Just days after Fiat took over Chrysler’s operation, the Italian automaker is unveiling some of its plans for the newly combined entity, one that may go well beyond Fiat supplying vehicle platforms, engines and transmissions for several upcoming small vehicles to be built in North America.

Sharing The Chrysler LX Platform

According to Canada’s Financial Post, Fiat has been eying Chrysler’s LX platform, the Daimler derived platform which currently underpins the Chrysler 300C and Dodge Charger full-sized sedans. That platform could be used to build a third model ? which would be the most upscale of the three ? and one sporting the Alfa Romeo moniker at that.

Alfa Romeo along with Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia and Fiat are all owned by the Fiat Group. Alfa Romeo falls somewhere in the middle of the Fiat pricing pack, but the sedan being considered for production in North America would most likely compete against some of Europe’s finest models including those built by Mercedes and BMW.

The 2012 Alfa Romeo 169

The Financial Post says that Fiat is weighing plans to build the Alfa Romeo 169 at the company’s Brampton, Ontario facility alongside that of the Charger and the 300C, beginning in November 2011. That move would time with the introduction of the next generation release of the Dodge and Chrysler models which initially were to roll out in late 2010 for the 2011 model year.

Some sources have pegged the 169’s price at about $62,000 which would be some $25,000 more than a fully equipped Chrysler 300C. However, the sedan would likely share few components beyond the platform, getting its own interior, suspension, engine and transmission.

Bringing Back Alfa Romeo

Well before Fiat had its eyes on Chrysler, the automaker had been wanting to reintroduce Alfa Romeo to the North American market, but the economic climate precluded its return. Fiat ceased selling Alfa Romeo models in North America in 1995, more than a decade after pulling the Fiat brand out of that highly competitive market. Ferrari and Maserati are still sold the US and Canada, although through separate dealer networks.

Chrysler’s slice of the North American market continues to shrink rapidly, something that Fiat hopes to stem with a bevy of new models. Between its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands along with Fiat and Alfa Romeo, the combined manufacturing capacity of the Chrysler Group could help the newly combined entity recapture some of what has been lost.

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