Chrysler Group is developing plans to manufacture the Italian auto maker’s Fiat 500 subcompact at a Chrysler plant in Mexico, according to people familiar with the matter. The Wall Street Journal said it was also considering what other Fiat models would be introduced to the U.S. market. Chrysler is also looking at making a small Fiat engine for the 500 at a Chrysler plant in Trenton, Mich., and is considering building a Fiat-derived compact car slightly larger than the 500 in the U.S., a source said. A decision to make the 500 in Toluca, Mexico, could be an early test for relations between Chrysler’s new management and two key owners, the U.S. government and the United Auto Workers union. The plant’s workers are represented by a Mexican union, not the UAW “There is going to be political fall-out on anything in this kind of environment related to jobs,” said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. “It would be a mistake to make these decisions based on emotion rather than solid business judgment.”
Chrysler Plans to Make Fiat in Mexico
Automaker is also considering what other Fiat models would be introduced to the U.S. market.
August 17, 2009