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Fiat and Jeep to Launch Nissan Qashqai Rivals As Early as 2016

New light has been shed onto the future product lineup of both Fiat and Jeep, as the two brands that fall under the same umbrella seek sales improvements by adding more SUVs.
Fiat 500X 1 photo
Photo: Fiat
Both FCA boss Sergio Marchionne and Mike Manley, overall boss of the Jeep brand, have outlined pretty much the same thing – SUVs, SUVs, SUVs.

For Fiat, a traditional European brand that continues to struggle long after the economic crisis ended, it shows a big change in philosophy. Last year, combined Fiat and Abarth only reached 600,000 cars, which mean they trail behind even Skoda. Profitability is another big problem, as many of their models are loss makers.

Instead of targeting every segment imaginable, Marchionne will scrap some models and focus on making money. For example, the Bravo compact hatch successor, which has yet to be approved for production, is supposed to be a cheaper and simpler car made in Turkey. It could even adopt the popular Panda nameplate, just like the Multripla successor became the 500L.

Jeep and Fiat will continue to develop and make SUVs together, just like they did with the recent 500X/Renegade project. The next one is going to be a Qashqai-sized SUV that could come as early as 2016 as a replacement for the Patriot and Compass, Autocar says. Jeep product strategy has already outlined this as the "C-SUV", but we don't yet know how this will be differentiated from the Cherokee.

And if you thought the Renegade was too small to be called a Jeep, there might be an even smaller model the size of a supermini coming in a few years. But the really big project is the Grand Wagoneer, confirmed by official sources as a 2018 arrival that aims squarely at the luxury segment.

A lot can change in that time, but it's clear a streamlined strategy is being outlined, one where slow-selling Fiats have no place. What does have a place is an interesting halo car.

Yet another report confirms the existence of the 124 Spider project, basically an Italian version of the Mazda MX-5 Miata. They are taking their sweet time with it, but a successor to the legendary Pininfarina-designed roadster may well be worth the wait.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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