09-16-2009, 08:49 PM
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Head Flunky
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South Central Kansas
Posts: 1,159
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Cummins out and Fiat diesels in Dodge trucks?
According to Automotive news our beloved Cummins may be on it's way out of Chrysler products and since they just announced that the Fiat Pennestar 3.6L V6 is going to be used in the Grand Cherokee we may be driving Cummins powered Fords, Chevy's or even Toyota's or Nissans here in the near future. 
Quote:
Automotive News
September 7, 2009 - 12:01 am ET
Under the leadership of Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler Group is unwinding alliances with other carmakers -- a strategy pursued by former owner Cerberus Capital Management.
Instead, Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler and Fiat S.p.A., will rely on Fiat and its suppliers to achieve economies of scale and fill holes in Chrysler's lineup.
In recent weeks, Chrysler has:
-- Severed its alliance with Daimler AG, which supplied Sprinter commercial vans to Dodge. Chrysler says it may bring Fiat-designed commercial vans to North America.
-- Called off a plan with Nissan Motor Co. that would have given Nissan a Dodge-engineered replacement for its Titan pickup and Chrysler a Versa-based small car.
-- Held discussions about canceling its Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance partnership with Mitsubishi and Hyundai. Chrysler uses the partnership's four-cylinder engines, made in Dundee, Mich., in the Jeep Compass and Patriot crossovers and the Dodge Caliber and Avenger and Chrysler Sebring cars.
-- Discussed bringing Fiat diesel engines to North America to replace a Cummins engine for trucks, according to news reports.
Under Cerberus, Chrysler executives traveled the globe to build alliances to compensate for Chrysler's lack of scale. The Marchionne strategy is a clear departure.
By keeping new projects within the Chrysler and Fiat families, the changes should streamline decision-making. But the biggest motivation certainly is lower costs with global platforms.
In July, Marchionne said the alliance will use Fiat platforms, also called architectures, to develop products for North America. And it will develop products for Europe from Chrysler platforms.
With the Chrysler alliance, he said, "We will get to the number that I think is important, which has been roughly 1 million vehicles per architecture."
Chrysler's engineering staff already plans to create a number of vehicles adapted from Fiat platforms. Four-cylinder Fiat engines will be used for the Chrysler Group vehicles developed on the Fiat platforms.
Late this month, Chrysler management is expected to decide what vehicles and powertrains fit into the company's five-year plan.
The economies of scale should give Chrysler more profit potential and competitive prices.
For instance, the 2009 Dodge Sprinter starts at $43,130 including shipping. The possible replacements, the Fiat Ducato and Iveco Daily, cost the equivalent of about $30,000.
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