Marchionne Straddles the World, Shouting 'Jeeps for Everyone!'

The Jeep brand is Fiat-Chrysler’s biggest money maker, so it’s no wonder that CEO Sergio Marchionne is scattering factories around the world like a sailor’s offspring.

The company’s head honcho outlined his business plan for the brand in an interview published by Automotive News, and it involves no longer having to make a “Sophie’s Choice” decision with Jeep output.

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Ask the Best and Brightest: Where Have All the Good Brands Gone?

As reported here on TTAC, Daimler has decided to start selling smaller, more fuel-efficient cars in the United States. For our international friends, the announcement is meaningless. Outside of The Land of the Free, Mercedes is about as exclusive as the YMCA. (In Germany, Mercedes taxis are a ubiquitous reminder that some Daimler-Benz products are more equal than others.) But for American pistonheads brainwashed by pre-90’s Mercedes products and marketing (“Engineered like no other car in the world”), the arrival of a B-segment Merc is the final nail in the coffin of brand idolatry. Which leaves what?

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GM: Opel Can Be Independent But Not Global

GM CEO Fritz Henderson’s promises of independence for Opel made the right noises, but they carefully avoided any discussion of the actual role GM envisions for its German division within its global strategy. The latest updates seem to indicate that GM will keep Opel for its engineering expertise, but that the brand will be subordinate to Chevy’s global ambitions. Henderson delivers the slapdown [via Reuters]:

Opel is a regional brand and I don’t see that changing. That doesn’t mean I’m closed to ideas about how it can be used elsewhere; but the measure of the Opel brand’s success will be Europe, because if you don’t win here all the discussion of exports will be irrelevant

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  • Zipper69 The last "report" on the show was a string of cool photos without a single word of description, what was a new/revised model, what was a one-off, what was a look at 2026's styles.Throw a guy a bone here, man!
  • Zipper69 Seems the heavier models are most affected, did they cheap out and use same standards from the 1500's ?
  • Amber Lynn Williams I am interested in this nice vehicle 1988 gmc s15 jimmy 4x4 in I think I take it in put it in the car garage in it to the car shows too
  • Lou_BC ZR2 diesel ;)
  • Bd2 Odd that the article doesn't mention one of the biggest reasons for rising premiums (particularly in states like Louisiana and Florida) - the increase in losses by insurance/reinsurance companies due to the increase in Billion dollar extreme weather events. This also holds true for home insurance premiums.