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Fiat set to invest $12B on new models, stop Euro losses in 3 years

Naturally, you'd expect a massive automaker like Fiat to have an in-depth plan to exit the current European-market doldrums, and you'd expect that plan to include plenty of new vehicles to attract those precious buyers that still remain despite the financial downturn. And you'd be right, though Fiat does seem to have a few unexpected twists up its corporate sleeve.
Perhaps the biggest shocker is a report that Fiat will completely drop the Punto, a car with mass-market appeal aimed at small-car buyers cross-shopping the popular Volkswagen Polo. Its replacement will be a five-door Fiat 500 aimed at upmarket buyers (sounds awfully similar to the 500L) that will be built in Poland. Lower-end customers will reportedly be served by variants of the Fiat Panda.
Borrowing a page from the BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen playbook, reports Automotive News, Fiat is said to have plans to reignite production at its Italian factories by retooling them to build high-end vehicles from Maserati and Alfa Romeo. These will be marketed as premium products, built by skilled Italian workers (who are paid wages that are 75-percent higher than those building Fiats in Poland), and will be sold around the world.

Pete Grady retiring from Chrysler, Maserati

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is about to lose one of its top executives as the president of Maserati North America, Pete Grady, has announced his retirement. A lifelong automotive industry exec, Grady joined the American Motors Corporation back in 1984 after graduating from John Carroll University in his native Ohio. After AMC was bought out by Chrysler, Grady started rising through the ranks under the Pentastar as a sales manager. He was named vice president of network development and fleet operations in 2009 and was shortly thereafter put in charge of the Chrysler Group's dealer network. He continued to hold that position when he was named last year as the top man at Maserati North America. Grady will continue to hold responsibility for Chrysler's dealer network until his retirement takes effect on March 31, 2015. His position as head of Maserati's American office, however, will pass to the Trident marque's global sales chief Christian Gobber, who will hand off responsibility for the Chinese region to Mirko Bordiga but maintain his global portfolio. CHANGES AT THE TOP IN MASERATI NORTH AMERICA AND MASERATI CHINA Monday, 8 December 2014 – Effective January 1st, 2015, Christian Gobber will be assigned responsibility for Maserati North America, replacing Pete Grady, who has announced his intent to retire effective March 31st, 2015. Christian Gobber will maintain his responsibility for Maserati Global Sales. Effective January 1st, 2015, Mirko Bordiga will join Maserati and will be assigned responsibility for Maserati China, replacing Christian Gobber. Maserati further strengthens its sales and commercial structure in the two main markets for the Trident brand. Maserati CEO Harald Wester thanks Pete Grady for his dedication and achievements at the helm of Maserati in North America, and wishes all the best to Christian Gobber and Mirko Bordiga in their new positions. ### Chrysler Group's Grady to Retire December 5, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Chrysler Group today announced that Peter Grady has stated his intention to retire, effective March 31, 2015. In the interim, Grady will retain his current responsibilities as Vice President Dealer Network Development and continue as a member of the Company's NAFTA Leadership Team. In a move announced earlier, Christian Gobber will assume responsibility for leading Maserati North America, effective January 1, 2015.

Maserati ramping up production of Ghibli, Quattroporte

While Porsche may be relatively new to the four-door game, Maserati has been building the Quattroporte with few interruptions since 1963. But like its rival from Stuttgart, the Trident marque is rapidly shifting from a sports car company primarily to a manufacturer of high-end family transportation. Not only does it have the new Quattroporte on the market, but now it's got the Ghibli sedan as well and the Levante crossover on its way.
It's a gambit that's reaping huge benefits not only for Maserati itself but also for its newly merged parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which is finding the mass market less lucrative than it once was and is positioning both Maserati and Alfa Romeo against other luxury marques like BMW, Audi and Porsche. As a result, Maserati is considerably expanding its production.
Last month, Maserati sold over 3,000 cars, putting it on track to double its sales from 2013. But it's not about to stop there. With growing demand for its authentically Italian luxury sedans, Maserati is shifting more workers to its assembly plant in the Turinese suburn of Grugliasco (where the QP and Ghibli are made) and shortening vacation time to ramp production up from 750 cars per week to 900.