It was bound to happen wasn’t it? Dodge may be selling the Journey in Europe already but sales are so weak it’s not really worth noting.
This is where their new alliance with the Italians at Fiat comes in. Fiat plans to re-badge the 2011 Dodge Journey as one of their own products and rethink the sales strategy.
The new name will be Freemont, Fiat Freemont. The new sales strategy for Europe involves Fiat’s very strong distribution network of more than 5000 dealers and something more.
Fiat is going to give the Europeans something they want. A diesel. Up until recently, the Dodge Journey was sold in Europe with a diesel but things are about to change.
The previous oil burners were outsourced by Chrysler from Germany’s Volkswagen and they were 2.0 liter TDI units rated at 140 horsepower.
That’s not going to happen anymore because Fiat have their own lineup of diesel choices and they plan to slam one up into the Fiat Freemont.
The Euro version of the 2011 Dodge Journey will be powered by Fiat’s own 2.0 liter Multijet engine developing 170 horsepower.
In a further effort to cut back on expenses and stresses Fiat will no longer develop a replacement for their outgoing Fiat Ulysee and simply call the Freemont its new iteration.
