Fiat puts small Jeep on hold to replace Sedici
Automotive News is reporting that the small Jeep slated for production in Fiat’s Mirafiori plant in Turin has been bumped back a year to allow Fiat to get its own version of the “B-SUV,” as it’s known inside the company, into production earlier.
Fiat needs the new vehicle to replace its Sedici. The Sedici was developed jointly by Fiat and Suzuki and introduced in 2006. It’s a clone of the Suzuki SX4 that’s sold in the United States but the Fiat version is built in the Suzuki plant in Esztergom, Hungary. The Sedici received a mild facelift for this year but sales are falling: in 2011, volume dropped 10 percent to 14,000 units.
Fiat announced it will postpone the planned upgrades at the Mirafiori plant until late 2013. Mirafiori will continue to build the Alfa Romeo MiTo and Lancia Musa.
Production of the junior Jeep is now scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2014.
