With Fiat at the helm of New Chrysler, don't expect the Italian automaker to keep the Jeep brand confined within the U.S. Exports have rarely been a priority for domestic automakers over the past 30 years, but with the Italians' well-developed distribution and sales networks around the globe, expanding the vaunted off-roading brand around the world is a logical step. Jeep-brand vehicles have not been exported in high numbers since 1997, the year before Chrysler merged with Daimler-Benz.
Despite Chrysler's placing a lower value on exports over the past couple decades, vehicles including the Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee had been engineered from the start to be shipped overseas, offering support for both left- and right-hand drive applications as needed. Chrysler's decline in export totals from 1997 on is attributed to Daimler's reluctance to supporting export operations, according to a former Chrysler executive. However, New Chrysler is well aware it cannot rely on its previous business model if it wants to succeed in the auto industry today. Latin America, South America, and the Middle East have been identified as especially strong for export.
Source: The Detroit Bureau