Fiat SpA, the Italian carmaker which controls Chrysler Group LLC, may shift planned production of Jeep and Alfa Romeo brand sport-utility vehicles from its oldest plant in Turin to North America and build a small city car at the factory instead, a person familiar with the matter said.

Fiat may assemble a yet-to-be built subcompact car at the Mirafiori plant after the strengthening euro against the dollar made the possibility of building SUVs mainly destined for the U.S. a less competitive option in Europe, said the person, who declined to be identified before an official announcement. A final decision hasn't been made, the person added.

Fiat last November announced a 1 billion-euro ($1.44 billion) investment to make as many as 280,000 Jeep and Alfa Romeo SUVs at the Mirafiori plant starting in the fourth quarter of 2012. The euro has gained about 9 percent against the dollar since then, raising the cost of building vehicles in Europe bound for the U.S. market.