New versions of the Jeep Grand Cherokee could be developed for Maserati or Alfa-Romeo, says Chrysler/Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne.
Chrysler could wind up building a special sport utility vehicle for Maserati, using a Ferrari powertrain on the basic architecture of the latest-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee, which was itself completely redesigned for 2011.
Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler’s chief executive officer, threw open the doors to the possibility Chrysler could build a Maserati model during a conference call with reporters and analysts to discuss the U.S. maker’s third-quarter earnings report. A Jeep-based Alfa-Romeo model was also offered up as a concept under consideration.
Chrysler lost $84 million in the third quarter and is paying steep interest costs but the numbers are otherwise moving in the right direction, Marchionne said, as he raised the guidance on the company’s operating profit for the full year. (For more on Chrysler earnings, Click Here.)
Marchionne said the company also has to get serious about launching an initial public offering of stock, following cross-town rival General Motors, which expects to return to public trading later this month.
Such a move would likely come next year, said Marchionne, “Probably not in the first half of the year but definitely in the second half.”
“We’re confident the capital markets will be supportive,” he added. “We’re quite capable of selling two million vehicles next year,” he said.
The most intriguing information to come out the conference, however, revolved around Chrysler’s product line. Chrysler is moving ahead with the launch of the new Dodge Durango in the fourth quarter, using the same Jefferson North Assembly Plant that currently produces the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
The basic Grand Cherokee platform left behind in the divorce settlement with Daimler is proving so flexible that Chrysler is now seriously considering extending the use of the so-called “architecture” for other Chrysler-Fiat brands.
Chrysler and Fiat, for example, have started an engineering study to see if it’s feasible to use the Grand Cherokee underpinnings for a new Maserati SUV, which could combine Jeep’s off-road know how with Ferrari’s engine technology.
A Grand Cherokee-based Alfa-Romeo model is also under consideration.
Marchionne also said Chrysler has moved up the introduction of a new mid-sized passenger car based on Fiat technology. Chrysler now plans to make the changeover by the end of 2011 and introduce the new mid-sized vehicle in the first quarter of 2012.
“It’s earlier than we showed you,” Marchionne said, referring back to the media and analyst briefing session, in November 2009, where Chrysler laid out in some detail plans for the future.
The plan included using Fiat technology in the mid-sized and small car segments of the market, where it could deliver a much more European feel to the Chrysler line-up.
Marchionne also said Chrysler product plan remains a work in progress. The company knows it has a problem in the passenger car end of the business and it will take time to bring customers around, Marchionne said.
“It took Ford three years to get on consideration lists,” he emphasized, stressing that Chrysler expects to make the effort.
That effort will require additional help, he added, noting, “We’re thinking about hiring additional engineers.”
Indeed, Chrysler employment has been on the rise again, after years of cuts. With the coming launch of the Durango, there are now two shifts at the Jefferson Avenue North plant, for example, and another shift might be needed for an Alfa or Maserati SUV.
“In terms of employment levels next year, the only thing I can tell you is that I think they’re going to go up,” said Marchionne.