Look for the real car to debut in showrooms starting late in 2012 or early 2013 and then with other versions following.
Here’s the latest Jim Dunne car spy shot of a Fiat mule that is testing one or more versions of upcoming compact and mid-size Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep models. The need for such new models is urgent at Chrysler and Dodge where the smallest automaker of the Detroit Three doesn’t have credible offerings and therefore lacks high volume sales since the segments consist of much of the U.S. car market.
What the car spy caught here is machinery based on Fiat’s compact line, which also includes Alfa Romeo versions. The Alfa Romeo brand will be reintroduced to the U.S. starting in 2013 as part of the Fiat 500 franchise. Fiat dealers in the U.S. only have the 500 and some variants, including an Abarth performance version next year, to sell until then. It could be a long slog for them. Whether the actual Alfa Romeo Giulietta – a lovely four-seat compact – makes it back to the U.S. is unclear. An Alfa two-seater is thought to be the first comeback car.
This mule is a highly altered version of the platform known inside Chrysler as CUSW (Compact U.S. Wide). It’s been widened and stretched – note the black lines in the rear door and roof – from its mama. A portion of the body aft of the windshield post is all Alfa Romeo Giulietta, but the Neon-like front end bears no resemblance to the Italian compact. Alfa’s trademark vertical oval grille is missing. In its place is a wide, horizontal opening that looks like it could accommodate a Chrysler or a Dodge front end.
Will Chrysler pick up the portion of the Giulietta body design that you see in the doors, roof and rear end? Not bloody likely.
This prototype probably is in the first stage of new model testing – checking the operation of under-hood parts, engine cooling and heating, as well as suspension and steering clearances, splash protection, noise levels and myriad other details that need be to looked after to make a refined car.
If our timing is right, you can look for this car, or rather the finished version of it, to debut in showrooms within two or so years, starting in 2012 or early 2013 and rolling out subsequent versions for the next couple years after that. Ciao!
Take particular note to the black vertical stripe on the rear door. Also find a continuation of the stripe in the roof at the top and in the rocker panel at the bottom.
The stripe is a clever disguise of how Chrysler plans to alter the size of the Alfa Giulietta when it introduces the car as a Chrysler/Dodge model in the coming years.
Actually, the stripes – also the insert in the front of the rear door glass – cover the added length Chrysler intends for its versions of the Alfa. Those extra three or four inches translate into more rear seat leg room, a requirement for American markets. In Europe, rear seat leg room is not as critical with buyers.
Automakers traditionally use an existing model as a base in development of future cars. It saves tons of money in design and development costs when compared with creating a whole new body/chassis/drivetrain.