The Chrysler bankruptcy and the shotgun marriage to Italian company Fiat really does signal the end to muscle car America and finally perhaps, the American auto industry getting in step with the rest of the world and making fuel efficient, smaller vehicles.
Chrysler gets to survive, and it must be the sixth time in the last 40 years that they have been bailed-out, bought-out or ‘invested’ in, either by Peugeot (70s), the US government (80s/90s and now), Daimler (1998) though it was billed as a merger, Cerebrus (2007), and finally Fiat (2009 – maybe…). Chrysler survived previously by introducing the first popular people mover van (Dodge Caravan), followed by large trucks (Dodge Ram and Dakota) and SUVs (Jeep and Durango) when the price of gas was low.
Lots of people liked the bigger vehicles, especially the V8s and many succumbed to the advertising ploy of safely delivering the kids to school – in those big, manly, gas-guzzlers. Nobody wants to talk about the pollution and the excess greenhouse gas emissions.
Anyway, at least we can (hopefully) all agree that these vehicles are now extinct – much like the dinosaur juice they have been guzzling for so long. They certainly are, compared to similar vehicles from other manufacturers, many of whom either have hybrid SUV and truck options already, or soon will have (Toyota Highlander, Chevy Silverado, GMC Yukon, Ford Escape, and late to the game a Dodge Durango Hybrid), …that is, if you ‘must have’ these large vehicles. Other manufacturers have long had hybrid cars (Prius, Insight, Camry, GM Malibu, Ford Fusion etc.) but Chrysler just didn’t seem to get their act together.
Existing Chrysler vehicles have some of the worst fuel consumption figures of any manufacturer in their class, and if you check out Consumer Reports there is hardly any vehicle of their vehicles that are recommended for purchase. So getting access to Fiat’s fuel-efficient vehicles and technology can only be a good move for them and the planet. In fact, as part of the deal, the new Chrysler-Fiat set-up has to make so-called "next generation" engines in the USA and it must produce a vehicle in the U.S. that has a fuel efficiency of 40mpg (16.9kms/liter).
This is 5mpg (8kms/liter) more than the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard that is due to be in place by 2020 (current target is 27.3mpg (11.6kms/liter) by 2011). The tie-up with Fiat could help Chrysler meet CAFE standards, and give GM and Ford some ‘home-grown’ competition on fuel efficiency.
Actually, it isn’t at all clear if any current North American car manufacturer can actually meet the CAFE 2011 standards at present but Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia do – maybe you can see the same trend I can here. Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari and Maserati all pay CAFE fines for not meeting the targets – most likely because it is a better business case for them to sell more expensive V6 (or inline 6) cylinder vehicles than 4 cylinder ones, largely because of customer preference.
As for potential future car buyers, there are some cool Fiat Auto Group vehicles that could make it to America via the Chrysler get together, and as early as 2011 maybe. These vehicles could include some Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Iveco (trucks) offerings. Ferrari and Maserati are already sold in North America. The Fiat Group manufactured over 2 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in 2008 and was around the sixth largest European manufacturer. Its most recent success was the retro styled Cinquecento that has a diesel version with a 53.3mpg (22.4kms/liter) consumption figure, or a sporty Abarth model that gets 0-62mph (0-100kph) in 7.9 seconds.
Provided people can forget about the poor reliability Fiat and Alfa Romeo had the last time they sold cars in North America, then maybe the Fiat-Chrysler deal might be successful. I hope so, I have fond memories of the red Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce I had, even though it trashed its air-conditioning belt twice, chewed up its own gearbox and some sea-gulls tore open the canvas soft top (don’t use fish based oil on the canvas near the ocean). It was a lovely looking car, economic on gas (and not just because it spent a lot of time in the shop) and had a little European quirkiness to make it standout from the rest.
Hey, there is even a 4x4 version of the Fiat Panda – now I really think North America can become green if Joe 4x4 traded-in his Durango (13mpg (5.5kms/liter) city/19mpg (8kms/liter) highway) for a Panda (45mpg, 19km/liter combined).
Let’s hope Chrysler has finally learned their lesson and does things differently this time. After all, they have had more than enough chances to get it right.
Trevor Williams is a University of Victoria Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate specialising in renewable energy, power grid modelling and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. He has a bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering, a Masters in Management Science and over 23 years international experience in the space industry, having worked on Earth observation and telecommunications satellites. He is the author of the Eco-Geek blog.
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written by Micheal , January 05, 2011