Fiat News: Rumorpile: FCA CEO To End Mass-Market Production In Italy

[William Maley]

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' CEO Sergio Marchionne will be making one final move before his retirement - ending production of mass-market vehicles in Italy.

Sources tell Bloomberg that on June 1st, Marchionne will unveil a plan that will see the end of production for the Alfa Romeo MiTo and Fiat Punto to make way for more upscale models. Fiat's historic plant in Turin will be retooled to build a new smaller Maserati SUV alongside the Levante. Another plant nearby Naples will be home to a small Jeep SUV after production of the Fiat Panda moves to Poland. It should be noted that the plan isn't finalized and details could change. FCA declined to comment when reached by Bloomberg.

Part of the reason for the change comes down to Marchionne's belief that there is no future in building affordable cars in high-wage European countries. 

The report also mentions that FCA will be cutting Fiat's lineup to just the 500 and Panda in the future

Source: Bloomberg

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[G. David Felt]

Sergio the IDIOT finally sees that Fiat is not wanted by most of Humanity. Garbage products. Sadly they are going to build a jeep in that country of Socialism laziness.

[riviera74]

Actually, I am surprised that he did not make this decision a lot sooner.  Italy is not known for its work ethic, but Central Europe is a better place for FIAT to build ALL of its cars anyway.

[smk4565]

It seems that there will no longer be entry level cars, they will just start at $25k and go up.  Which in a way should help the used market a ton, because we aren't to far off from a Mustang being the 2nd or 3rd cheapest Ford available and FCA wants to get rid of Dodge/Chrysler and now Fiat so they can build $75,000 "entry" level Maseratis, because those will sell.

[daves87rs]

m=Makes no real sense...people always want affordable cars...that will never change...