New exec to steer Fiat's U.S. return

Alisa Priddle / The Detroit News

Chrysler Group LLC has appointed a new executive to oversee Fiat's re-entry into the North American market.

Laura Soave joins the Auburn Hills automaker immediately to help re-introduce a brand to the United States that has been absent for more than two decades. The tiny Fiat 500 is scheduled to be ready for sale here in December.

Soave last worked for Volkswagen of America, where she held marketing, advertising and communications responsibilities.

She will report to Sergio Marchionne, CEO of both Chrysler and Fiat SpA, and is responsible for the profitability of the brand in North America. She joins Chrysler's four other brand chiefs who are responsible for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge Car and Ram.

The 500 will be built at Chrysler's Toluca, Mexico, plant. Production plans call for about 100,000 cars initially, increasing to about 130,000 a year.

Under Soave, the Fiat brand will be integrated into Chrysler's marketing, sales, service and dealer organizations.

Fiats will be sold in select Chrysler dealerships in urban markets.

Re-launching a brand is different than introducing a new, clean-sheet brand, said Jack Nerad, editorial director of Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, Calif.

"There is positive name recognition but there is negative as well," he said for those who remember Fiats as repair-prone.

Working in the 500's favor is that it will be targeted at younger buyers without old perceptions and who are more likely to view the Italian brand as different and exotic, Nerad said.

"Chrysler needs to leverage Fiat's strong European heritage from the get-go," said Mike Bernacchi, marketing professor at University of Detroit Mercy. "Where it fits into the American marketplace may have changed. It is a good time to do this with gas prices on the rise and the economy growing."

But the car must live up to any advance billing because today's consumers have become more skeptical, Bernacchi said.

Soave has a strong marketing background. In addition to her work at VW, she also worked as a brand DNA manager at Ford Motor Co. helping with the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands.

"Her rich background will serve as a springboard for reintroducing the Fiat brand when it takes to U.S. and Canadian roads this December after more than a 25-year absence," Marchionne said.

apriddle@detnews.com (313) 222 - 2504