Advertisement

Chrysler targets Toyota minivan and truck owners

February 2, 2010 at 10:26 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Chrysler, International News, Toyota

We recently reported about General Motors taking advantage of Toyota’s recall troubles by offering the latter’s customers incentives, now Chrysler is following suit by annoucing special deals for Toyota’s truck and minivan owners

The Auburn Hills based company is offering current Toyota Tundra, Tacoma and Sienna owners an additional $1,000 trade-in bonus cash with the purchase or lease of any new Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge car or Ram truck. The bonus cash is also there for all Toyota returning lessees who opt for a Chrysler Group vehicle.

“The 2010 Ram Heavy Duty is Motor Trend magazine’s ‘Truck of the Year’ and the Ram 1500 is our most awarded truck ever,” said Fred Diaz, President and CEO–Ram Brand and Lead Executive for the Sales Organization, Chrysler Group LLC. “Chrysler invented the minivan and with more than 65 minivan-first innovations has the best minivans in the marketplace with the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country. Dodge has sold more minivans than any other manufacturer, and combined with the Town & Country has more than 42 per cent market share in the minivan segment,” Diaz trumpeted.

8 Comments      

Lancia Delta appears at Detroit 2010 as a Chrysler

January 12, 2010 at 4:35 am By Paul Tan Filed Under 2010 Detroit Auto Show, Cars, Chrysler, Lancia

This third generation Lancia Delta was the sole Lancia car at the 2010 Detroit show’s Fiat-Chrysler stand which consisted of all the Chrysler and Fiat brands including Ferrari and Maserati.

The only thing is, this sole Lancia wasn’t exactly a Lancia. Instead it had Chrysler badges on it. It didn’t even have its own nameplate – it was simply called a Chrysler.

The Lancia Delta is essentially built on a long wheelbase (+100mm) Fiat C platform, the same base as the Fiat Bravo. In American terms that makes it somewhat of a CD car like the Ford Fusion and the Chrysler Sebring.

Look after the jump for a full hi-res gallery of the Delta.
[Read more...]

31 Comments      


Chrysler upgrades powertrain tech, courtesy of Fiat

January 11, 2010 at 11:18 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Chrysler, Fiat, International News

American manufacturers have been lagging behind in powertrain development compared to their European counterparts, but as we just read about Ford’s aggresive catch up plans, US automakers realise that they need to deliver more efficient and economical drivetrains, or face seeing customers looking to Japan and Korea for their new cars.

The Chrysler Group is also on the same boat, but doesn’t need to self-develop thanks to its alliance with Fiat. The Pentastar has announced a powertrain revamp that will see overall fuel-efficiency improvement of over 25% from now till 2014. “Chrysler will attain leadership by rapidly applying Fiat Powertrain tech, such as Multiair, direct injection, turbocharging and transmission systems to its powertrain portfolio,” said Paolo Ferrero, Senior VP, Chrysler Powertrain.

Fiat will donate its 1.4-litre FIRE engine with Multiair, available in naturally aspirated and turbo form. Multiair emplys electro-hydraulic variable-valve actuation to deliver increase in power of up to 10%, improvement in low rpm torque of up to 15% and reduction in fuel consumption and emissions by 10%. The system has full control of the lift and timing of engine valves, independently on each cylinder and during each single engine stroke. The N/A engine has 100 bhp and 129 Nm while the turbo comes with 170 bhp/231 Nm.

Chrysler has also integrated Multiair into its 2.4-litre GEMA World Engine, boosting figures to 190 bhp and 237 Nm from the previous 172 bhp/223 Nm. A turbo version is under development.

Beginning with its D-segment cars, Chrysler will use Fiat’s six-speed Dual Dry Clutch Transmission, which delivers 10% better fuel efficiency. The ‘box can handle up to 350 Nm of torque.

9 Comments      

Ferrari to share Detroit show stand with Chrysler

January 4, 2010 at 1:35 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Chrysler, Ferrari, Fiat, International News, Maserati

Glamour brands Ferrari and Maserati will be present at the 2010 Detroit Motor Show – Maranello was absent last year – but will share the same floor space with the Chrysler Group! High-end marques normally set up shop at the show’s luxury row, so imagine seeing the Ferrari 458 Italia next to a Dodge Ram and a Jeep Wrangler!

But that’s where the Italians will be, sandwiched between Dodge and Jeep brands. Both are part of the Chrysler Group, now part of the greater Fiat Group, which has Ferrari and Maserati under its umbrella. One big happy family indeed!

Chrysler is reportedly not hosting a press conference at this year’s show, so its new neighbours will do the job of drawing in the crowd. The Lancia Delta rebadged as a Chrysler is set to be one of the few “new” offerings on display.

