Chrysler may soon add a version of the Iveco Daily as a replacement for the former Dodge Sprinter.
Chrysler’s Ram brand has a big hole in its line-up – one left empty when its former German partner, Daimler AG, decided to end a tie-up that had provided the U.S. maker with a version of the big European Sprinter van.
But that gap may soon be filled by a product sharing project with Fiat, Chrysler’s Italian partner. Fiat’s Iveco Daily or the smaller Fiat Ducato would readily replace the old Dodge Sprinter – and be marketed, going forward, with the badge of the new Ram division.
Meanwhile, Chrysler appears ready to turn to Iveco to cover another, smaller product hole, reports WardsAuto.com. Fiat’s little Doblo, an urban European delivery truck, could give Ram a product to toss up against the likes of the Ford TransitConnect.
The two models would cover “different opportunities” in the market, Ram’s new product marketing chief, Rob Hegbloom, told Wards, confirming long-standing rumors that the U.S. truck brand might find opportunities to ally with both Fiat and Iveco.
Indeed, Sergio Marchionne, CEO of both Chrysler and Fiat, has made product sharing a hallmark of his strategy for the two partners – Fiat soon expected to take a majority stake in the U.S. maker.
A number of Chrysler products, such as the new 300 sedan, are now being sold in Europe under the Lancia badge. Some Fiat-derived models, or jointly-developed vehicles, will soon be offered in Chrysler trim, including replacements for the maker’s compact 200 sedan and convertible line.
The strategy is designed to not only increase sales by expanding the Fiat and Chrysler line-ups, but also help improve economies of scale by reducing the number of individual product platforms the partners have to develop.
The old Dodge Sprinter van was a solid hit for Chrysler, but observers expected the maker’s old partner wouldn’t continue supplying the truck for long after the breakup of the disastrous DaimlerChrysler.
The Ducato, with a maximum gross-vehicle-weight, or GVW, of 8,818 pounds, would be well positioned in the Class 2 truck market, notes Wars, though it would lag behind the capacity of the old Sprinter, at 24,317 lbs. And that might lead Marchionne to authorize use of the bigger Iveco Daily, with a 15,000 lb GVW. Or both.
Significantly, as the U.S. economy begins its slow and wavering recovery, sales of Class 2 trucks has increased, year-over-year, by about a third.
Chrysler has also been hoping to fill the niche where Ford aimed TransitConnect. The original goal was to work with a version of the big Ram C/V van, but Doblo delivers more payload and is more in line with the European-style TransitConnect, which is produced in Turkey.