Fiat’s rebadged Dodge Journey, the European market Fiat Freemont, can be ordered in Italy starting today. Available in two trim levels, Freemont and Urban, the crossover will retail from €25,700 ($37,000) for the base equipment package, with the Urban version to cost €27,200 ($39,170).
Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne and Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon celebrated the start of the 2012 Fiat 500 production today at the Detroit firm’s Toluca plant in Mexico. The company invested $550 million USD, with the assistance of loans from the Mexican government, to build the subcompact model at the Toluca site.
Chrysler said the plant will build more than 120,000 examples of the Fiat 500 for export to the United States, Canada, and South America, as well as to China by the third quarter of 2011. The same factory also produces the Dodge Journey, which is shipped to the U.S. as well as its Fiat twin, the newly revealed Freemont that will be sold in Europe.
The star of Fiat's exhibition area at the Geneva Motor Show and the first Fiat-branded vehicle to come out of the partnership with the Chrysler Group is the new Freemont 7-seater crossover. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the Freemont is a re-badged 2011 Dodge Journey, but if for whatever reason you weren't satisfied with the first batch of official photos, the Italians have just released a more comprehensive set that includes pictures of the interior as well.
Sergio Marchionne's plans to infuse the Fiat Group' portfolio with North American models and the Chrysler Group's lineup with European products are starting to take shape with the presentation of the new Fiat Freemont, which is nothing more than a re-badged Dodge Journey.
The first Fiat vehicle to come out of the partnership with the Chrysler Group will make its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show in the beginning of March and go on sale in the second half of the year.
The Freemont is based on the refreshed Dodge Journey with the only visible changes on the outside concerning the Fiat styled alloy wheels and front grille. In fact, Fiat didn't even bother to redesign the front bumper to accommodate the shorter grille simply opting to add a body-colored extension underneath.
