulevard.

It cost a fortune to develop the Giorgio platform that underpins the new Alfa models — Marchionne claims FCA spent $2.7 billion on the relaunch. To recoup some of those expenses, the brand is going to share its fancy new bones with Maserati, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles.

Automotive News reports that Marchionne said Giorgio will become part of “the whole Maserati development beyond 2018,” as well as underpinning Dodge vehicles and some larger Jeep models. However, he didn’t elaborate on how large. Rumors about Giorgio replacing the aged LX platform have become increasingly common and typically include the caveat that the updated cars would be smaller in stature. If full-sized Chargers and Challengers would likely be scaled down to accommodate the platform after 2020, what does that mean for “larger” Jeeps?

Inside sources at FCA confessed to Auto News that the Journey and Durango will also make use of the platform — meaning the Grand Cherokee is likely as big as Giorgio will go.

Fiat Chrysler will be throwing the framework around rather liberally. Maserati will use a modified version of the platform on its models, including the next GrandTurismo, Alferi, Quattroporte and Ghibli, with the possibly of an entirely new midsize SUV. Alfa is planning eight new Giorgio-based models of its own and there is wind of an all-new midsized Dodge car, too.

“The investment in Alfa Romeo and certainly the technical investment in the architecture was something that was designed to benefit more than Alfa,” Marchionne said. “I’m happy that we have finally found clarity of thought in the extension of these architectures well beyond Alfa.”

In 2014, FCA claimed that it would invest 5 billion euros into Alfa Romeo and expand its annual sales volume to 400,000 units by 2018. Facing troubles over brand’s relaunching, Alfa delayed that timeline to 2020 and abandoned any specific volume targets.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Zackman Zackman on Feb 02, 2017

    Please, FCA, go away and die already. Nobody wants your junk. When you lather on the lipstick so thick it cracks, you know you're finished. The U.S. Government didn't want to save Chrysler for a good reason.

    • See 3 previous
    • Eyeflyistheeye Eyeflyistheeye on Feb 04, 2017

      @danio3834 Yup, it's either the Democrats/Republicans/Internet critics/David Miscavige (take your pick here) that are biased against FCA and that's why the 500L has the lowest resale value of any vehicle in America and why most Cherokee owners swore they wouldn't buy another one with the profligate quality issues that they're suffering with. I mean, quality and reliability has to be THAT bad since the Cherokee is a pretty nice vehicle. Hell, I rented one last year and loved it so much that I seriously considered buying a Cherokee until looking at owner forums and owner reports, I didn't think it was a good idea or even wondered why I should be subjected to Sergio's vehicular Hunger Games where it's either I have a great car or a rolling turd on wheels. It's 2017 and everyone else has figured out how to do consistent quality. Or why even the managers at the Enterprise my company rents from curse when they get more Promasters and Promaster Minis since they end up with problems than their counterparts from Ford and Nissan don't.

  • MRF 95 T-Bird MRF 95 T-Bird on Feb 02, 2017

    Really not that different than the VW group MQB platform which will be the base of all of their vehicles by 2018-2020.

    • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Feb 02, 2017

      Well, it's different from the OLD Giulia platform that was stretched and widened into Dart and 200, and jacked up into the Compass/Patriot. This is a NEW, more ADVANCED platform to stretch and widen and jack up.

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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