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Report: Fiat Moving Thousands Of Manufacturing Jobs From Italy To U.S.

 
6 2,484 views Mar 25, 2010
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2010 Alfa Romeo Giulietta

2010 Alfa Romeo Giulietta

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For Alfa Romeo to be able to sell cars competitively in North America it will definitely need to start local production. Not only are wage rates actually cheaper here in the U.S., but the dollar’s weakness against the Euro means that it will actually be favorable for Alfa Romeo to export North American manufactured vehicles for sale in Europe.

This is a strategy Alfa Romeo’s parent company, Fiat, and its CEO, Sergio Marchionne, are well aware of. Not surprisingly, reports of jobs cuts in Italy as production of formerly Italian manufactured vehicles is moved to North America.

In fact, people family with Fiat’s plans have revealed to Automotive News that up to 5,000 jobs in Italy will be cut as part of a new plan that includes Chrysler building Fiat and Alfa Romeo cars in North America for sale in Europe.

Chrysler revealed in November that it will build up to 270,000 vehicles per year for the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands in North America (U.S., Canada and Mexico) by 2014.

While the Fiat models will almost certainly be the 500 minicar and its variants, there’s a lot of debate surrounding which Alfa Romeo and Lancia models will be manufactured locally. The most likely options would be a new flagship Alfa Romeo based on Chrysler’s LX rear-wheel drive platform, a new Giulia mid-size sedan to replace the current 159 sedan sold overseas, and possibly a new crossover model sharing its underpinnings with the platform in the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

From next year onwards, several Chrysler models are expected to rebadged as Lancias and sold in Italy. For the rest of Europe they will remain Chryslers. These include the new 300 sedan, a facelifted Sebring and the Voyager Minivan. Additionally, some Dodge products are tipped to rebadged as Fiats and sold in Europe as well.

[Automotive News, sub req’d]





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Comments (6)

  1. By dan aka 64chevyman Posted: 3/25/2010 5:50am PDT

    Surely Fiat won't be using the overweight chassis of the current sedan used for the Chargers etc. They must lighten the weight and steering for that matter. This is very critical to the ride quality and efficiency going forward. Take the time to get it right! Very positive storyline however. This trend, US manufacturing advantages just may be the tip of the iceberg. Fiat is at a critical juncture in their development and that's exactly what that platform requires! Development! They have the engineers to make it competitive (Fiat's drive trains are high tech) so take the time and do it right!
     
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  2. By Jim Posted: 3/25/2010 11:26am PDT

    Given the Euro's value is falling like a stone due to the PIGS, a US cost advantage might not last for long. But glad Fiat is doing this as there are certainly skilled workers to take the jobs.
     
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  3. By Paul Posted: 3/25/2010 4:02pm PDT

    hah! The plan to turn America into a low wage, unprotected economy is working.
     
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  4. By NoNameDenton Posted: 3/25/2010 8:52pm PDT

    Glad to see a company BRINGING jobs to America instead of outsourcing to China and India (Not bad countries, but I want my call centers to be in America).
     
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  5. By NoNameDenton Posted: 3/26/2010 3:21am PDT

    Considering that Fiat actually seems to want to revitalize Chrysler, instead of driving it into the ground (Like Diamler did) or let it go stale with no development (Like Cerberus did) Fiat is making a good effort and bringing jobs here.
     
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  6. By John Posted: 3/27/2010 9:25am PDT

    All above poster: fiat will not be brining jobs to the United States, they 500 is going to be built in Mexico.
     
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