Chrysler (Page 33)

Chrysler executives invited members of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press association (RMAP) to a luncheon at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Denver yesterday where the 2011 Town and Country, 200 Convertible, 200 and 300 models were on display. They were understandably proud of what Chrysler hath wrought.

Motor Village LA is one of Chrysler’s newest projects, combining all five of their American-sold brands in one (immaculate) LA-based dealership but according to the California New Car Dealers Association, Motor Village LA is in violation of California law that prevents automotive manufacturers from owning dealerships within 10 miles of any other related dealership.

Reports indicate that the 2012 Fiat 500 Cabrio (convertible to most in the US) will make its grand debut for the North American market at the 2011 New York International Auto Show starting in late April.

Since the earthquake and ensuing tsunami hit Japan last week followed by a series of aftershocks and repeated nuclear power plant explosions, automakers around the world have been forced to take a good long look at their component inventory and the Chrysler Group has offered their first statement since the natural disaster hit.

Last night, the Chrysler Group’s 2011 Premier Event began with special incentives on new models, including $25 gift cards and a chance at a free 2011 vehicle just for stopping in and taking a test drive.

During a record-setting two minute Super Bowl commercial featuring Detroit native Marshall Mathers (known better to most at Eminem) rolling through the Motor City in a 2011 Chrysler 200, Chrysler unveiled their new company slogan “Imported From Detroit” - and due to the usage of that new slogan Chrysler Group is suing Detroit-based retailer Pure Detroit.

Chrysler’s Ram brand is the only automaker to currently offer an on-road performance based trimline with their Ram 1500 Sport R/T and Houston’s high performance tuning shop Fastlane is using this sporty Ram pickup to build their 500 horsepower Ram R/T Terramoto (Earthquake en español).

Last week, Chrysler announced that they were recalling almost a quarter million Dodge and Chrysler minivans for an ignition problem that could cause stalling and now the Volkswagen Routan – a minivan built by Chrysler for VW – is being recalled for the same problem.

The Chrysler F-bomb tweet that has gone absolutely viral – in spite of being pulled from the chryslerautos Twitter account – has led to the firing first of the employee who made the tweet and now the company that employed the opinionated Twitterer.

The folks at TrueCar.com have decided to have a little fun and ride the media wave (some would say disaster) that is Charlie Sheen by coming up with a list of The Top 10 Winning Cars for 2011 with the key phrase being winning, which is the former Two-and-a-Half Men star's buzzword.

During Richard Petty’s incredible racing career, he competed in a great many different makes and models of race cars but few stand out more than his legendary Plymouth Superbird and thanks to help from the folks at Heide Performance Products, Petty’s Garage is offering a modern, high performance Superbird based on the new Dodge Challenger.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has repeatedly discussed the likelihood of killing off either the Chrysler Town & Country or Dodge Grand Caravan as there isn’t a need to have two similar minivans, so it came as a bit of a surprise this morning when Chrysler’s Ram brand announced that they would be offering their own minivan.

Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne marked the launch of the all-new 2012 Fiat 500 today at Los Pinos, the official residence and office of Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that Chrysler is recalling certain 2010 and 2011 Jeep Wrangler due to a possible condition where the bolts fastening the axle assemblies to the chassis could come loose which can make it difficult to impossible to control the vehicle.

Sales numbers are in for February 2011 and for the second month in the year of the electric car, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt has handily outsold the 2011 Nissan Leaf by a margin of over 4 to 1.

The Chrysler Group has offered up pricing of the mildly refreshed 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan and thanks to a reduction in price, the minivan that started the whole segment is now the least expensive minivan in the industry with a starting price of $23,995 for a comfortably equipped model.

The numbers from around the US automotive industry are in and the Chrysler Group is the weakest of the American automakers in terms of year over year growth (comparing February 2010 to February 2011) and even with consumers seemingly waiting for the impressive new 2011 models to reach dealerships in higher numbers, Chrysler showed a jump of 13% in sales.

Sales numbers are in from February 2011 and for the second month in a row, the Chevrolet Camaro has outsold the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger, each by a ratio of nearly 2 to 1.

According to comments made by Jeep CEO Mike Manley, the Trail Rated American automaker is working on a new sub-compact “B-segment” sport utility vehicle based heavily on modified, existing architecture from the Fiat brand that we can expect to see hit the market for the 2013 model year.

The Chrysler Group and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that almost a quarter million 2010 model year vehicles from Dodge and Chrysler are being recalled to address an issue with the ignition cylinder that can cause the engine to stall – vastly increasing the risks of a crash.

Starting March 12, Japanese SUV shoppers will have their first chance to buy the new Jeep Grand Cherokee and when the popular ute hits Japan’s shores, Chrysler is hoping that it will be popular enough to boost company sales in that region by 21%.

This past Friday, Chrysler Group LLC issued a 300 page report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission pertaining to the first full calendar year of the automaker under new parent company Fiat and included in that SEC filing was the new that Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne received no cash payments in 2010.

Since August 2010, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Office of Defect Investigations has been looking into a large number of fuel spillage complaints relating to the 2007-2008 Jeep Wrangler but the NHTSA has closed the investigations – citing that no recall is necessary.

Today at a media event at the Chrysler Tech Center, Fiat brand CEO Laura Soave stated that the US brand rollout is behind schedule as we rapidly near the date that the company had hoped to have the bulk of their new Fiat dealerships up and running.

Over the coming year the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Mich will offer a series of rotating exhibits featuring pairings of rare vehicles along with the privately held vehicles of other remarkable models from the company's lines

Earlier today, we brought you the news of the Jeep Grand Cherokee making its debut when the Geneva Motor Show opens next month and although few expect to see the diesel Jeep in the US, a pair of CRD-badged test mules out roaming the Michigan roads suggests that the oil-burning SUV could show up at North American Jeep dealerships.

Three major events have been on the agendas of Detroiters all winter: The North American International Auto Show, the Super Bowl and the Autorama with the Ridler Award. This year’s Autorama will be February 25, 26 and 27.