Jeep, Ram lead growth plan amid questions about future of Fiat, Chrysler brands

Eric D. Lawrence | USA TODAY

BALOCCO, Italy — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne said Friday that the company's Jeep, Ram, Maserati and Alfa Romeo brands will be the focus of FCA's new five-year plan, which he called "strong and courageous."

That includes a goal of boosting the Ram pickup truck from its current position as the third-best-selling U.S. pickup behind the Ford F-series and Chevrolet Silverado.

The statements come amid speculation that the company is poised to announce it's ending the Chrysler brand and discontinuing North American sales of the struggling Fiat lineup.

The company is revealing details about its plans in presentations at the famed Balocco Proving Grounds in Italy. Experts are watching closely for insight on Marchionne's potential successor and the company's plans for Chrysler and Fiat.

The five-year strategic plan is Marchionne's last before his expected retirement at the end of the year.

"At FCA, we've learned to live with uncertainty and we are prepared to face any challenge," he said at the outset of the meeting.

New Ram 1500 lighter, quieter and needs less gas The new 2019 flagship of Fiat Chrysler's Ram brand certainly makes a statement.

Mike Manley, head of Jeep and Ram, said the Jeep plan is for two new-vehicle launches per year worldwide as FCA seeks to make Jeep the world's dominant utility vehicle brand. The company aims for 1 in 12 utility vehicles sold to be a Jeep by 2022, eventually reaching 1 in 5. In 2009, that figure was 1 in 23.

Though FCA has previously eschewed electric vehicles, Manley said the Jeep plan calls for 10 hybrids and four fully electric Jeeps by 2022. Electrification options will be available across each nameplate by 2021.

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Jeep of course is a key profit generator for the Italian-American automaker.

Manley said FCA hopes to increase manufacturing capacity in North America by 500,000 during the plan.

Regarding Ram trucks, Manley said it's time to change Ram being the third-best-seller in the U.S. behind Ford's F-series and the Chevrolet Silverado.

The Ram global goal is 1 million vehicles by 2022. The 2018 forecast is 770,000. The company hopes to make it the No. 2 commercial brand in North America by 2022.

With Marchionne’s impending retirement, speculation continues about the identity of his successor, although he has said not to expect an announcement on that until later.

For the presentation, he surprised analysts by wearing a tie with his trademark sweater. Substantively, he said FCA expects to pay off its industrial debt this year.

Marchionne — recently hailed by President Trump as his favorite auto CEO, presumably for announcing FCA will move Ram Heavy Duty production from Mexico to the Detroit area — led the company out of Chrysler's Great Recession bankruptcy to strong profits in 2017.

Follow Detroit Free Press reporter Eric D. Lawrence on Twitter @_ericdlawrence.