TURIN, Italy -

Fiat chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne recently revealed that his company plans to reopen an Italian manufacturing facility to build Jeep vehicles that combine a Chrysler and Fiat platform. He expects many of these models to be shipped to North America.

During a meeting held at Unione Industriale di Torino, Marchionne presented trade unions with a plan to reopen the plant at Mirafiori. The CEO indicated his plan centers around the establishment of a joint venture between Chrysler and Fiat to bring a new platform to Turin from the United States for the production of larger segment passenger cars and SUVs for the Jeep and Alfa Romeo brands.

Marchionne expressed his intention to initiate the project immediately, as rapid implementation would enable the plant to be reconfigured in time for the launch of the future Jeep and Alfa Romeo models, planned for the third and fourth quarters of 2012.

“This platform represents the most advanced architecture available today, originally designed as the base for the Giulietta and further developed at Chrysler,” declared Marchionne, who added the universal platform is to be shared by the two groups and used for development of more vehicles.

Company officials went on to explain that the models produced at Mirafiori will also be exported outside the European Union. More than half of production will be for international markets, particularly North America. They noted these will be flagship models for Jeep and Alfa Romeo, the most international brands of the two groups with significant development potential globally.

Fiat and Chrysler plan to split an investment of more than 1 billion Euros in proportion to volumes produced for each brand.

Marchionne also believes that bringing this new platform to the Mirafiori plant should result in potential production of up to more than 1,000 vehicles per day, or some 250,000 to 280,000 units annually. He contends that production level should result in full utilization of the current work force and will also open the way for potential new jobs.

“In addition to the group’s commitment, the support of trade unions and employees is essential to realization of this project and to guarantee the plant the necessary level of competitiveness in terms of capacity utilization, productivity and operational flexibility,” Marchionne stated.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity for Italian industry to produce cars of quality and prestige,” he went on to say. “Mirafiori has all the elements necessary to achieve a leap of quality and become a world class plant, producing cars for Europe, North America and other markets around the world.

“This project is the first tangible example of the benefits brought by the Chrysler alliance to Italian operations and it is significant that it should take place at Mirafiori, the symbol of this nation’s industrial and automotive culture,” Marchionne also pointed out.

New Company Logos

In other company news, the demerger approved by shareholders on Sept. 16 has resulted in the official creation of two different names and logos. As of Jan. 1, officials said the new company identities are Fiat SpA and Fiat Industrial SpA.

Executives explained Fiat SpA — with a clear focus in the automobile sector — will be identified by a logo displaying the word Fiat in tall, condensed blue lettering. They mentioned the new logo was created in response to the need to differentiate the automobile group from the product-related brand, reinforcing the parent company’s role in the management of a multi-brand group.

“The graphic design was intended, in particular, to create a visual identity which portrays the strong link between past and future. This has led to the reinterpretation of an iconic logo from the past, which is also strongly evocative of the modern and innovative,” Fiat highlighted.

Meanwhile, officials pointed out Fiat Industrial SpA — which includes trucks, commercial vehicles, agricultural and construction equipment, and related powertrain activities — has maintained the visual identity created for Fiat Group. They indicated this strategy preserves the concept of solidity representative of a large industrial group.

In contrast to the Fiat Group logo, officials stated the name Fiat Industrial appears in burnt gold lettering with the background in the company’s traditional blue.

The company noted the new logos, designed by Robilant Associati, replace the Fiat Group logo adopted in October 2005.