[MoparNorm]

The revised Plan hopefully, reflects some flexibility and dawning reality on Marchionne's part.
It's been commented upon many times that the US is not Europe and you just can't flood the market here with rebadged Fiats.
The slow sales of the 500 and Dart prove this and the surprising strong sales of existing models proves that Chrysler wasn't too far off, it just needed an infusion of quality and better materials, in the existing offerings.
Chrysler just reported rising sales and market share based upon improvements in the existing models more than any new models from Fiat.
Hopefully this has opened some minds and the huge pushback* will be tempered.



*By pushback, the Plan still shows a boatload (or container ship) full of imported products for 2015 and 2016, stacked up and ready to come.
That likely is more a reflection of problems in Europe than demand in the US.

 

[MoparNorm]

Actually it is a reflection of the fact that Fiat needs to expand its lineup in NA and so does Alfa Romeo (well AR has to debut yet in NA). Fiats and Alfas are produced in Europe because that's where they sell the most.
.

And thus my point, sales in Europe are still plunging downward and sales of Fiats in the US, although weak, could end up supporting the factories and workers in Italy.
It not that it's a brilliant strategy, it's simply the best one left available.
And many models do not automatically translate into " all those cars". They may be less than 10,000 units per year, each, unless they start selling.
It took the 500 nearly two years to reach and stay above 3,000 units per month.
Regardless, we won't know for sure, until several more years.

 

[MoparNorm]

Plus I don't get your point on the 500. It only sold 45k in US? We are talking about a very small segment in terms of sales and it still manages to top it and compete with Mini after just 2 years of its debut. It should be taken as sign of hope for the bigger cars coming, not the opposite.

My point wasn't in regards to 500, 500 was used as the example, for Marchionne's missed assumption that 500 and rebadged Alfa's would take the US by storm and sell 80,000 NAFTA units in its first year.
After two years it's barely at 45,000 units.
Dart is starting off slow and Liberkee(r) shows no promise of doing better.
Frankly these cars might do better if they were sold as Fiats and Alfa's.
Conventional wisdom said, "small car, small car, Chrysler needs a small car".
To date, the small cars aren't selling as well as thought and Chrysler's growth has come from fixing what was wrong with the big cars.

 

[MoparNorm]

.Based upon...what, exactly? Cant really base it upon Dart sales just because they share a basic platform - it's two different vehicles and two different markets.

Based upon its usefulness as a Jeep. It will sell to the 2WD CUV buyer, maybe, but it's lack of cargo room is going to hurt it overall in its appeal to many folks.
Again, it's my opinion and you're welcome to join the sales pool.

 

[MoparNorm]

.Safe to say that a cargo space of 32 cuft or greater is acceptable?

Maybe yes, maybe no.
Ice chests, camp tables, Easy-Ups, cots and chairs, all are designed to be stored, long and cylindrical. The Liberkee(r) cargo space, from the lift gate to the back of the rear seat, appears to be short and tall. Might be volume, but if my Fridge-Freezer, stove, table, chairs and cots don't fit, it not more useable.
The XJ was narrow, but long, my gear fit, neatly and tightly packed, below the seat top and window sill level.
The KJ was wide and tall, my gear fit, crammed and stacked tall, blocking driver vision out the back and posing the potential for projectiles under hard braking. After a few hundred feet on a trail, the gear was a jumbled mess, because it was stacked so high.
If I want something out of the ice chest, several,items needed to be moved to reach it, or several items had to be left behind to allow that.
If you have no passengers, you can drop the seat and use that space, if the seats fold flat, if you have one or two children, it's too small.

 

[MoparNorm]

Understood - consumers comparing by the numbers alone without actually looking at or attempting to use the space may find themselves rudely awakened.

Exactly.