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A news report from the Advertising Age is criticizing Olivier Francois, CEO of both the Chrysler and Lancia brand who was appointed by the Fiat Group, for his decision to choose an Italian ad agency over Chrysler Group's longtime partner, BBDO Detroit, for a 30-second TV Spot on the Chrysler 300.

The author of the report, Jean Halliday, says that Francois decision "may not sit well with American taxpayers, who bailed out the ailing Chrysler earlier this year with billions of dollars in loans" and that "several hundreds of staffers of Chrysler Group's longtime ad agency, BBDO Detroit, will be out of work at the end of January when the contract expires."

As expected, the somewhat one-sided report, which was also posted on Autonews, goes on to pass judgment on the advertisement saying that it's very similar to a 2008 Lancia commercial calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's pro-democracy leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and that it does not connect to American consumers.

Chrysler's CEO, Olivier Francois said: "We produced the TV film in honor of all those who put their lives at stake in the hopes of making the world a better place. For Chrysler, this is a chance to use our brand image to join with others in the fight for peace and to knock down the walls that divide us. We at Chrysler believe in doing the right thing and making a difference."

Julie Roehm, a former Chrysler Group marketing chief said: "The message is a disconnect to what matters to people here. Americans are focused now on getting back to work and the economy back on track. I don't think the vast majority of Americans know who this woman is or frankly care. They have no idea who their customer is in the U.S. or have a clue how to connect with them."

Playing the devil's advocate, we must note that for one, we don't have all the details on the topic including the cost of the advertisement. Maybe the Fiat Group had a special deal going on with the agency - we don't know.

What we do know from Chrysler is that the spot was initially created as part of the Lancia brands sponsorship of the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Berlin Nov. 10-11, 2009. Furthermore, the spot first aired in Europe (on Nov. 12).

In other words, it's a global ad that doesn't only focus on U.S. consumers and more importantly, Chrysler joined Lancia's efforts, it didn't create a new type of ad.

We won't even touch the subject that nobody cares about who Aung San Suu Kyi is (nobody cared about smaller-sized fuel efficient cars here in the States a few years ago, and look at how the former Big Three are trying to catch up now...).

Unfortunately, some people do not understand that we live in the age of globalization. For any automaker or group of brands to survive today, they need to reach many different markets, both in terms of products and marketing.

If you want to sell cars all over the world, you also have to accept the fact that you will produce vehicles and hire people, agencies, etc, etc, from other countries. That's the way the game works, not only for American automakers but for everyone.

And if you want to criticize the Fiat Group for something, start from asking the Italians what's going to happen to the $73 million grant that Chrysler received from the Obama administration for the manufacturing of 220 plug-in hybrid and electric pickup trucks and minivans in St. Louis and in Michigan, now that the group's CEO Sergio Marchionne reportedly pulled the plug from the EV fleet.

Source: Adage & Autonews

Romeo Ferraris, as in the Italian tuning firm and racing car builder, has announced that it will take part in the '6 Hours of Vallelunga' endurance race in Italy on November 22 with its specially developed Fiat 500 Abarth competition model. The carbon-fiber bodied Italian hatch with the humongous rear wing packs a heavily modified 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces a whopping 360 horsepower.

The Team Romeo Ferraris Fiat 500 Abarth will be driven Aldo Cerruti, Michela Cerruti and Mario Ferraris.

We remind that according to Chrysler's business plan, the sporty Fiat 500 Abarth is scheduled to arrive on U.S. shores approximately two years after the standard version of the Italian mini, sometime in 2012.

Romeo Ferraris, as in the Italian tuning firm and racing car builder, has announced that it will take part in the '6 Hours of Vallelunga' endurance race in Italy on November 22 with its specially developed Fiat 500 Abarth competition model. The carbon-fiber bodied Italian hatch with the humongous rear wing packs a heavily modified 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces a whopping 360 horsepower.

The Team Romeo Ferraris Fiat 500 Abarth will be driven Aldo Cerruti, Michela Cerruti and Mario Ferraris.

We remind that according to Chrysler's business plan, the sporty Fiat 500 Abarth is scheduled to arrive on U.S. shores approximately two years after the standard version of the Italian mini, sometime in 2012.

Just over a year ago, the Chrysler Group's newly formed Envi division unveiled a series of production-based electric cars that it planned to put on sale. Fast forward a few months, Chrysler went in and out of bankruptcy, sealed a deal with the Fiat Group and then, in August 2009 under the leadership of its new CEO, Sergio Marchionne, secured a $73 million grant from the Obama administration for the manufacturing of 220 plug-in hybrid and electric pickup trucks and minivans in St. Louis and in Michigan. Well, guess what;

According to a news report from Reuters, as part of the Marchione's recently announced five-year business plan to revitalize the Chrysler Group, Fiat has pulled the plug on the automaker's Envi division as well as the development of the test fleet for which it had received the government grant.

Chrysler spokesman Nick Cappa told Reuters on Friday that Envi, which was responsible for the EV range, will be absorbed in the normal vehicle development program and its former chief Lou Rhodes will head an electric car division for both Fiat and Chrysler.

The group's CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters that for the time being and with the current technology available, he doesn't believe much in EVs and that electric cars would represent just "one or two per cent" (less than 60,000 vehicles) of Chrysler's sales by 2014.

"Until the (battery) storage gets resolved, I think electric vehicles are going to struggle," Marchionne said.

