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Chrysler Expanding Brand Portfolio As Ford, GM Contract

While General Motors and Ford sold or killed eight brands collectively in recent years, Chrysler has done just the opposite. It split Ram trucks from Dodge during its 2009 bankruptcy, creating four brands to manage -- Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram -- each led by a president and CEO with profit and loss responsibility.

Even more siblings are on the horizon under the aegis of its Fiat parent and CEO Sergio Marchionne, Greg Gardner reports. Chrysler soon will select about 200 dealers to sell the diminutive Fiat 500 later this year and as many as five Alfa Romeo models could be offered in the U.S. beginning in late 2012.

"You're seeing brands such as BMW, Cadillac and Lexus talking about adding" subcompact cars, Joseph Veltri, Chrysler vp for product planning tells Gardner. "You either spread one brand very thin or make sure your brands are narrow and sharply focused. We've chosen the latter course."

Meanwhile, Don Esmond, svp of automotive operations for Toyota's U.S. sales arm, tells Automotive News' David Phillips that advertising breaking by the end of the year will highlight quality, reliability, dependability and safety while targeting consumers who don't own a Toyota.

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