Dodge (Page 52)

UAW retirees from General Motors Co. of Detroit and Chrysler Group LLC of Auburn Hills, Mich., will get enhanced health and dental benefits in 2012 via the UAW Retired Medical Benefits Trust, the union announced on its Facebook page.

The best pickup truck for $30,000 is the Ram 2011 1500 Quad Cab Hemi according to a recent comparison test against Ford, Chevrolet, Nissan and Toyota pickups. Let the debates begin among the fan class for each truck.

While the Hemi powered Challenger R/T and SRT8 392 might get the lion’s share of attention, the new 3.6L Pentastar V6 adds some much needed power to the entry level 2011 Dodge Challenger and the Rallye package allows it to look a great deal like the more powerful counterparts packing V8 engines.

People who go to the auto show in Orange County, Calif., through the end of this weekend will be able to test drive dozens of 2012 cars, trucks and vans -- everything from the new Volkswagen Beetle to the Fiat 500 and Chevrolet Sonic.

The new 2013 Ford Police Interceptor has been validated in its most rigorous testing to date by the Michigan State Police with top scores in 0-60 acceleration, braking, and handling. No police vehicle is taken seriously that does poorly in that test.

Just a few days after Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne sent an angry letter to UAW President Bob King when King failed to show up at a contract negotiation meeting with the auto boss, workers at Chrysler’s Dundee Engine Plant in Dundee Michigan have voted heavily in favor of striking.

Last night the current contract between the UAW and the Chrysler Group expired and to prevent the workers from being forced to work without a valid contract, Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne flew from the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany to Detroit to finalize the new contract with UAW President Bob King – the only problem is that King didn’t show up.

Mum is still the word from Chrysler but thanks to the wonders of the internet, we have our first look at the 2010 Dodge Viper SRT-10 ACR making laps around the Nürburgring en route to setting a stunning new record time of just 7:12.

The Dodge Viper has been out of production for over a year but after watching the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, the Porsche 911 GT2 and the Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition bump the Viper from the top spot, Chrysler’s SRT division headed back out to the famous German race course with stunning results as the 2010 Dodge Viper ACR ran a lap of just 7:12.13 – easily putting the Viper back atop the list of the fastest production vehicles around “the ‘Ring”.

We have known for some time now that Maserati was planning to unveil a new luxury sport utility vehicle at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show and as the huge German event has begun, the new Jeep Grand Cherokee based Maserati Kubang has met the world with a look that is very distinctly all-Maserati.

Toyo Tire USA has announced their largest promotion ever, the Ultimate Ride Sweepstakes, which will award one winner with a set of Toyo tires each week while one lucky winner will get the Grand Prize – a custom 2011 Dodge Durango.

Sales figures from around the American automotive industry are in and once again, the Chrysler Group was the strongest automaker in the industry in terms of growth with the smallest of the American Big 3 improving by 31%.

There has been no official word yet but according to multiple sources, the Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition has shown that its name is more than a marketing scheme as this specially tuned Lexus supercar has reportedly set the new production car record on the Nürburgring Nordschleife course with a stunning lap of just 7:14.

We have known for some time that the Chrysler Group would be introducing their new ZF-built 8-speed automatic transmission and today, the information on the new fuel-saving transmission has been made official and in 2012, the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 powered by the 3.6L Pentastar V6 will come with this new transmission option.

The Chevrolet Camaro once again lead the segment in sales, with the Chevy muscle besting the Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger and Nissan 370Z through August 2011 – the 7th time Chevy has lead the segment out of the 8 months of 2011.

Just one week after Chrysler’s Ram Truck brand saw one of its models end with the last of the Dakota’s coming off of the assembly line, a new model enters production as the new Dodge Grand Caravan-based Ram C/V begins production in Windsor, Ontario.