The North American International Auto Show 2010 press preview starts on January 11, and we will bring you the best Detroit has to offer so keep your eyes peeled!

Source

5 Comments      

Fiat reveals aggresive expansion plan – Chrysler to contribute big car and SUV platforms

December 24, 2009 at 3:23 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Chrysler, Fiat, International News

After Fiat took a stake in Chrysler, it’s only natural to see some synergy between the American company and Fiat Group brands which include Alfa Romeo and Lancia. Now Fiat has announced how it will capitalise on the situation and broaden its product portfolio while investing more than €8 billion in the process.

The result of this will be a 50% increase in car production figures in Italy over the next two years – a very optimistic target. This year’s Italian output is likely to total 650,000 units.

To achieve the growth, Fiat plans to launch 17 new models and 13 upgraded versions of existing models in 2010 and 2011, revealed Sergio Marchionne, CEO of the Fiat Group. Chrysler’s first contribution to the masterplan will be an SUV that will be launched next year, followed by five new models in 2011 consisting a Fiat crossover and four models for the Lancia brand, including a sedan and a convertible, all based on Chrysler’s big car, SUV and crossover platforms. There was no mention of sharing plans for Alfa Romeo.

In November, Fiat rolled out an equally ambitious five-year plan for Chrysler (which brands include Dodge and Jeep) that would see global sales rise from this year’s 1.3 million to 2.8 million in 2014. By then, half of its models will be based on Fiat Group platforms and most will use Fiat Multiair variable valve engine technology.

The ultimate target for Marchionne is a minimum of five million cars per year from the entire Group, to be achieved by 2014.

Source

7 Comments      

Marchionne spins off Dodge Ram business as RAM

October 6, 2009 at 8:40 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Chrysler, Dodge

Dodge Ram

Chrysler has decided to grab the axe and split Dodge right in half, severing the ties between Dodge’s Ram truck business and the rest of the company that makes passenger vehicles. Apparently this will allow Dodge to “protect and develop the unique nature of the product offerings within the Dodge brand”, according to Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne, who is also the CEO of Fiat.

The Dodge Ram truck business will be renamed simply RAM, and will be headed by Fred Diaz. “Dodge Car”‘s new head will be Ralph Gilles. Chrysler’s new CEO and marketing head will be Olivier Francois, another man from Fiat where he plays a double role as Fiat marketing chief and the head of the Lancia brand.

Chrysler now has two predominantly truck-based brands – RAM and Jeep. The Dodge Ram is currently in its fourth generation called the Dodge Ram 1500, and is available in various 2-door and 4-door cab bodies.

It’s powered by a choice of a 5.7 litre Hemi V8 producing 390 horsepower and 552Nm of torque, a 4.7 litre Magnum V8 making 310 horses and 447Nm of torque, or a 3.7 litre Magnum V6 making 215 horses and 319Nm of torque.

Dodge also has the smaller Dodge Dakota and the Dodge Durango based on the Dakota. I guess it would make sense for these to follow the Ram to the new RAM brand.

Related Posts:
Dodge Ad Video – Ram Rash!

12 Comments      

Chrysler to use Fiat engines, ends GEMA alliance

September 18, 2009 at 5:08 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Chrysler, Hyundai, Koreans, Mitsubishi

Lancer EngineThe GEMA alliance has ended this month. GEMA stands for Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance, and was a joint venture between Mitsubishi, Chrysler and Hyundai-Kia to develop a family of 4-cylinder engines.

There are currently three different sizes available – 1.8 litre, 2.0 litre and 2.4 litre. In Malaysia, there are a few cars that use engines derived from the GEMA project – the 2.0 litre motors in the Lancer and Lancer Evolution X, and the 2.0 litre motors in the Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima and Naza Rondo.

Chrysler says it intends to replace its GEMA engines with new small engine technology it will gain access to from its new Italian partner Fiat. But interestingly, despite Chrysler stating an intention to replace its GEMA products with Fiat products, Chrysler is the one who has ended up with full ownership of the GEMA plant. Mitsubishi and Hyundai have just sold their stakes to Chrysler. It is likely that the plant will be converted to a plant making Fiat engines in the future.

Technology bought to GEMA by an individual company will remain the intellectual property of that company, so Hyundai and Mitsubishi will likely be able to continue using their Theta/Theta II and 4B series of engines respectively.

