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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Fiat 500 engine starts production in the US next month



Chrysler announced it will begin manufacturing the engine used in the upcoming Fiat 500 early in November. The engine is a 1.4 liter 4 cylinder equipped with Fiat's innovative MultiAir valve system.

MultiAir is Fiat's revolutionary way of increasing power and torque while reducing fuel consumption and emissions. You can read all about MultiAir here.

The engine, which will be manufactured at Chrysler's Dundee, Michigan engine plant (GEMA), will be shipped to Mexico and installed into the 500, currently scheduled to begin production on December 13.

GEMA, which stands for Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance LLC, was a manufacturing arm of Global Engine Alliance LLC. The alliance was a joint venture of Chrysler, Mitsubishi Motors, and Hyundai Motor Company for developing a line of shared engines. On August 31, 2009, Chrysler bought out the two partners and the engine facility is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chrysler Group LLC.



This is significant because it was the stipulation in the original Chrysler/Fiat alliance that in order to increase its stake in Chrysler, Fiat would have to produce this engine here in the USA.

Below is an excerpt of the official Fiat/Chrysler agreement:

"...Fiat will have right to receive up to an additional 15% equity interest (by vote and value) on a fully diluted basis. This stake can be obtained in three tranches of 5% each subject to the achievement of predetermined targets, in particular, achievement of regulatory approvals to produce the FIRE family of engines in the USA; achievement of sales of Chrysler vehicles outside NAFTA, and achievement of regulatory approval to produce a Chrysler model based on Fiat technology. Upon obtainment of such additional 15% interest, Fiat will also have the right to appoint another director of Chrysler..."


Fiat currently owns a 20% stake in Chrysler. Its ownership level will rise to 35% once it meets 3 requirements; build the 500 engine here in the US, sell Chrysler products outside of NAFTA and produce a Chrysler automobile using the award winning C-Evo chassis


Currently Fiat owns 20% of Chrysler and oversees day to day operations at the company. Producing the 500's engine here will up the ownership level to 25%.

You can read more on the merger here. This link takes you to the first post on the merger back in March, 2009. Click newer posts to page forward to see the progression of news.
With thanks to Chrysler Media

7 comments:

Luke Walch said...

How many HP's for us in the US? Thanks!

Fiat500USA.com said...

What was published last year was:
100 horsepower (75 kW) at 6,750 rpm and 95 lb.-ft. (129 N•m) of torque at 4,250 rpm.

We'll see in a few weeks...

Anonymous said...

interesting that the 2 cylinder is listed at 105 hp...amazing that a .9L2 cylinder has more HP than the multivalve 1.4L

Gavin

Anonymous said...

To the poll up above, I hope they bring the twin air, even if it's the 89hp turbo version, better yet, the more aggressively tuned 100 version.

I've read the 89 horse version is very good but running flat out is not its forte tho.

I know we'll only see the 1.4L motor, but if I read Marchione right, he may have a surprise or two up his sleeve when the 500 is finally announced in LA next month.

I'll be at the Seattle Intl. Auto show, sadly, just before LA and I hope they have at least a Euro spec model on display.

Anonymous said...

The diesel is the way to go. That big slug of torque will make the car more fun to drive than with the Twin Air gasser. The torque is what is most important for overall driving performance and pleasure.

Fiat500USA.com said...

ciddyguy said...
"To the poll up above, I hope they bring the twin air, even if it's the 89hp turbo version, better yet, the more aggressively tuned 100 version.

I've read the 89 horse version is very good but running flat out is not its forte tho..."

Hi ciddyguy,

It is a tough choice, the 105hp TwinAir is a wild-card. Love to see the specs on that.

Diesel for longer distance driving and TwinAir for light weight fun?

Let me go for it and say in my dream world we would get the 105hp TwinAir to replace the 1.4L 16V and then get the MultiJet II as an option.

Or what about a three cylinder TriAir with 157hp;)

Anonymous said...

I work at GEMA engine plant in Dundee, MI. I'm here to tell you this is one sweet engine. They don't get any more perfect than this