Chrysler may have Fiat car for U.S. in 2 years

Chrysler President and Vice-Chairman Jim Press says the company could have a Fiat-based car ready to sell in the U.S. market within two years.

Press, who was speaking at a conference in New Orleans, declined to go into specifics about which Fiat car might be selected or how whether it would be sold as a Chrysler or Fiat but Steve Landry, executive v-p of sales, said the Detroit automaker is considering three of Fiat’s smallest cars, the 500, Punto and Panda.

Also left open was the question of where the car would be built. Chrysler has plenty of capacity and retooling of a Chrysler plant is part of the proposed alliance, but Fiat is looking at what could be the weakest auto production year in Italy since 1961. Production of the popular 500 would help Chrysler, but not Fiat’s Italian plants as the car is produced in Tychy, Poland alongside the new Ford Ka, which shares the 500’s underpinnings.