The Europe-bound Freemont, which replaces the Ulysse (which was built as part of a discontinued minivan joint venture with PSA Peugeot-Citroën) is being built at the Chrysler Group’s factory at Toluca in Mexico alongside the Dodge-branded Journey; the North American-market specific Fiat 500 is also being built at the same plant.

For launch the new minivan will come in two levels "Freemont" and "Freemont Urban" and with two engine choices, the turbodiesel Multijet II 2.0 16v, with either 140 CV or 170 CV. Fiat has announced it will bring the 276 CV 3.6 petrol "Pentastar" V6 engine with 4WD as well but this will be added to the range at a later date. Pricing will be competitive to try to entice customers, the Freemont will start at 25,700 euros while the Freemont Urban will kick off at 27,200 euros. For the launch there will be an introductory price offer of 24,900 euros for the Freemont Urban, although, with the minivan likely to be subject to the usual rigorous Fiat discounting, pricing is unlikely to rise much from that benchmark. There will be three specification packages at launch with equipment such as 19-inch alloy wheels.

The Freemont is the first product of the hasty and low-budget stop-gap strategy being implemented by the two carmakers. The Freemont comes to Europe wearing the upscale bodykit of the new Journey R/T version and visually just about the only difference is the addition of 'Fiat' and 'Freemont' badges. Tweaking a minivan which is generally regarded as being towards the lower end of its class is an ambitious strategy for Fiat to pull off, and the Freemont will have its work cut out to succeed the outgoing Ulysse (which only sold at a trickle) when there are very few reasons that customers should choose the Freemont; however the pricing is quite competitive and in Italy it should be capable of carving out a small niche. It should also appeal to some customers who had considered the Croma. The Journey debuted at the 2007 Frankfurt IAA, and at the time was widely regarded as being behind the class leaders; its recent facelift merely bringing it up to the standard it should have been at three years ago, while its rivals haven’t stood still.

The Journey/Freemont is based on Chrysler’s JC platform, the result of a joint venture with Chrysler Group’s previous owners Daimler and Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi. The dimensions (length 489 cm, width 188 cm and height 172 cm) in a car that is deceptively larger than it actually appears to be, benefit interior roominess, aided by the longest wheelbase in its category (289 cm).

The Journey has a seven-seat configuration as standard, with a third row of roomy seats that is easily accessible because the doors open ninety degrees, and this format has been carried over unchanged to the Freemont. The seats of the third row may be folded down with one movement to disappear below the floor line and create a regular load platform. The seats of the second row are fitted higher than those at the front, while the third row is raised in relation to the second, allowing all occupants maximum visibility. The second row can also be fitted with a child booster system: booster seats are used to make sure that children on board are sitting correctly, optimising the seatbelt geometry and guaranteeing greater protection, practicality and comfort.

The other key interior features of the recently-facelifted Journey are a high-mounted driving position, revised front seats, storage compartments, and a flat load area with a capacity of up to 1,461 litres. In a effort to improve the car’s reputation for poor interior quality, Chrysler Group’s designers started afresh with the interior for the facelift, which makes huge strides over the previous version, but still isn’t quite up to European standards. For the Journey facelift there is a new dashboard, instruments, chrome accents and detailing, and an infotainments system with a colour touchscreen.

In Freemont specification, the European specification outfits will offer seven seats, triple-zone automatic climate control system, keyless entry system, cruise control, advanced trip computer, tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), fog lights and touchscreen radio with colour screen and controls on the steering wheel. The more ‘metropolitan’ version will include 17” alloys, touchscreen radio with 8.4” screen, SD card and DVD reader, Bluetooth system, rear parking sensors, fold-down door mirrors, automatic headlight activation, darkened rear windows and roof bars.

For the Italian launch the Freemont will have front wheel drive with turbodiesel power units (140 HP or 170 HP 2.0 Multijet II). The Multijet II delivers 350 Nm at 1,750 rpm in the 140 CV version while delivering the peak band up to 2,750 rpm in the 170 CV specification. Performance is good also being announced at 0-100 km/h in 10.2 seconds for the 170 CV Multijet II. Later, the Freemont will also be available in 4x4 versions with 170 HP 2.0 Multijet and 276 HP 3.6 petrol V6 engines, both with automatic transmissions. With the exception of the 3.6 litre unit from the Chrysler Group Pentastar family and its automatic transmission, all power units are produced and developed by FPT-Fiat Powertrain. The 3.6 V6 4x4 is set to become an instant curiosity in Europe – it being a very remote chance that any customer will specify the Freemont with this engine and drivetrain combination.

Fiat has stated that the Freemont’s “dynamic performance” has been improved over the facelifted Journey’s for the European market, thanks to “a special suspension and steering configuration for greater accuracy and directness”, however this is actually a direct carry over of the higher-performance new Journey R/T's suspension tune-up. Driving comfort is improved by “significant improvements to passenger compartment soundproofing”. Safety includes 7 airbags, anti-lock braking system (ABS) with Brake Assist, Electronic Stability Program (ESP) with Hill-Holder and electronic roll mitigation (ERM) as standard on all the vehicles while Trailer Sway Control (TSC) is also added to the Freemont's generous equipment list.