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Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Jeep baby SUVs to be built in Poland from late 2022 – report

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has announced plans to upgrade its Tychy, Poland factory to build three new models for Jeep, Fiat and Alfa Romeo from the second half of 2022.


One of these models could be Alfa Romeo's upcoming, city-sized SUV.

In a media release published by the group's Polish arm, FCA confirmed plans for the "expansion and modernisation" of the Tychy facility – comprising an investment reportedly totalling 755 million Polish złoty (AUD$263 million) – in order to "start mass production of the first of three new passenger car models for the group's brands in the second half of 2022."

"The announced Jeep, Fiat and Alfa Romeo cars are technologically advanced models based on a new concept of mobility. They will be manufactured using the most advanced drive systems, including all-electric drive."

Hybrid powertrains will also be on offer, the statement confirms.

 

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Above and top: Alfa Romeo Tonale concept, previewing an Audi Q3-sized, C-segment compact SUV (not the B-SUV, it's important to note) due in 2021.

While the identity of the new Jeep, Fiat and Alfa Romeo models have yet to be confirmed, it's understood the vehicles will all slot into the B-segment, 'light' SUV segment, competing with city-sized SUVs the likes of the Toyota Yaris Cross, Ford Puma and Audi Q2 (though the lattermost is officially classed as a 'small SUV' in Australia).

Such a classification would see the mystery Alfa Romeo model arrive as the 'B-SUV' announced during an earnings call in 2019, which at the time was confirmed to enter production sometime in 2022, and offer a battery-electric variant.

Rumours from Automotive News Europe later in 2019 suggested an all-electric, Alfa Romeo-badged "small crossover" due to arrive late in 2022 would be the first FCA vehicle since its merger with France's Groupe PSA to use the latter conglomerate's CMP platform, shared with the Peugeot 208, Citroen e-C4 and a variety of other models.

Given how closely the earnings call and Automotive News Europe reports line up with FCA Poland's announcement this week, it's all-but-confirmed that the new, Polish-built Alfa Romeo model – a first for the brand, given all recent Alfa models have been built in Italy – will be the aforementioned B-segment city SUV.

 

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Meanwhile, the mystery Jeep model would likely morph into a replacement for, or, as detailed in a 2018 financial plan, a smaller cousin to the existing Renegade small SUV (above), while the Fiat would likely take the shape of the next-generation 500X small SUV, which overseas reports suggest will be renamed '500XL', and will share its platform with the new, all-electric 500e.

However, the wording of the announcement – and the nature of streamlining automotive production – suggests all three models would share a common architecture, likely the PSA-designed CMP platform poised for the Alfa Romeo B-SUV, rather than the bespoke chassis utilised by the Fiat 500e and its aforementioned, rumoured '500XL' SUV sibling.

The Tychy, Poland plant is currently home to production of the Fiat 500, Abarth 595 and Italy-only Lancia Ypsilon micro cars, building a total of 263,176 vehicles in 2019.

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Alex Misoyannis

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.

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