Italian Job: Badge Engineering Baby!

by Marcelo de Vasconcellos

Published: March 3rd, 2011

Coming soon to a friendly dealer near you (if you live in Europe) and in a couple of months to another whole set of friendly dealers (if you live in Brazil), ladies and gentlemen, the totally brand-new, super exclusive, Italianate Fiat Freemont! Never seen before at Fiat dealers. This beast is all new. Well, to Fiat buyers anyway.

According to my local paper Estado de Minas, Fiat representatives in Europe, talking to Brazilian journalists at the Geneva Autoshow, swear they have sweated out the details, giving it a whole new interior with a truly Italian vibe (interestingly though no pics of said interior were forthcoming). While at it, they continued the Italian job and decided to change the engines and offer two 2.0 diesels with outputs of 140 and 170hp, both of which developed by FPT (Fiat Powertrain Technologies, the Italian maker’s supplier of engines and transmissions). The venerable 3.5 V6 Pentastar from Chrysler will also be available for those who prefer their Italian with some American punch. News on the engines as per Brazilian enthusiast site Bestcars.com.

Though slow in America, the joining of the hip between Fiat and Chrysler is fast gaining pace in Europe. Brazil is also a “beneficiary” of this growing collaboration. At Geneva, Fiat launched the Lancia Thema and Grand Voyager (see here). Easy to spot what cars donated their lithe bodies to their Italian stablemates, no?

For Brazil, no word on pricing or engines. Here, diesels are verboten for passenger cars. That means at first probably the Chrysler’s 2.7 24v engine will continue to be the only choice. This engine powers the Dodge Journey now available in Brazil.

As Fiat has a better brand than Chrysler in Europe and (especially) in Brazil, will this be enough to get this baby rolling? In Brazil, the car is sold in two versions. The cheaper one goes for R$85,900 and the more expensive one goes for R$99,900 (at R$1.7=US$1, $50,529 and $58,765 verdinhas. )

One thing it has going for it as a Fiat is that it will be sold at Fiat dealers. The Italians have a very capillarized network in Brazil (second only to VW’s). Meanwhile, Dodge’s are sold at Mercedes dealers (a hangover from DC times), which is basically present only in larger cities. The negative? The price and competition. This bird, in Dodge guise, is rarely seen in Brazil’s cityscape. Without the stigma of an import brand (high-cost and difficult maintenance plus difficult re-sale), could this crossover (yes, in Brazil it is marketed as a crossover and not minivan) get close to the segment leaders (Chevy Captiva, Hyundai ix35, Kia Sportage among others)? That’s the Italians’ bet.

#Brazil #Dodge #Fiat #Freemont #MarceloDeVasconcelos

Marcelo de Vasconcellos

More by Marcelo de Vasconcellos

Comments

Join the conversation

3 of 53 comments

Hgrunt on Mar 03, 2011

I had a 2011 Dodge Journey in mid-level trim for about a week. It was an extremely pleasant people-mover. The interior was extremely quiet at any speed, well built and fairly well thought out. Everyone who rode in it enjoyed the rear legroom although nobody ever sat in the third row. Gas mileage was decent for it's size and weight. I had an AWD model and averaged about 20 with four people and luggage in the car, going up towards Vail in Colorado, a 5000-9000 feet elevation change. It even steers and handles fairly well for it's size and weight, but it's no sports car. The Fiat version looks more aggressive and stylish from outside, which should help it a bit. The US version looks anonymous, especially in Rental Car White.

Like Reply
James Mackintosh on Mar 04, 2011

Honestly, a Journey with a fiat-ified version of the NEW interior (which is quite nice) and some reasonable diesel engines... actually seems like a nice car. Even if the whole thing is ridiculous. Really, they're going to sell a Chrysler 200/sebring as a Lancia Flavia? talk about name-rape. -James at www.carthrottle.com

Like Reply
- Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Mar 04, 2011
  
  Oddly enough, it seems that to go from Dodge to Fiat, these cars "translate" well enough. But the change from Chrysler to Lancia is more problematic...Ultimately however, maybe they (Lancia) should just use different names and all would be well. Them whoring out their hollowed names is the mistake. In Brazil, like most of Europe, Chrysler and Dodge are a largely unknown entity. So such badge jobs maight work (God knows Lancia has been in need of good large cars for more than a while). Just change the names! Also, I think some Fiats might make good Dodges. Things like Linea with turbo jet engine. Or even Idea. Or even Bravo as a hot hatch for Dodge, just use the Marea's 2.4 turbo (in this instance I wish Plymouth were still around, they'd be perfect as re-badged Fiats). In America, where Fiat is unknown, it might just work.
  
  Like

Recent Comments

SCE to AUX All that lift makes for an easy rollover of your $70k truck.
SCE to AUX My son cross-shopped the RAV4 and Model Y, then bought the Y. To their surprise, they hated the RAV4.
SCE to AUX I'm already driving the cheap EV (19 Ioniq EV).$30k MSRP in late 2018, $23k after subsidy at lease (no tax hassle)$549/year insurance$40 in electricity to drive 1000 miles/month66k miles, no range lossAffordable 16" tiresVirtually no maintenance expensesHyundai (for example) has dramatically cut prices on their EVs, so you can get a 361-mile Ioniq 6 in the high 30s right now.But ask me if I'd go to the Subaru brand if one was affordable, and the answer is no.
David Murilee Martin, These Toyota Vans were absolute garbage. As the labor even basic service cost 400% as much as servicing a VW Vanagon or American minivan. A skilled Toyota tech would take about 2.5 hours just to change the air cleaner. Also they also broke often, as they overheated and warped the engine and boiled the automatic transmission...
Marcr My wife and I mostly work from home (or use public transit), the kid is grown, and we no longer do road trips of more than 150 miles or so. Our one car mostly gets used for local errands and the occasional airport pickup. The first non-Tesla, non-Mini, non-Fiat, non-Kia/Hyundai, non-GM (I do have my biases) small fun-to-drive hatchback EV with 200+ mile range, instrument display behind the wheel where it belongs and actual knobs for oft-used functions for under $35K will get our money. What we really want is a proper 21st century equivalent of the original Honda Civic. The Volvo EX30 is close and may end up being the compromise choice.