Fiat to Use Grand Cherokee for Maserati, Alfa Romeo SUVs

It's 100 percent natural to expect new models produced by the Chrysler - Fiat alliance and it seems like the Italian manufacturer wants to benefit as much as possible from the deal it signed back in 2009. After launching several new models in the United States, Fiat is now looking to use a number of Chrysler platform to build its very own models that are supposed to be marketed across Europe.

The first project? Grand Cherokee. According to a statement released by Sergio Marchionne, who's now in charge of both Chrysler and Fiat, the Italian carmaker might adopt the Grand Cherokee platform to design new Maserati and Alfa Romeo models. Of course, details are yet to be released, but Marchionne believes that the platform can accommodate much larger engines capable of developing more performance.

"The Grand Cherokee architecture has legs. It's important for us to tap all of the hard work that has gone on inside Chrysler on the new Grand Cherokee,” Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said today. “It has a level of solidity and resilience that we have underestimated.”

In case the project will receive the green light, the new models will arrive on the market in 12 to 18 months, with production likely to take place in Detroit, as Chrysler's Jefferson North plant, Autonews writes.

Of course, an SUV sold under the Maserati or Alfa Romeo badge would be a world's first, as the two brands have never built such a model before. Preliminary details are pointing that a Maserati SUV inspired by Grand Cherokee could employ a Ferrari engine, probably a 4.2-liter or a 4.7-liter V8 powerplant, currently being used by Maserati.