Small Car Chief Engineer Leaves Chrysler for Another Company

After emerging from bankruptcy and getting ready for the optimistic plans brought from Europe by now-ally Fiat, Chrysler loses one of the most important players in the team responsible for the production of small cars. Andreas Schell who was in charge of the development of a range of small cars based on Fiat platforms decided to leave Chrysler, the Detroit News reported, as he decided to leave the company for another yet undisclosed carmaker.

What's interesting is that a few weeks ago, Schell was appointed head of innovation and concept vehicles as Chrysler underwent restructuring and Fiat finally arrived at the helm of the company. He was also responsible for Chrysler's electric vehicle plans, the aforementioned source wrote.

As for Chrysler's small car plans, it is yet unclear who'll take the role of Schell but an official announcement is expected to be revealed in the next few days.

The American manufacturer is planning to produce several small cars in the United States, as part of the alliance with Fiat. Most cars will be based on development platforms provided by the Italian automaker, with the Fiat 500 to be the only model to reach the states under Fiat's badge.

The Alfa 169 for example will be manufactured in Brampton, Ontario at the Bramalea assembly plan, with first models expected to roll off the production lines as soon as November 2011. The car will be based on the LX platform, just like to Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger. The Dodge Charger on the other hand won't enter production sooner than November 2010 while the future Chrysler 300 won't arrive on the market before January 2011.