The late Sergio Marchionne believed in getting bigger. Under him, Fiat supersized the Fiat 500 and acquired Jeep by taking over Chrysler. Now, the carmaker’s planned merger with PSA of France would turn it into the largest seller of SUVs in Europe.
Marchionne’s successor as chief executive, Mike Manley, also values scale and is cutting back Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ smallest vehicles. Europe used to be known for little cars such as the Fiat Panda but, like PSA and other European carmakers, FCA regards larger ones and SUVs as the future.
Most of the millennial and Gen X parents of school-age children on my street in east London do not ferry them around in estate cars. Instead, SUVs such as Nissan Qashqais and BMW X5s are parked outside, filled with child seats and sports kits. What used to be a peculiarly US transport habit has crossed the Atlantic.