16 Comments      

Lawyers request show direness of Chrysler situation

May 12, 2009 at 11:02 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Chrysler, International News

Chrysler LogoChrysler’s financial situation may be worse than anyone had thought. Their bankruptcy plan involves selling its healthy operations to “New Chrysler”, a company owned by the worker union trust, Fiat, and the Canadian and US governments. The remaining will be used to settle outstanding claims.

Here comes the killer – Chrysler’s lawyers from Jones Day have asked for special priority for their fees to be paid. University of Pennsylvania law professor David Skeel says he has never heard of any lawyer ask for this in a bankruptcy case as they normally don’t take cases where there is little chance of being paid.

Skeel suspects Jones Day are not optimistic about a payment, and because they know what is going on, that is very scary indeed.

Source

4 Comments      

Fiat-Chrysler now interested in GM Europe

May 6, 2009 at 12:55 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Chrysler, Fiat, Opel, Vauxhall

Vauxhall Insignia
GM Europe’s Insignia has been getting good reviews

Well, the conditions for Fiat to take up a stake with the now bankrupt Chrysler has been fulfilled, and Fiat has been quick to look to something else in order to hasten the move towards consolidation of the auto companies during this recession.

Many have predicted that there will only be a few automakers left after this slump, with the rest either eliminated or merged. Datuk Syed Zainal’s suggestion for Proton to merge with Perodua a couple of weeks back would put Proton under the Toyota umbrella via Perodua’s Daihatsu shareholding, which is in turn owned by Toyota.

Lancia Delta Hardblack
Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Vauxhall and Opel could share B and C platforms

Anyway back to Fiat and the New Chrysler – a third piece of the puzzle that Fiat is said to be interested in acquiring is GM Europe, which covers Opel, Vauxhall, and other GM European operations. The resulting company would be a giant with annual sales of 6 to 7 million cars, which is claimed to be similiar to how much the Volkswagen Group puts out. Saab is pretty much a separate thing, and at least 10 parties are interested in acquiring them at the moment, according to Saab spokersman Eric Geers.

The new company is temporarily given the codename Fiat/Opel and is described by Fiat head Sergio Marchionne to be a “marriage made in heaven” as Fiat and Opel could consolidate their B and C segment cars to use the same platforms, while Fiat continued with its small A-segment platform and Opel’s D-segment platform. Apparently Fiat offered 1 billion Euros for Opel, but GM considers the amount too small for the moment. No updates if any other follow-up offers were made.

Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen’s platform-sharing success is an inspiration to all

But of course whenever there’s any news to do with GM you have to listen to what their unions have to say. Opel senior labor leader Klaus Franz says if the Fiat and GM Europe merger does happen, between 9k to 10k jobs may be lost via factory closures and other restructuring. He then accused Marchionne of trying to build a global carmaker financed with German and American taxpayer money.

Volkswagen’s CEO Martin Winterkorn also warned that achieving and maintaining real synergies between multiple brands while increasing volumes and lowering costs is a very difficult thing to do. He added that Volkswagen’s platform-sharing strategy started all the way back in 1992 and it was alot of hard work and planning for it to be the success that it is today.

And Fiat and GM have already been in some sort of alliance from the year 2000 to 2005, which ended in GM paying over US$2 billion to get out of the arrangement because it was not going very well. At that time Fiat was burning cash at a rate of nearly US$2 billion a year, accumulating $14 billion in net losses during the 5 year period. It was the time of the Fiat Stilo which went nowhere, and a Fiat Punto that shared components with an Opel Corsa.

Whatever happens, it’s really one thing to build a huge empire that could be the second largest carmaker in the world and perhaps the largest in the future, but another to structure and manage it properly once formed. Just look at GM and its mess of brands. You could end up flourishing like the Volkswagen Group or just another GM or DaimlerChrysler.

24 Comments      

GM and Chrysler to get funding from private institutions?

February 24, 2009 at 8:48 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Chevrolet, Chrysler, International News

According to a published report by Reuters, struggling American auto makers General Motors and Chrysler may end up getting funds from private institutions, if the U.S Government decides not to provide further funds to both companies, that will then force the auto makers to file for Chapter 11 which basically mean that both companies will go into restructuring, to become viable businesses.

A number of external advisers to The Treasury are rumored of trying to secure the funds from private institutions, which will be needed to restructure both companies. The amount which is rumored to be about U.S $ 40 billion, and to be backed or guaranteed by the government would also be used to pay back the U.S $ 17.4 billion the government initially lent General Motors and Chrysler late last year.

This means that the U.S Government would not tap into “the people’s” money to give a helping hand to both auto makers. However, this brings us to the next question; will these private institutions be able to extend the above mentioned amount during such uncertain times? If both companies file for Chapter 11, they would also be temporarily protected from creditors.

6 Comments