Chrysler is different from GM and Ford in one fascinating way.
They did everything the major publications always say is the right thing to do. Very little badge-engineering. Even those things that are engineered similarly (Jeep Patriot and Dodge Caliber, Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro) have very distinct personalities in terms of capabilities and "vehicle mission" (i.e. what the vehicle is intended to do, whether it is supposed to be an urban runabout or an off-roader.) In other words, Chrysler supposedly did the "good" kind of badge engineering.
Didn't work. Guess it really mostly depends on the quality of the products you build, not the process you use to build them. Chrysler especially was known for unreliable, low quality products so it will die.
I don't care about Chrysler, though. Dodge is also sort of redundant. At this point, the only two brands with any cachet whatsoever are Ram and Jeep, with only die-hard Mopar fans going for the rest.
Why did Fiat separate the full-size Ram pickup from Dodge, just as people are questioning the Dodge brand's longevity? Perhaps because Dodge and Chrysler don't have long to last and Fiat wants to shear off the good meats (Jeep + Ram) and (eventually) substitute its own brands for the smaller vehicles.
Will it work? Maybe, but I doubt it, because of Fiat's overall reputation in the U.S.
So I'm focusing on Jeep alone as the only part that will survive, and I predict Fiat will probably have to sell when it gives up in the U.S. The question is, of course to whom?
I recall that Ford produced a great deal of the original WWII Jeeps. So when does Ford brand get to have the Jeep brand? Ford is a far better match for Jeep than Fiat and Mercedes. Maybe when Fiat fails to live up to the U.S. government's terms it'll give away Jeep to a different company. (Hey, I can dream.)
Ford could use Jeep for just two or three new Jeeps powered by its Ecoboost powertrains (again, dreaming here). I think that if Ford's reputation for quality continues to grow by the time it gets the Jeep brand it could clean up Jeep's reputation for poor reliability and there could finally be a really viable production off-roader on the U.S. market.
Somehow, I think I went crazy for a second while writing this post