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" Less than six months have passed since Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy with new owners and a new lease on life. Yesterday the company gave a progress report to over 400 analysts, dealers, and journalists during an unprecedented eight-hour briefing session. It&amp;#039;s clear that while the name remains the same, the new Chrysler is a very different organization than it was this past spring. Of course the jolt of bankruptcy has a way of forcing change, but the main driver is the influence of Fiat--Chrysler&amp;#039;s new part owner--and its CEO, Sergio Marchionne. He now also runs Chrysler and has revamped the company&amp;#039;s structure to take advantage of the Fiat-Chrysler partnership.  Perhaps the biggest news was the revelation that Ram trucks will be spun off to form its own brand. There are now four brands, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram--which will eventually all be sold under one roof (During the bankruptcy, Chrysler cut its dealer count by have to about 2500 nationwide). This move should allow Ram to move further into the commercial truck market and Dodge to concentrate on finally building interesting cars. Ralph Gilles, Dodge&amp;#039;s president says, &amp;quot;We plan to make history as we explore the physics of fun.&amp;quot; Of course it will take years for any new cars to reach showrooms so in the near term, Gilles promised repackaged existing cars with fresh interiors, new features, and better handling; all sorely needed improvements.  Over the next two years, Chrysler will both upgrade existing models and roll-out new ones. In the short term, new versions of the Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300, and Jeep Grand Cherokee debut. The Fiat 500 small car arrives in 13 months. It will be sold in selected, urban Chrysler dealers. In the longer term--about three years--we&amp;#039;ll see the first of the Fiat-based smaller cars.  Using Fiat platforms and engines is a critical part of the partnership because of the increased economy of scale the combined companies enjoy. In addition, Chrysler will base more cars on fewer platforms. Scott Kunselman, the Engineering Senior Vice President, says, &amp;quot;We will deliver 21 future vehicles while using four fewer vehicle architectures.&amp;quot; This move saves money, which can be applied to higher-quality interiors, electronic features, and more frequent styling updates.  While the company consolidates its platforms, it will work toward increasing fuel efficiency. &amp;quot;By 2014, Chrysler&amp;#039;s fleet fuel economy will improve by 25 percent,&amp;quot; promised Marchionne. New vehicles will be more aerodynamic and lighter--the next Jeep Liberty will weigh 600 pounds less than the current model. Engines will be smaller. While the Hemi V8 will remain, Fiat&amp;#039;s passenger-car diesel engines and sophisticated four-cylinder engines will populate Chrysler vehicles. By 2014, diesels and four-cylinder engines will account for 50 percent of the engine mix. Roughly 37 percent will be the new Pentastar V6 that debuts next year, the rest--11percent--will be V8s. There was little mention of Chrysler&amp;#039;s ENV1 EV-car program because the company has pulled back on electric cars as it rights itself. There will be mild hybrids and perhaps a token EV, but in the next five years there will be no major push to electrify the automobile.  A key component of any Chrysler recovery will be fixing the company&amp;#039;s known quality problem. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;ve got an issue to deal with,&amp;quot; says Doug Betts, the Senior Vice President for quality. Betts says that the old Chrysler was not organized to effectively increase quality. Each brand used to have its own quality department and now the separate entities have been merged into one organization. In addition, the company developed new ways to measure quality and has greater oversight over all the brands.  If all goes according to plan, Chrysler will financially break even by the end of next year and will repay the government loan in five years while doubling its sales to roughly two million a year. Success lies in how effectively Chrysler can execute its plan and if the new cars draw customers back into its showrooms.  Dave Cole, the President of the Center for Automotive Research, is optimistic. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m very impressed with Marchionne and his team,&amp;quot; he says, &amp;quot;The big thing they&amp;#039;ve got going for them is they now have a cost structure that is doable. The debt load, the labor costs, the legacy costs now give them a much more level playing field. Taking two companies with roughly two million sales each that were not really globally present and integrate them so they&amp;#039;ve got four million total units plus a real global spread also gives them a real shot in terms of scale and purchasing power.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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