Fiat Wants Chrysler to Compete with Cadillac

After the breathtaking series of events that have taken place in the economy and particularly the auto industry over the past year, it is good to get a break from it all. In particular though, the new Fiat-Chrysler partnership has been staying out of the news for the most part until recently.

And, the recent news has been bad news. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said he was "surprised" at Chrysler's condition and about "how little had been done in the past 24 months." Well, no surprise - Chrysler's operations were basically shut down due to lack of cash. That puts Chrysler in a bad position while competitors Ford and General Motors release a slew of new product.

As such, Marchionne is working on a new business plan for the company that will be released in November. Part of that includes far reaching changes to each. Chrysler CEO Peter Fong made the surprising comment that he sees the Chrysler brand as  "a notch above Lincoln, a notch above Cadillac."

Above Lincoln, above Cadillac - Sebring, anyone? With the recent product that has come out of the brand, that seems laughable. Of course that can change quickly, but Cadillac has spent the decade trying to catch up with the competition (and still has work to do). Lincoln has just recently introduced truly competitive products like the MKZ, MKS, MKX and MKT. Before the recent product from Lincoln, the brand was pegged lower, competing more with Acura and Buick.

In the heyday of the Big Three, this might have been more plausible. It doesn't appear like there is anything in the Chrysler brand pipeline that will deliver on this though. Could we see a future battle royale among a resurgent Lincoln, Cadillac and repositioned Chrysler? Unlikely, but we'll see - stranger things have happened.