The new Fiat-Chrysler

Whether it's possible for Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne to be as successful at Chrysler as he has been at Fiat remains to be seen. Building an organization in the US is very different from building a team in Europe but Fiat is a business that has experienced an amazing turn around in recent years over this way. I'm hardly a car buff but I've always had a soft spot for the wonderful Fiat 500 of the past. More recently Marchionne led a revival of the dying Fiat which introduced the Fiat Nuova 500, a car that has been a hot seller in southern Europe even during the recession. The streets of Paris are loaded with this little gem that is without a doubt the best "revival" car out there. It's cute, sporty, fuel efficient and cheap. (Cheap by European standards, at least.)

The new Fiat has managed to grow while everyone else around them has faltered. After years of building cars that were as unreliable as they were ugly, the new Fiat is quite extraordinary. They've been focused on small cars that are stylish (hey, they're not Italian for nothing), small and run well. Will this translate over to the US market? Hard to say because Americans are not used to small cars and probably nervous about the safety of driving small cars on the same roads as massive SUVs such as the current line of Chrysler cars and trucks. Hopefully the Fiat team will create a new spirit at Chrysler and make them competitive again but the odds are not in their favor.