Last week we looked at the makes that have been most successful at capturing the youth market.
It would be ageist not to also shine a spotlight on those makes getting the most support from the senior-citizen set, wouldn't you agree?
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Categories: Buick,Cadillac,Chrysler,Lincoln,Mercury
A year ago Chrysler reported its first, post-bankruptcy quarterly profit -- $116 million. A year later, the company has quadrupled that, bringing in a net income of $473 million. That's the biggest quarterly profit the automaker has recorded since... 1998. It made $682 million in the third quarter of that year.
The automaker sold 523,000 vehicles during the first quarter of 2012, a 33-percent increase from the first quarter of 2011. You can read the full press release here.
Another interesting bit of news is that Chrysler's performance in North America is helping to prop up Fiat, which had a first-quarter loss in Europe. Notably, Fiat wouldn't have been profitable without Chrysler.
(AP, Bloomberg)
Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler,Dodge,Fiat,Ram
Ward's Auto -- famed for their 10 Best Engines list -- has, for the second year in a row, compiled a 10 Best Interiors list. Ward's staff decided the award by "applying the same proven model used to select Ward's 10 Best Engines."
The field consisted of 40 vehicles with "new or significantly improved interiors" and the winners are...
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Categories: Audi,Chevrolet,Chrysler,Dodge,Hyundai,Infiniti,Land Rover,Mazda,Volkswagen
A news article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal caught our eye. As part of its 2009, government-brokered Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and subsequent reorganization and sale to Fiat, Chrysler, according to the article, received special legal exemption to any new punitive-damage claims for alleged manufacturing defects on Chrysler vehicles built prior to 2009. So, want to sue Chrysler because your defective 1998 Grand Caravan caught fire from a fuel leak, injuring you and your family? You can't.
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Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler
What happens when a thousand LX-platform Dodge and Chryslers all show up in one place with a few thousand LX enthusiasts? Things like this. And with nobody to judge them, more things like this. And, because nobody's there to tell them "no" there's an autocross, too!
While there are certainly some silly things in this video, there are also a lot of really clean Challengers, Chargers and 300s on display that we'd be proud to own. Plus, with car culture dwindling every day, we can't help but love that something of this scale can still happen with modern, affordable cars.
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Categories: Chrysler,Dodge,Tuners and Modifications,Videos
Since 2003 SRT has offered its Track Experience to owners as a free bonus with every purchase. The offer is still good. To prove it SRT hosted a shameless media event autocross in which Ralph Gilles, President and CEO SRT Brand, stomped the hell out of most attendees. The point, of course, was to promote the SRT Track Experience to potential buyers. Normally we're against such blatant self promotion, but we make an exception for any executive who cleans our clock in a parking lot race.
So here goes: Buy any SRT product and included in the purchase price is a free day of pounding on all SRT products at a racetrack near you. Yes, you driver their cars, not your own. This year there will be SRT Track Experience events at 27 locations across the country. SRT reserves up to 84 days (total) at those locations to ensure enough space for its owners. That, friends, is a lot of track time.
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Categories: Chrysler,Dodge,Jeep
For the 7th year in a row, Dodge Challenger, Charger, Magnum and Chrysler 300 owners will meet en masse for the Spring Festival of LXs.
On Saturday, March 24 at the Orange County Great Park (you'll know it as El Toro Marine Air Station) in Irvine, more than 1,000 LXs will show up from 25 states to celebrate and enjoy one of Chrysler's most cult-worthy vehicle platforms.
But this isn't just a giant gathering of muscle car dorks, Dodge and SRT are in on the event, too. SRT President and CEO Ralph Gilles will be on hand as well as Joe grace (A/B segment and SRT Line Executive), Joe Dehner (Executive of Dodge Design) and Dodge Charger/Chrysler 300 Executive Chris Barman.
Apart from the executives, Dodge will use this opportunity (read: captive, LX-hungry audience) to unveil a special edition Challenger inspired by the event. The event is limited only to those who have pre-registered or those attending with a registered, LX driving guest.
Categories: Chrysler,Coupes,Dodge,Sedans,Tuners and Modifications
The SEC (Securities and Exchanges Commission) requires that all publicly traded companies file documents with them to, amongst other things, "announce major events that shareholders should know about" (Form 8K) and to provide "a comprehensive overview of the company's business and financial condition" (Form 10K). Even though Chrysler isn't technically publicly traded yet, they are voluntarily filing these in anticipation of going public.
Financial reports are usually terribly uninteresting, but these ones contain some significant new information about the future plans of Chrysler over the next two years. Here's what we found out...
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Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler,Dodge,Trucks
One of the clear favorite at the 2011 SEMA show was the Icon Derelict '52 Chevy Business Coupe. A guy I knew at the show grabbed me as I was passing and frantically asked, "Did you see that patinaed-out Chevy Coupe? It's astounding. Got a new aluminum 6.3-liter. Built by the guys at Icon. Amazing."
Sure enough, his delirious rambles were correct, this car is phenomenal. It's got vintage mohair from an Aston Martin on the headliner. The seats are covered in wild alligator and buffalo -- dyed to match Kennedy's briefcase. The carpet is vintage Rolls-Royce Wilton wool with buffalo binding. Oh, and the patina is real.
