Lexus Discontinues The HS 250h Hybrid, Quietly

CEO of Fiat Marchionne Says HEMI V-8's Are Not Needed

 
12 5,377 views Jun 1, 2009

hemi v8 no more

hemi v8 no more

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Fiat, the Italian car giant who employs some 200,000 workers and owns Ferrari and Maserati will soon take a 20% share of Chrysler when it comes out of bankruptcy court.  With such a big share in Chrysler the CEO of Fiat Sergio Marchionne has already decided to throw his weight around saying he has plans to keep Chrysler's plants in southern Ontario running although changes might be on the horizon.  On a recent tour of the Ontario plants Fiat officials said operations are run efficiently and the product they turn out is high quality leaving them no reason to shutter the plants.

What may have many owners and enthusiasts up in arms are the comments Marchionne made about Chrysler's tried and true HEMI V-8 engine, "You just cannot afford to go around with 5.7-liter V-8's - you don't need them" Marchionne says.  Comments like that send chills down the spine of HEMI fans as we really don't know what his full intentions are just yet.

His plans for Chrysler may include adding new fuel-efficient, cleaner burning engines which are currently under development at Fiat to the mix while phasing out less fuel efficient engines like the 5.7-liter HEMI V-8's found in the Dodge Challenger and Chrysler 300.

What does all this mean you may ask, well not much as we really don't know how much power and control Fiat will actually have after Chrysler comes out of bankruptcy.

Source: TheCanadianPress.com





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Comments (12)

  1. By Tom Posted: 6/1/2009 6:35pm PDT

    Sure he thinks the customer don't need a V8. His plans are probably to give the americans the same as we get here in europe; 1,3 to 1,6 liter engines, packed in a small crap quality hatchback sold to customers for $40 000. Thats what you'll end up with when you no longer support the manufacturers of "american" style cars. Oh, btw, I "can" get a Toyota landcruiser V8 though, it's just the $241 558 pricetag for it with the small V8 thats the problem.As is the $260 000 Dodge Challenger.
     
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  2. By Fred S. Posted: 6/3/2009 7:46pm PDT

    This is what the obama administration wanted all along. A shot gun wedding between fiat and mopar to sell little useless cars in the US. Just wait until you see what they have in store for GM. Partys over boys, smoke em' if ya gotem'paddling
     
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  3. By M. Posted: 6/10/2009 11:04am PDT

    An Italian has no idea of the spiritual appeal Americans put on muscle cars. Sure, he'd understand the appeal of a Ferrari as a hand built car from the factory, but a muscle car??? Who wants to get a car that has any kind of history or power that isn't a Ferrari? And "Hemi"? What the hell does that mean? Those would totally baffle him. Hopefully, there will be an Chrysler liaison/translator that will help him understand these American concepts to him, but even then, who's to say he would listen.
     
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  4. By M. Posted: 6/10/2009 11:09am PDT

    Moreover, Marchionne knows that Obama helped him with the sale of Chrysler, so he'll appease Obama at every turn. The only way we can combat this is either a letter campaign or more people just ordering Challengers with a Hemi (so he can see that word is just as much a marketing tool as a power supply).
    I just hope the Hemi survives until June of next year! That's when I get my Army enlisting bonus!
     
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  5. By ds Posted: 6/11/2009 2:11pm PDT

    do you need a 5.7 litre v8 power unit for shopping or commute? the US car industry is screwed because they ain't developed high tech small and powerfull turbocharged engines, lucky for chrysler is the Fiat rescue, Fiat should be thanked. How is the everyday american going to afford to run a 5.7 hemi V-8 power when petrol goes up. crap quality???..well the fiat models are very well engineered and at cutting edge powertrain tech. mabey hemi v8 power in future once chrysler is fixed.
     
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  6. By JTR Posted: 6/12/2009 8:23am PDT

    It's not always about what we NEED, but what we want. I can't justify spending my hard earned $ on a vehicle I'm going to hate for the sake of good MPG. I have nothing against smaller turbo'd engines but they are different then a big V8. Personally I'm glad I got my 6.1L Hemi when I did. I'll never get rid of it.
     
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  7. By Jay Posted: 6/12/2009 11:21am PDT

    I don't like this FIAT chit already...
     
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  8. By Marc Posted: 6/12/2009 3:06pm PDT

    hes right, we need a bigger engine; like the 6 liter v12 in the Enzo.
     
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  9. By BobW Posted: 6/18/2009 1:23pm PDT

    Dodge = Hemi! Does the guy even know how to spell Dodge?
    FIAT = Italian VW Stick to building the euro-trash cars and we will build our cars!
     
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  10. By PYHRRHO Posted: 6/21/2009 11:01am PDT

    HEMI? STAYS Pizzaman. You don't have the roads. America Does. How do you truck your horses, cattle, sheep? Oh right Fiat are sheep.
     
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  11. By btlh2oguy Posted: 9/16/2009 5:38pm PDT

    Chrysler was going out of business. The Hemi while a great engine wasn't being bought enough to be viable.
    How many of us bought a car with the Hemi?
     
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  12. By Jack Posted: 6/10/2010 8:45am PDT

    Sorry to say it but the guy is right - nobody "needs" a Hemi anymore. A big V-8 is fun, nice to have. But with the rest of the world working on small yet powerful engines the performance gap is closing. Sure, if you doing the same kind of modifications with a V-8 you'll get more power, but the problem is America isn't even doing that! Go look at the 0-60 times of something like a Viper compared to newer BMWs, Lotus, etc. and then realize that the European cars can also handle. The US auto industry needs to stop being the equivalent of a McDonalds.
     
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