Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced Tuesday that it is working on a five-year plan to increase the company's global vehicle sales to 7 million by 2018.
The automaker, which is the seventh largest in the world, said it will spend about $67 billion on research, development and investment on new models through the same year, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The plan was outlined by Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of FCA, along with other top executives.
Fiat is looking to merge its Chrysler Group with Turin, Italy-headquartered company to compete with other huge automakers, such as Toyota Motor Crop., General Motors Corp. and Volkswagen, The Los Angeles Times reported.
"In a flat world, you can't be secure in your home market if you aren't able to compete in others," Marchionne said.
The Jeep brand is one of the main focuses of the expansion, and is aimed at being responsible for almost half of Fiat's growth through 2018.
Marchionne plans to double Jeep's global sales to 1.9 million by 2018 - a huge increase from selling 720,000 last year, The Los Angeles Times reported. While 75 percent of the vehicle's sales are in the U.S., the company is looking to add six factories in Latin America, Europe and China.
Michael Manley, chief executive of Jeep, said Fiat aims at building about 1 million vehicles outside North America by the same year.
Fiat's Alfa Romeo brand is also a major focus in the expansion. The company is set to produce eight new models by 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported, and is looking to increase Alfa Romeo's sales to 400,000 vehicles by the same year. The brand sold 74,000 vehicles last year. Alfa Romeo's first new model will be available in 2015.
Chrysler is also looking to improve sales with the release an unnamed full-sized crossover SUV with a plug-in hybrid option in 2017, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Fiat will also add the 500X to its lineup of vehicles - a bigger, all-wheel drive version of the 500L.
