Wild Ass Rumor of the Day: Chrysler to Build Alfas
Is there anyone Chryslerberus isn't trying to strike up a deal with? According to Reuters, Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper claims Chrysler is in "quite advanced" talks with Fiat to produce Alfa Romeo cars in the U.S. using Chrysler's factories. The newspaper cited "industry sources" (can you be any more vague?) as saying "the talks are moving forward." Hang on; isn't that Toyota's tag line? Anyway, Fiat had no comment on the rumor. Chrysler's spokeswoman called the story speculation (ya think?). But she admitted what everyone in Christendom already knows: "there could be other partnerships with other automakers." The questions yet to be answered: will Alfisti accept an Alfa that doesn't come from Lo Stivale? Who has the worse reputation for quality? And why didn't anyone use the date 2010 in this story, except us?
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What in the world does Hyundai's (underwhelming) V6 have to do with Chrysler's upcoming Phoenix series? Are we to believe that Hyundai is superior because that company released a completely unrelated engine before the Phoenix' debut? On another note, the incessant bashing of Chrysler reliability is getting old. Last I checked, they weren't at the bottom of any meaningful list.
If "FIAT" stands for "Fix It Again Tony!", what does "ALFA" stand for?
Next step, spin of all the manufacturing while selling rebadged cars down the sales channel. I am still convinced they intend to leave chrysler as a "virtual" automotive company.
It's easy... domestic manufacturers will have free capacity... foreign (Euro or Japan or somewhere else) companies can capitalize it and domestics can fill their plants with products... The one that choose this route will kinda degrade from proper "manufacturer" to "assembler". But if they're about to stay alive, they should not discard this option... at least for short term