FCA Group plans to strengthen its range with electric vehicles

It’s no news if we say that the electrification of models is getting closer every day, and that little by little they should start taking market share from vehicles running on traditional fuels.

The fact is that all of this is still just beginning and there is still a long way to go, but more and more brands are venturing into the world of electric vehicles, launching models that leave petrol stations behind in favour of plugs and extension cords.

One of those car companies is FCA. Its CEO, Sergio Marchionne, has recently stated that he sees it as feasible to copy the strategy of Tesla: “I have always thought that the economic model supporting Tesla is something that Fiat Chrysler could replicate, since we have the brand and the vehicles to do it.”

Perhaps electrification could reach the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Group in two very different ways. One could be a sports car launched under the Maserati brand and the other a small city model bearing the Fiat logos.

In the case of Maserati, if it does arrive, it would likely be based on the new Alfieri, the Italian firm’s new coupé. In any case, Marchionne clarified that it could not be launched while he was occupying that position at the brand, meaning the electric Maserati will not be available before 2019, which is when he will stop being CEO of FCA.

Conversely, and as we have anticipated, a very compact city model under the Fiat brand is expected for the European market . It would not be the first. Fiat already sells an electric version of the Fiat 500 in the American market, the Fiat 500E. Apparently, every 500E sold represents a loss of around 10,000 dollars for the brand, which is why the business plans should be reviewed before launching it in Europe.

On top of all this, the brand with the trident intends to incorporate a new hybrid version sooner rather than later into its new and first SUV, the Maserati Levante.

Marchionne and his team understand that the market is changing and that they have to look to the future, because the changes that will arrive in cars over the next few years are going to be very big.

Via | Autonews