Yesterday I asked the esteemed Jalopnik commentariat for suggestions of product plans that Fiat Chrysler and Groupe PSA could put together now that they’re bound for marriage. I was not disappointed.
It seems like the answers ended up in three basic categories and I’ve collected some examples of each to share.
The first group is definitely the most creative. It’s exciting to think about how two companies might share the bits and bobs they’ve developed independently over newly combined product lines. Some of you were [rightly] fixated on the prospect of a new SM now that Citroën and Maserati share a roof, but others had some even more unique ideas.
Some of you are just excited to see that Peugeot and Citroën could finally make their return stateside and would like to see some of those models (production or concept, doesn’t seem to matter) on our roads. Truth is, we knew that Peugeot will be back soon even before talk of the merger broke, but they’re going to need a dealer presence out here. That’s where FCA comes in, right?
The third school of thought amongst you all is the “HELLCAT EVERYTHING” approach. While I do hope that FCA has more to offer to PSA than a massive V8, I can’t say I have a lot to argue with here. Put that thing in all the cars. I do worry about all that power coming out of some of these FWD platforms though.
Now, there is always the issue that upper management will get wind of these good ideas and blow them off course. I sure hope not, but one of you had the good sense to anticipate the implications of such short-sighted party-pooping.
Let’s hope things at FCAPSA or whatever the new giant gets called don’t come to that. As long as they take a look at some of these ideas I think this just might work out.