Chrysler (Page 14)

The debut of the long awaited open road driving simulator Forza Horizon is still three weeks away but the folks at Turn 10 announced today that the first playable demo of Forza Horizon will be available in the Xbox Live Marketplace next Tuesday (October 9th) – offering gamers their first chance to experience the game that is expected to set the new standard for driving simulators.

The 2012 Paris Motor Show has introduced the European auto show crowd to the Maserati sport utility vehicle based on the Jeep Grand Cherokee that made its “production form” debut at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show but the ute on display right now has shed the awkward Kubang name used in Detroit – instead turning to the new name of the Maserati Levante.

The Chrysler Group routinely has one of the largest and most engaging displays at the SEMA Show each year and with under a month left until the huge automotive convention begins at the Las Vegas Convention Center – the folks from the Mopar division have offered up a very brief glimpse at five of the vehicles that will be in the massive Mopar display.

The folks from Hennessey Performance have a long history of building ultra high performance versions of the Dodge Viper that bear the “Venom” name but with the introduction of the 2013 Hennessey Venom 700R and Venom 1000 Twin Turbo – the Texas supercar tuning company has raised the bar for the 2013 SRT Viper aftermarket.

The recent pricing announcement for the 2013 SRT Viper and SRT Viper GTS including all of the options revealed a great deal about the new Mopar supercar but skimmed over by many was the fact that the limited production Launch Edition version of the 2013 SRT Viper GTS will cost buyers somewhere in the range of $150,000.

A memo came across my desk this morning that revealed that some state Dealers Associations are reaching out to Chrysler Group dealerships around their state, asking dealership owners for their opinion on the $25,000 fee being demanded by the Chrysler Group in order to earn the right to sell the new 2013 SRT Viper – claiming that these financial requirements could violate state franchise laws.

Chrysler has announced it has halted its plug-in hybrid program testing due to overheating battery issues. Despite this, the program will continue.

Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit restarted production today - just a day after one worker murdered the other before taking his own life – and more details of the crime including the two men’s names have surfaced.

The Mopar superfans over all Allpar have dug up an interesting handful of new trademarks applied for by the Chrysler Group that offers some insight into some upcoming models – as well as also raising some interesting questions about what is to come.

The horrific crime took place around 8 a.m. this morning at Chrysler's Jefferson North plant in Detroit

For the 13th time Working Mother magazine has named Chrysler Group LLC as one of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers," underscoring the firm’s commitment to diversity and support of women in the workforce.

TorqueNews reported a few weeks ago that when the 2013 SRT Viper begins hitting dealers, only 1 in 5 American Chrysler Group dealerships will earn the right to sell the new supercar but new information indicates that the number will actually be much lower – with as few as 100 of the 2,300 US dealerships offering the new Viper.

The 2013 SRT Viper is within a few months of entering the first phase of production but the newest (and possibly the most complete) details on the new Mopar supercar have come to us via the devout Chrysler Group enthusiasts at Allpar.com – including more details on the color choices, interior options and package details.

While there were skeptics out there who questioned whether the Chrysler Group would be able to offer a version of their new compact Dodge Dart that yields better than 40 miles per gallon – official information on the government fuel economy website reveals that both the manual and automatic versions of the 2013 Dodge Dart Aero offer at least 40 miles per gallon.

There was a point in time when getting all of the high end luxury features in the Chrysler 300 meant that you had to order a 300C, which includes the Hemi V8 and the price increases that come with that pricier drivetrain but with the 2012 Chrysler 300 Limited Luxury Series – owners can have all of the luxury amenities available on the 300 with the efficiency and power of the Pentastar V6.

Rumors have been swirling for some time that there will be a new Chrysler 100 coming that will be based on the 2013 Dodge Dart and attendees at the recent Chrysler Group national dealer convention have stated that the Chrysler 100 was in attendance – with a hatchback design that will set it apart from the sporty Dart sedan.

While both the Chrysler Group and their dealerships are remaining quiet about the classified contents of the company dealer show earlier this week, inside sources indicate that one of the most popular models was the next generation Chrysler 200 – featuring Fiat architecture and a 9-speed automatic transmission that will help the new midsized sedan reach 38 miles per gallon.

The Chrysler Group has announced the pricing for the 2013 SRT Viper and the 2013 SRT Viper GTS with a starting price for the “base model” SRT Viper of $97,395 while the higher performance SRT Viper GTS carries a starting price of $120,395 – neither of which includes the $1,995 destination fee.

There has long been speculation that the Chrysler Group would replace the Dodge Challenger with a new model from the SRT brand named Barracuda but new reports indicate that both Mopar muscle cars could co-exist after the high performance “Cuda” is introduced sometime in 2014.

When the 2013 SRT Viper pack arrived in Forza Motorsport 4 a few months back, we were more than a little surprised that the race-ready Viper GTS-R was not included but Mopar gaming enthusiasts are about to jump for joy as not one – but two examples of the 2013 Viper GTS-R are available in the September Pennzoil Car Pack for FM4.

Mopar is celebrating 75 years in automotive performance.