Laura Soave named head of Fiat brand in North America

Chrysler Group today appointed Laura J. Soave to serve as the Head of the Fiat Brand for North America. She will lead the reintroduction of Fiat to the North America, beginning with the Fiat 500. She holds full profit and loss responsibility for the Fiat product portfolio in North America. In her position, Soave, who reports to Sergio Marchionne, Chief Executive Officer of Chrysler Group, will work with Chrysler brand presidents and industrial leads to fully integrate Fiat product into the marketing, sales, service and dealer network organizations.

“Laura joins Chrysler with extensive experience in automotive marketing,” said Marchionne. “Her rich background will serve as a springboard for reintroducing the Fiat brand when it takes to U.S. and Canadian roads this December after more than a 25-year absence.

Soave joins Chrysler Group from Volkswagen of America where she most recently was the General Manager of Experiential Marketing leading consumer marketing initiatives. She also was the head of advertising and communications activities for all large passenger vehicles and SUVs. Previously, she worked at Ford Motor Company in a variety of posts from 1997 to 2006. Soave holds a MBA in marketing from the University of Detroit and a BS in business administration from Walsh College.

Marchionne had big payday in 2009

Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne received a bonus of about $1,835,000 last year from Fiat SpA, boosting his total compensation to almost $6,525,000 a hefty boost over the $4,622,000 he was paid in 2008. Marchionne’s base salary is roughly equivalent to $4,146,000. European “cash-for-clunkers” incentives drove car sales to high enough levels for the bonus to kick in.

Marchionne’s package is better than the $2,719,000 Daimler AG paid to Dieter Zetsche but not as generous as Martin Winterkorn’s nearly $8,292,000 for his work as CEO of Volkswagen.

Marchionne does not receive any regular compensation from Chrysler Group but has been given $600,000 worth of stock that he can’t sell until Chrysler is profitable and has repaid its government loans.

(Note: All figures based on current euro-dollar exchange rates)

Bertone to show new Pandion at Geneva Show

At next month’s Geneva Auto Show, famed Italian design house Stile Bertone (Bertone Styling) will be unveiling the Alfa Romeo Pandion, a radical new one-off, not-for-production, show car.

Styled by a team led by Mike Robinson, Bertone’s executive brand and design director (and former design director for Fiat), the car takes its name from the osprey (pandion haliaetus), a large predatory bird with a wingspan that can stretch two meters. The connection is the car’s rear-opening, scissor-hinged doors that stand nearly twelve feet tall when open, making for long “wings,” indeed.

The Pandion is a running prototype that uses the Maserati GT’s rear-wheel-drive platform and 440 horsepower, 4.7-liter V8 engine. Both Maserati and Alfa Romeo are owned by Fiat SpA, which also runs Chrysler Group. According the Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, the futures of Alfa Romeo and Chrysler will be closely linked with shared platforms and brand marketing strategies.

Fiat also owns Bertone’s manufacturing facility and plans to use it to build as many as 50,000 Chrysler-based cars a year for European sale. Fiat does not own Bertone Styling. Stile Bertone is owned by Lilli Bertone, the widow of Nuccio Bertone who died in 1997. Hard times and family squabbles forced the company into bankruptcy in 2008 after which Fiat emerged with the manufacturing arm and Ms. Bertone was granted the name, logos and intellectual property of the design operation. Still, Bertone has been fond of using Alfa Romeo and Maserati cars for its styling exercises like the legendary Alfa B.A.T. (Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica or “Aerodynamic Technical Coupe”) series and the beautiful Maserati Khamsin of the 1970s.

No offense to Ralph Gilles, but it might be interesting to see what Bertone could do with the Sebring and Avenger…

Fiat expanding in Russia with Chrysler cars

Sollers, a local partner of Fiat, plans to produce up to half a million cars per year based on both Fiat and Chrysler designs, according to a Russian government statement. A signing ceremony is to take place today at a plant which will assemble nine Fiat and Chrysler cars; if the plant reaches capacity, Sollers will become Russia’s second largest automaker, after AutoVaz, which is 25% owned by Renault and currently produces a version of the previous-generation Dodge Stratus (among other cars).

At least half of the components of the joint-venture cars will be locally produced, and at least 10% of total production is to be exported from Russia.

Chrysler to spend $500M to start Fiat 500 production at Toluca plant

The plant that has been cranking out PT Cruisers for the past decade will soon be producing another iconic automobile.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne announced the company will spend $500 million to retool the plant for production of the Fiat 500 beginning in late December of this year.

Unlike other most other vehicles that will spring from the merger of the Chrysler and Fiat lines, the 500 will wear a Fiat badge in the U.S. as part of the brand’s return to the North American market. It will be sold and serviced through Chrysler dealerships.

Chrysler, Lancia to share stand in Geneva

Automotive News Europe is reporting that Chrysler and Lancia will share a stand at the Geneva Auto Show in March. The two brands, destined for integration under CEO Sergio Marchionne’s master plan, will also do a joint presentation for the motoring press.

While neither brand has any new vehicles to display, there’s been no decision announced as to whether the Chrysler-badged Lancia Delta unveiled for the Detroit Auto Show will be on the stage. That vehicle was prepared to get an idea of how American consumers might respond to a larger hatchback instead of the traditional sedan.

Marchionne’s plans call for four Chrysler vehicles the 300, Town & Country and the Sebring sedan and convertible, to be merged with the Lancia line with new vehicles appearing in 2011. Cars to be sold in Italy would wear the Lancia badge while those sold outside Italy would carry Chrysler colors.