Chrysler Will Disappear by 2017 in The UK

Mar 19, 2015 12:39 PM EDT | Matt Mercuro

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has decided to stop selling Chrysler branded vehicles in the United Kingdom in order to focus more on Jeep sales.

The plan will go into effect no later than 2017, according to Auto Express who spoke with Fiat Group UK's deputy managing director, Karl Howkins.

FCA sells its U.S.-built Chrysler 300C sedan and Voyager minivan in the UK, along with the Ypsilon subcompact and Lancia Delta compact vehicles, which are rebadged as Chrysler models.

"We made the decision to stop supplying new cars into the UK and to stop exporting them," said FCA US spokesmen Ariel Gavilan in a company statement.

Company sales in the UK dropped 21 percent to 1,982 in 2014, according to data from the UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. A good portion of those sales were Ypsilons.

Chrysler-badged vehicles will be replaced by Jeep models in the UK, according to Auto Express. FCA expects to sell more than 10,000 Jeeps in the UK in 2015, including 7,000 Renegade subcompact SUVs, which are manufactured in Italy.

Even though Chrysler sales were so low last year, Jeep sales in the UK rose by 75 percent to 3,909 units in 2014.

Jeep sales exceeded 1 million SUVs last year and the automaker's five year plan calls for more Jeeps in order to reach annual sales of 1.9 million by 2018.

FCA is also investing a lot of money to expand Alfa Romeo's lineup of vehicles in order to expand the brand to around 400,000 sales annually in three years.

Howkins confirmed that over the next three years, FCA's three-car range will be joined by a "range-topping" large SUV currently called the Grand Wagoneer and a mid-sized Nissan Qashqai.

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