2014 Fiat 500l Trekking on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Chinese Jeep production confirmed with Fiat, Guangzhou agreement

Fiat has just finalized a deal originally set up in January between it and China's Guangzhou Automotive Group to bring Jeep production to China. It remains unclear which models will be built, although we're wagering that it'll be the 2014 Cherokee. What we do know, now, is where production will take place.
According to Automotive News, Guangzhou originally wanted production to take place in its home assembly plant in its namesake city. Fiat has battled to send production to a joint venture facility established between Guangzhou and Fiat in the town of Changsha. The joint facility won out, and now the factory, originally built in 2010 with a 140,000-unit capacity, will see Jeeps rolling out of it.
Currently, the GAC-Fiat factory produces the Fiat Viaggio, a jointly developed product that is closely related to America's Dodge Dart. And while it remains unclear as to which model will join the Viaggio on the assembly line, that model is understood to ride on Fiat's Compact platform. The only Jeep to share those underpinnings is the new Cherokee, so there's not much connecting of dots needed to see why this scenario would make sense.

Chrysler nets $1.6B income in Q4, Fiat profit up 5%

Chrysler announced its 2013 financial results today and unveiled its new name and decidedly bank-like logo. Amid the announcement, Chrysler posted big gains in income, while Fiat didn't perform to analysts' expectations.
For 2013, Chrysler had revenue of $72.1 billion, up 10 percent from 2012. Net income reached $2.8 billion, a 65-percent increase. It was the company's third straight year of annual profits.
In terms of unit sales, Chrysler sold 2.4 million cars worldwide in 2013, up 9 percent. According to Automotive News, 1.8 million of those vehicles were sold in the US, a 14-percent increase. The sales growth boosted Chrysler's US market share to 11.4 percent, up 0.2 percent.

2014 Fiat Ottimo is an Italian Dodge Dart hatchback in China

Could there be a car that could lead us to forgive Chrysler for the unloved Dodge Caliber? Yes, and it's called the 2014 Fiat Ottimo. This is the hatchback version of the Fiat Viaggio - a Fiat-badged Dodge Dart - that we heard about back in April, and it was just unveiled at the Guangzhou Motor Show to be built and sold in China next year.
This stylish little five-door looks good enough to proudly wear a BMW or Audi badge, with a two-box design that works really well with the Dart's design. Aside from the obvious Dart headlights, Fiat did a great job of giving the Ottimo a distinct and exciting face with an all-new front fascia and L-shaped running lights. Things stay classy at the rear of the Ottimo with taillights that have an interesting circular light pattern and chrome-trimmed lower fascia reflectors. Not that we have any say in the matter, but this hatchback would sure look good competing up against the all-new Mazda3 in the US.
As for what Chinese-market buyers have to look forward to, the press release posted below doesn't mention specific powertrain options, but we suspect it will be the same as the Viaggio. This includes two versions of the 1.4-liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder (tuned for either 120 or 150 horsepower) paired with either a five-speed manual or six-speed DCT.