As of yet, there's no official word from Chrysler, but if the report from Reuters concerning the part about the scrapping of the 220 plug-in hybrids turns out to be true, one should wonder what's going to (or what should) happen to the $73 million grant that the automaker received. Post your thoughts in the comment section below.

Chrysler intends to sell all three available versions of the Fiat 500 in the USA, including the base hatchback, the rag-top convertible and the sporty Abarth, according to the Detroit automaker's five-year business plan that was revealed to the press on Wednesday. As was the case with BMW and the launch of its MINI brand in the turn of the 21st century, the Italian mini will be sold in the States (as a Fiat) at Chrysler's dealerships.

But not all dealers will get the 500, as the company's Vice President of Network Development & Fleet, Peter M. Grady revealed. The Italian mini will be sold mainly in metro areas at select dealers that house all Chrysler Group LLC brands and will include a dedicated salon inside the dealership.

First up will be the North American version of the basic three-door model that will be powered by Fiat's new 1.4-liter Multiair 4-cylinder gasoline engine. Sales of this model will start in the U.S. in fourth quarter of 2010.

The three-door hatchback will be followed in 2011 by the partially drop-top 500 Convertible that features a rather simple rollback canvas retaining the car's roofline and C-pillar. The range will be completed in 2012 with the North American launch of the sporty 500 Abarth powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

While neither Fiat or Chrysler disclosed any other details on the North American 500s, buyers should expect to see many special and limited edition versions of all three models making their way to showrooms.

Fiat plans to build the North American Fiat 500 at a Chrysler plant in Mexico.

In a surprise move, the Chrysler Group's new Italian management on Monday announced that it is splitting the Dodge passenger car and truck division into two separate entities. The American automaker now has four brands - Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge Car and Dodge Ram. Heading the Dodge Ram brand is Fred Diaz Jr. who was appointed President and CEO of the marque while Ralph Gilles, Chrysler's Chief of Design becomes president and CEO of Dodge Car.

"The brand-focused strategy has been refined further with the unbundling of the Dodge Brand which now consists of the Dodge Ram Brand and the Dodge Car Brand organizations," said Sergio Marchionne, Chief Executive Officer of both Fiat S.p.A and Chrysler Group LLC. "This reorganization will allow us to protect and develop the unique nature of the product offerings within the Dodge Brand."

Other managerial changes include the appointment of Olivier Francois as the President and CEO of the Chrysler Brand. Francois, who continues to hold his position as head of the Italian automaker's Lancia brand, will also be the lead executive for the Marketing organization with responsibility to coordinate worldwide marketing strategies, brand development and advertising for the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge Car and Dodge Ram brands.

Source listcarworld

Unveiled in a world premiere at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show, the 2010 Punto Evo replaces the Grande Punto in Fiat's European passenger car range. Despite the name change, the differences between the two models are limited to a new nose job, some minor cosmetic tweaks at the back, a restyled dashboard and the introduction of two new powerplants to the lineup. The Punto EVO is scheduled to go on sale in mid October. Hit the jump to watch the videos that include footage from the presentation of the car on the decks of Italy's newest aircraft carrier, Cavour, in La Spezia, Italy.

In typical Fiat fashion, the Italian automaker took its time to release a full gallery of its cosmetically refreshed and mechanically updated Grande Punto that has been renamed to Punto EVO for the 2010 model year. Unveiled for the first time at this month's Frankfurt Motor Show, the Italian supermini gets newly styled bumpers and lights at the front and the rear while a redesigned three-piece grille and new alloy wheel designs complete the exterior updates.

Meanwhile, the cabin receives a comprehensive makeover with a redesigned dashboard that features a new instrument cluster and center console plus new seats and fabric options.

Beneath the skin, the Punto Evo features a wide range of Euro 5 engines, including a second-generation 1.3 MultiJet diesel that offers an improvement of around 2 percent in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and a new 1.4 MultiAir gasoline unit that utilize electrohydraulic valve management to reduce fuel consumption by controlling air directly through the inlet valves without using the throttle.

Fiat claims that the 1.4-liter's MutliAir system cuts emissions by 10 percent while delivering 10 percent more power and 15 percent more torque than the regular 1.4L engine/

The revamped supermini also gains a new Blue&Me-TomTom infotainment system. European sales of the Punto EVO will begin in the second half of October.

Via listcarworld

Hmm; finding it a bit difficult to tell the differences between the 2009MY and 2010MY Fiat Panda? Well, can't say that we blame you as we ourselves had to thoroughly check out the press release to discover the changes. On the outside, all 2010 model year Pandas adopt the more contemporary body colored grille found on the 4x2 and 4x4 Dynamic variants, new alloy wheel options, larger exterior mirrors and silver trim finish for the roof bars. Fiat has also added four new exterior colors to the lineup.

Inside, the instrument panel gets fresh graphics while there's also a new selection of upholstery colors.

Mechanical improvements are limited to the introduction of a new 69 horsepower 1.2-liter gasoline engine that emits 113g/km of CO2. In Europe, Panda buyers have a wide choice of gasoline, diesel, natural gas and LPG engines with outputs ranging from 54 to 100 horsepower.

The Panda, which formed the base for the new Fiat 500 and Ford Ka models, was launched in September 2003. In the six years it has been in production, Fiat has sold more than 1.5 million units of the mini hatchback.

Via listcarworld