Just read this article from last month about how Fiat is looking at moving Chrysler and Jeep production to Italy. Was this part of the USA car company rescue plan?

Italian Fiat Plants May Build Chrysler And Jeep Models For U.S. Market: Report


I wish Ford would buy Jeep. After all, during WWII Ford produced 280,000 Jeeps (Willys made 363,000). Besides that, they have always remained an American company and didn't take any bail-out money.

 

I share your concern, but...

Does the phrase "one of the Axis powers" have any relevance any more?

 

You always hear about Japanese soldiers stuck on deserted islands in the pacific still fighting the war because they never heard it was over. Maybe this is one of those cases.

 

IMHO, Japan committed worse atrocities then most of the Axis powers, yet I'd by a Japanese Wrangler over an American one going by my experiences with Honda reliability vs Chrysler, but that's a rant for another thread.

I'm unfamiliar with fiat's reliability, but I have a hard time believing it would be worse than what we have now. I'v had so many issues with my JK... Still worth it, but if it was any other car, I'd swear off the brand for life. What's more concerning is price increases (Labor in the EU is expensive) and EU regulation. If it get's us a turbo diesel model, then I'd be ok with it, but I don't want to see an American market Wrangler getting the EU green treatment (lighter axles, smaller wheels, smaller engine, ect).

 

That would be an absolute shame if this happened, and a huge indicator of the direction this country is going. I wouldn't buy another Jeep if it was made by Fiat, buy thats just me

 

I saw that happen on Gilligan's Island once.

 

Yes, the countries of the WWII Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan) are mostly allies now. But we had to kick their butts to get them to see things our way. Maybe we should thank them because without their agressions, the Jeep might not have been invented, ay?

Seriously though, it's not the fact that ONE of the "big 3" US auto companies, GM, was "rescued" (at significant cost to the taxpayers), that Ford refused to be subjected to political winds like Vichy France, that Chrysler was sold to Fiat at a $1.3 Billion loss to US taxpayers...

It's because now that Italy controls Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep and their factories are running at 50% capacity, they want to shut down US factories and fire US workers to produce cars in Italy for sale in the USA. Maybe if Fiat made decent cars (remember the Fiat 127 made in Serbia sold in the USA as the Yugo?) they could get their own production numbers up.

Who's perverted idea of global "redistribution of wealth" is this?

 

Following your logic then Daimler Chrysler > Obama Chrysler > Fiat Chrysler. Been a while since that company wasn't controlled by someone who has not always had the best interests of Americans at heart.

 

Awesome sensationalism. You should work for Fox News.

 

Can't argue a bit with the assessment of GM and Chrysler, but I will have to disagree slightly on Ford. They didn't technically take "bailout" money. But while they were refusing that bailout money, they did borrow quite a bit (5.9 BILLION) from the government to use on "retooling". I guess it depends on how thin someone wants to split that hair as to whether it was bailout money or not.

FactCheck.org : Ford Motor Co. Does U-turn on Bailouts

So I guess my point is that they're ALL guilty of sucking taxpayer money in one way or another.

I guess it begs the question -- is it better to buy a vehicle that's assembled in America using American workers with the profits going to a foreign country (e.g. Toyota) or a vehicle that's assembled overseas but with the profit going to an American company (e.g. most GM models)? I guess we can now redefine that question to add a third option -- foreign-built and foreign-owned (e.g. Chrysler)?

I might as well just by a BMW or Mercedes and be done with it -- I'd rather send my money to Germany because they seem to be able to manage it a lot better than the rest of the EU countries. It's just too bad that the G-class Mercedes is 3-4 (or even 5) times the price of a Wrangler. Of course, I can get a BMW X3 for about the same price as an optioned-out Rubi.

Hmm, now I'm thinking...