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Car Crashes Through Man’s Home For The Fifth Time [Car Crashes]
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Report: Marchionne: "Better than 50% chance" next Ram Dakota going unibody, diesel Durango coming
Filed under: Budget, Truck, Work, Chrysler, Dodge, Diesel, Ram
Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has big plans for the Ram Dakota. Inside Line spoke with Marchionne at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, and the besweatered executive said there is a good chance the next-generation Dakota will likely ride on a unibody chassis. That would mark a serious departure from the vehicle's past, as well as the rest of the models in the compact pickup segment (save the at-the-margins Honda Ridgeline), but ditching the frame could give the vehicle a fuel-efficiency edge. If that wasn't a large enough bombshell for you, Marchionne also made mention of the kind of powertrain we can expect to see from the new Dakota.
According to the executive, it only makes sense for the next-generation Ram Dakota to come equipped with a diesel engine. With the Jeep Grand Cherokee set to receive an oil-burning powerplant of its own, spreading the cost of engine development across multiple models only makes sense. We like the sound of a small, lightweight, diesel-powered pickup.
Meanwhile, Ward's Auto reports the Dodge Durango may receive a diesel engine of its own. Marchionne reportedly stressed that Fiat knows diesel technology, and that since the Grand Cherokee is being engineered for a diesel engine in European markets, it wouldn't seem to be that much of a stretch to translate the work into the Durango.
Marchionne: "Better than 50% chance" next Ram Dakota going unibody, diesel Durango coming originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: budget, Chrysler, Dakota, Detroit Auto Show, diesel, diesel dakota, diesel dodge durango, diesel durango, Dodge, durango, marchionne, ram, ram dakota, sergio marchionne, Truck, unibody, Work
Ford sweeps Texas Truck Rodeo awards, Chrysler defends SUV crown
Filed under: SUV, Truck, Etc., Crossover, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Jeep
The Texas Auto Writers Association has awarded the 2012 Ford F-150 a slew of honors. The pickup took home the Truck of Texas title by beating out its competitors at the annual Truck Rodeo. The award is the association's most prestigious honor, but Ford also picked up a few other nods. TAWA named the company's EcoBoost engine technology its best vehicle feature, and the 2012 Ford Edge took home the CUV of Texas badge. Finally, the entire Ford pickup line was named the Truck Line of Texas by the association, making for a pretty clean sweep of the truck competition.
This year, manufacturers entered 48 vehicles into the TAWA Truck Rodeo, and 57 automotive writers turned out to evaluate the trucks and SUVs. When the dust settled, Ford had earned seven awards total, including the best heavy-duty, luxury and full-size pickup trucks.
For its part, Chrysler saw its products fare well in the competition, too. The 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee went home carrying SUV of Texas trophy, while TAWA awarded its sister, the 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, the mid-sized SUV of Texas title. Finally, the writers in attendance named the 2012 Dodge Durango the full-size SUV of Texas.
Hit the jump for a volley of press releases.
Continue reading Ford sweeps Texas Truck Rodeo awards, Chrysler defends SUV crown
Ford sweeps Texas Truck Rodeo awards, Chrysler defends SUV crown originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dodge, Dodge Durango, ford, Jeep, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler | send this post
Tags: Chrysler, crossover, Dodge, durango, ecoboost, Etc., F Series, F-150, F150, ford, Ford F-150, Grand Cherokee, Jeep, Suv, tawa, texas auto writers association, Truck, Wrangler
Report: Chrysler finally gets a compliment from Consumer Reports
Filed under: Car Buying, Sedan, SUV, Truck, Crossover, Chrysler, Dodge
2011 Dodge Durango - Click above for high-res image gallery
Hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your husband. One of the four-horsemen of the apocalypse has officially arrived. Consumer Reports has gone and paid Chrysler a compliment by saying that the 2011 Durango and Charger are the company's most-improved models and, on the whole, the automaker's cars are getting better. CR even awarded both the V6 and V8-powered Dodge Durango a "Very Good" road test score, putting it in contention with the likes of the 2011 Ford Explorer. The 2011 Dodge Charger Rallye also nabbed a "Very Good" rating, which is comparable to the 2011 Ford Taurus and 2011 Buick Lacrosse.
Even the 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan walked away with the honor of a "Very Good" designation, but things aren't all lollipops and rainbows. Consumer Reports says that its testers were unimpressed with models like the 200, Avenger, Compass, Journey and Patriot, calling the vehicles mediocre.
Ouch.
The report says that poor reliability hasn't helped the Chrysler cause. Over the past three years, the organization has only recommended one of the automaker's vehicles - the Dodge Ram 1500. Hit the jump to check out the full press release.
Continue reading Chrysler finally gets a compliment from Consumer Reports
Chrysler finally gets a compliment from Consumer Reports originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsVideo: Dodge gets in on the flashmob-as-advertisement thing in San Diego
Filed under: Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Chrysler, Dodge, Humor
Dodge goes the flash mob route in San Diego - Click above to watch video after the jump
The concept of a flash mob sounds like such an event could potentially be terribly annoying. In practice (and as anyone who watches Modern Family would know...), though, these flash mobs often wind up being rather entertaining. Everyone involved looks to be enjoying themselves, and the crowd gets a free show.
Naturally, every now and then, a corporation will grab onto any new trend that has the chance to go viral, and catching a flash mob on video sounds like a good place to start.
Dodge decided to get into the improv mob game, and a full scale dance session broke out at San Diego's Rock & Roll Marathon. The mobsters wore Dodge t-shirts, while a new Charger and Durango lurk quietly in the parking lot behind them. How'd it all shake it out? Click past the jump for the video. Let it rock, Dodge Boys.
Continue reading Dodge gets in on the flashmob-as-advertisement thing in San Diego
Dodge gets in on the flashmob-as-advertisement thing in San Diego originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: Charger, dodge flash mob, durango, Flash Mob, rock and roll marathon, San Diego, san diego flash mob, Video
Breaking: Chrysler repays the rest of its federal loans… are SUVs to thank?
Filed under: Government/Legal, Chrysler, Earnings/Financials, Fiat
It's Official: Chrysler has announced that it has repaid its multi-billion dollar obligations owed to both the United States and Canadian governments. Adding up both loans plus interest, Chrysler has just shelled out a tidy $7.6 billion. The U.S. receives $5.9 billion and Canada will get $1.7 billion.
Chrysler was able to secure new means of financing, which allows the automaker to pay off its government obligations a full six years ahead of the original payment schedule. While this new financing still involves debts, it saves Chrysler an estimated $350 million per year in interest. This move also allows Chrysler to remain liquid, with more than $10 billion in assets ready to roll.
Under the direction of the U.S. government, Chrysler partnered up with Fiat, and the goal was to bring smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles to the states. Yet as an opinion piece in The Detroit News sagely reminds us, it wasn't really the smaller cars that helped Chrysler, but the newly refreshed sport utility vehicles. The all-new Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee models helped push sales up 17 percent in 2010.
Regardless of how they got there, this move should serve to instill confidence in the U.S. car-buying public. Chrysler continues to add new or redesigned vehicles to its lineup and has a strong media campaign behind those vehicles. Will high gas prices slow the positive momentum that Chrysler has built up, or is this the chance for the Fiat portion of the relationship to step up and shine? Sound off in Comments, and check out the full press release posted after the jump.
Continue reading Chrysler repays the rest of its federal loans... are SUVs to thank?
Chrysler repays the rest of its federal loans... are SUVs to thank? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 May 2011 13:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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