FIAT Group Automobiles Ireland Welcomes Jeep and Chrysler
June 1st 2011, sees FIAT Group Automobiles Ireland take control of the sales, distribution, marketing and aftersales service of the iconic Chrysler and Jeep brands in Ireland. This is a momentous day for Fiat Group Automobiles Ireland as its product portfolio expands into numerous new and exciting vehicle segments, spanning everything from city cars to luxury SUVs.
Fiat Automobiles SpA has had a controlling interest in Jeep and Chrysler since mid-2009 and since then has restored the company to financial health, repaying its U.S. and Canadian government loans six years ahead of schedule and returning the Detroit-based company to profit once more.
At the same time engineers from Fiat, Fiat Powertrain, Chrysler and Jeep have been working together to take quality, refinement, design and cabin finish to new heights, as well as fine-tuning the powertrains and chassis settings for the various markets in which Chrysler and Jeep vehicles will be sold.
In Europe, the Chrysler and Lancia brands have effectively been merged with Fiat-produced vehicles representing the A-, B- and C-Segments and Chrysler-produced vehicles making up the rest of the line-up. In left-hand drive markets the range will be branded Lancia whereas in the UK and Ireland, from which Lancia has been absent for almost two decades, the same vehicles will bear the Chrysler emblem. Jeep vehicles will be sold alongside Chryslers/Lancias across Europe although the range has been rationalised and the vehicles reconfigured specifically for European drivers.
The first vehicles to go on sale in Ireland will be the all-new Jeep Grand Cherokee, new Jeep Compass and revised Jeep Wrangler, as well as the Chrysler Voyager MPV, all of which are scheduled to arrive before the end of the month. The Chrysler Delta will follow in September and all-new Chrysler Ypsilon is due in October.
The Chrysler and Jeep sales network currently comprises six dealerships, all of whom already enjoy a solid and enthusiastic customer base. These dealers are Alasta Autos in Dublin; McGuigan Motors in Monaghan (also appointed a Fiat main dealer in February); TP Waters in Kildare; McCarthy Motorpoint in Cork; Clareview Motors in Limerick and Cunningham Higgins in Galway.
