The Fiat Chrysler Alliance held its investor meeting on Tuesday at its headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. We told you about Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and Alfa's product strategy for the next five years yesterday. Today we'll wrap up with Ram, Ferrari and Maserati.
Ram will rely on Fiat platforms for all of its commercial vans. The company already underpins the full-size ProMaster van; it will now lend its questionable-looking Fiat Doblo mid-sizer, it will be known as the ProMaster City.
As for the pickups, the light duty Ram will get a minor update in 2015 and a major one in 2017. The heavy duty segment gets updated in 2016 and again in 2018. Ram's awesomely named president and CEO Reid Bigland said the brand is looking to increase volume by about 34 percent over the next five years. It currently moves about 463,000 trucks and vans annually in North America; it expects to hit 620K by the end of 2018.
We told you about the gorgeous Maserati Alfieri yesterday, coming in 2016. The company also confirmed the Levante SUV for 2015 and the Alfieri Cabrio for 2017. We expect the Levante would compete with others in the super SUV category -- think Range Rover Autobiography or the upcoming Bentley hauler.
Maserati also talked about its powertrain plans for the next few years. The company is adding a handful of V6s to its stable from across the FCA range, with all-wheel drive options for everything except the Gran Turismo. One high-powered V8 will be offered, as well as several new diesels.
“Ferrari is not for sale,” was the main point of Sergio Marchionne's time on the podium, standing in for Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo. He was answering an apparently often-pondered question: how much is Ferrari worth? Marchionne reassured the crowd that the number of HNWIs (high net-worth individuals -- that's right, they have an acronym) is increasing, though it still plans to throttle production to keep the Italian marque exclusive.
The plan right now is for the brand to launch a new car every year between now and 2018, each with a four-year life cycle. Later, "M" versions of each will also be produced.
It was the only company at the investor meeting that said it sold 7,000 cars in 2013, and expects to sell 7,000 cars in 2018. It was also likely the only company that could get away with it.
