Fiat Chrysler to stop making cars in the United States

Kevin WhitemanJuly 28, 2016

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Chrysler Corporation has been bailed out more than Otis Campbell. And much like the beloved town drunk from the Andy Griffith Show, Chrysler isn’t doing much in the self-improvement department. In fact, the once industrial powerhouse, much like Otis, is just getting fatter and increasingly worthless with each passing day.

As reported by USA Today, the correct name of the company may be Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), but Chrysler cars are about to become a thing of the past. At least any FCA cars manufactured in the United States.

It’s been announced that by early 2017, FCA will focus primarily on Jeeps, SUVs and Ram pickup trucks here in the States. Reportedly, all automobile manufacturing will shift to Mexico, Canada, and other “foreign nations.”

According to CEO Sergio Marchionne (emphasis mine), “By the time we finish with this, hopefully, all of our production assets in the United States — if you exclude Canada and Mexico from the fold — all those U.S. plants will be producing either Jeeps or Ram.”

As cited, Marchionne’s move is an attempt to increase the profit margin to match the competition at Ford and General Motors. It was also noted that the mitigating factors that may have influenced Marchionne decision were “the growing popularity of SUVs in America, low gas prices and lower cost of producing vehicles in Mexico.”

However, there’s no word as of yet what Fiat Chrysler would do if the popularity of SUVs in the United States should drop, or if gas prices should spike, or if the cost of producing vehicles in Mexico should prove to be more expensive than anticipated.

During the course of its existence, Chrysler has not only been owned by the Italians, but also owned by the Germans twice, the US government twice, and was once in a 50-50 partnership with the Japanese once.