Chrysler News: Fiat Chrysler Warms Up To The Idea Of Hybrids

[William Maley]

One of the biggest critics of hybrid vehicles happens to be Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. But even he realizes that with upcoming fuel economy regulations, hybrids will have to play a key role in achieving this.

“The house will make it” to the 2025 model year fuel economy targets, Marchionne said to the press today. “Hybrids become a very large component of that fleet. You can’t get it without the hybrids. It’s impossible.”

Last year, Chrysler was ranked last among large automakers in the U.S. for fuel economy. Marchionne said the company is on track to meet the long-term fuel economy requirements by using such items as diesels and nine-speed automatic transmissions.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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[G. David Felt]

Be interesting to see if they develop their own Hybrid system or follow Ford in licensing from Toyota their Hybrid system or a mix.

I love that GM built their own with the VOLT, They just need to get it into CUV's, SUV's and trucks.

[A Horse With No Name]

Be interesting to see if they develop their own Hybrid system or follow Ford in licensing from Toyota their Hybrid system or a mix.

I love that GM built their own with the VOLT, They just need to get it into CUV's, SUV's and trucks.

Exactly! LOVE the idea of a hybrid Tahoe.

As far as Fiat goes, for the 500, we already have flashlight batteries, so this should not be a problem. Given the 500's nature as a sorority chic car, perhaps making it run on a cell phone battery would be more appropriate.

[ocnblu]

There already WAS a hybrid Tahoe, and it failed miserably.

[2QuickZ's]

Be interesting to see if they develop their own Hybrid system or follow Ford in licensing from Toyota their Hybrid system or a mix.

I love that GM built their own with the VOLT, They just need to get it into CUV's, SUV's and trucks.

Exactly! LOVE the idea of a hybrid Tahoe.

As far as Fiat goes, for the 500, we already have flashlight batteries, so this should not be a problem. Given the 500's nature as a sorority chic car, perhaps making it run on a cell phone battery would be more appropriate.

Eh, I think the sorority chick car is fairly accurate for the regular 500 but around here you see a ton of Abarths and they are all driven by guys. I wonder what the sales split is between the 500, 500 Turbo and Abarth? Those would be some interesting numbers to see.

[A Horse With No Name]

I will admit Abarth grows on me...wicked little car!

[G. David Felt]

There already WAS a hybrid Tahoe, and it failed miserably.

Failed due to Stupid GM Marketing not marketing the SUV. You rarely find these on the used auto lot because the people that bought them love them and the average 22mpg they get. GM Failed itself to sell what was and still is a great Hybrid.

At this point, GM Needs to upsize the VOLT system and get it into many different CUV's and SUV's.

Be interesting to see if they develop their own Hybrid system or follow Ford in licensing from Toyota their Hybrid system or a mix.

I love that GM built their own with the VOLT, They just need to get it into CUV's, SUV's and trucks.

Exactly! LOVE the idea of a hybrid Tahoe.

As far as Fiat goes, for the 500, we already have flashlight batteries, so this should not be a problem. Given the 500's nature as a sorority chic car, perhaps making it run on a cell phone battery would be more appropriate.

Eh, I think the sorority chick car is fairly accurate for the regular 500 but around here you see a ton of Abarths and they are all driven by guys. I wonder what the sales split is between the 500, 500 Turbo and Abarth? Those would be some interesting numbers to see.

Fiat 500 is a failure, I suspect you see a bunch of them in certain select areas but I rarely see them and the dealerships in Washington is sitting on hundreds of them. They even put other auto's out front of the dealership since they do not sell. Does not matter how much money you put on the hood. They are terrible small blow over auto's that are just sitting. MPO

[A Horse With No Name]

When you consider how much better a base Sonic or Fiesta is than the 500, you realize how far behind the curve Chryco Fiat really is. GM sells more Corvettes in one year than Viper has sold its whole production. Impala is orders of magnitude better than Charger, and even better than 300 in a lot of ways. In my mind, Chryco/Fiat is destined to be the absolute bottom feeder in the automotive world, sucking in every brand they offer other than Jeep.

[G. David Felt]

When you consider how much better a base Sonic or Fiesta is than the 500, you realize how far behind the curve Chryco Fiat really is. GM sells more Corvettes in one year than Viper has sold its whole production. Impala is orders of magnitude better than Charger, and even better than 300 in a lot of ways. In my mind, Chryco/Fiat is destined to be the absolute bottom feeder in the automotive world, sucking in every brand they offer other than Jeep.

Agreed, Will be interesting to see the quality of the Jeep Renegade as it could either be a big hit for them or a total flop. Personally I have mixed feelings about the little brute as the more people that see it the more I hear of how ugly it is. I hope this is NOT a Jeep version of the Fiat 500 that ends up sitting on the lots.

[A Horse With No Name]

Chryco really does not need another failure right now.

[SoCalCTS]

One more step closer to irrelevancy for FCA.

[A Horse With No Name]

Absolutely!