The man behind it -- and Icon -- is Jonathan Ward. This video (in beautiful Vimeo quality) he explains why Icon does what it does and how the '52 Chevy Coupe and this '52 Chrysler Town and Country Wagon turned from junkers into derelicts.
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Categories: Chevrolet,Chrysler,Classic Cars,Tuners and Modifications
"We're in the third quarter now, America and we're way behind. So I don't care if Obama runs the ball or Romney throws a touchdown or Ron Paul kicks a field goal with those tiny little chicken legs. I'll tell you right now, I ain't putting Santorum in the game...What's this Commercial for again?"
NBC's Saturday Night Live is getting increasingly worse at the live stuff and increasingly better at the pre-taped segments. These include any of the Lonely Island videos (I'm on a Boat) and this new Chrysler Super Bowl ad parody starring Bill Hader as Clint Eastwood.
Chrysler's ad has taken some heat for being a great political ad with little focus on the whole car-selling part of the equation. SNL's two parodies take off running from there.
"It's the fourth quarter and Clint Eastwood has a message for the Chinese."
(NBC after 11:30 PM language ahead. Headphones.)
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Categories: Chrysler,Miscellaneous,Videos
To be frank, the Chicago auto show has limited importance as a venue for introducing new cars to the world through its press days. However, for regular folks visiting the show, it's probably the best in North America. For one, almost everything introduced at Los Angeles and Detroit is shown here in Chicago (not the NSX Concept, though). Then there's the sheer enormity of McCormick Place's two exhibit halls. This allows for a huge number of cars on the floor, with manufacturers capable of showcasing different trims of the same car.
There's also enough space inside for indoor ride-along events. Jeep usually puts one outside and Detroit is home to an environmentally friendly car ride-and-drive in the basement, but there are at least four opportunities for folks to experience what certain cars are like when actually moving. Toyota had a large area dubbed Toyota Monopoly Hybrid Ride Experience (I'm not sure why), while Chrysler alone had three different exhibits. The Jeep and Ram ones included a number of off-road impediments, while Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat had a stretch of road used to showcase an initial burst of acceleration, then braking. The latter actually looks as if you're going to be part of a crash test.
It all seems like good fun and adds something to the auto show experience. Journalists may be cold on Chicago, but car fans shouldn't be.
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Categories: Chicago Auto Show,Chrysler,Dodge,Fiat,Jeep,Ram,Toyota
Recently, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne revealed to USA today that Chrysler was seriously considering a new five-door hatchback for the U.S. market. Here in the states the car would be known as the Chrysler 100 while in Europe it will be sold as a Lancia.
This is an important distinction as Lancia is a luxury brand in Europe. Chrysler could easily have gone low-budget and went Dodge/Fiat, but Marchionne and others clearly see a market for a high-end, A3-like hatch. This car is built on the same platform that underpins the Dart and the Giulietta, but this car has a Chrysler grille, different exhaust and different rear bumper that foreshadows a longer car with more cargo space. This mule also has a higher hood than the five-door Dart mules we've seen.
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Categories: Chrysler,Future Vehicles,Hatchbacks,Spy Photos
You know who's cooler than Eminem? Clint Eastwood. Hear the gravel-voiced tough guy talk about Chrysler's second-half after the jump.
(Also, kudos to Chrysler for leaving this one a mystery until the Super Bowl.)
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Categories: Chrysler,Miscellaneous,Videos
There has been an intriguing lack of information accompanying Chrysler concept vehicles since the tie-up with Fiat. And so it is with the Chrysler 700C, the minivan concept that just showed up at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show with no further explanation. There's no record of it on Chrysler's media website.
But a placard in its license plate holder does identify its origin in the Chrysler Design Studio, and sure enough, as soon as we began taking photos of it, a researcher from the design team strode up and began peppering us with questions. We were incredibly wishy-washy, so if the next Chrysler Town and Country (which outsells the Dodge Grand Caravan, by the way, and is likely to come back solo for the next generation) ends up looking like a strange pastiche of design elements, well, maybe we had something infinitesimal to do with it.
For reference, we've included a couple shots of the current T&C.
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Categories: Chrysler,Concept Vehicles,Detroit Auto Show,Minivans
In an interview with journalists at the Detroit auto show yesterday, Chrysler chief Sergio Marchionne confirmed plans for a new Dakota pickup. He also noted that there's a "better than 50 percent chance" that it will be a unibody truck.
If you consider that bad news, maybe this will cheer you up: Marchionne also said that diesel power is a likely option. With a diesel engine now confirmed for the Grand Cherokee, Marchionne said it only makes sense for the company to spread out the cost over multiple models. Thankfully, that's expected to include the Wrangler as well.
Categories: Chrysler,Detroit Auto Show,Diesels,Ram,Trucks
Sometimes merely getting there is not enough; you want to get there really, really quickly. After all, there's nothing like the thrill you get from a car that leaps off the line.
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Categories: Chrysler,Dodge,Ford,Mitsubishi,Subaru
The Beats by Dr. Dre audio system currently available in the 2012 Chrysler 300C will make its way into the 2012 Dodge Charger. The system will simultaneously debut at the Detroit Auto Show and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week.
The 10-speaker setup will be standard on the Charger R/T Max model and part of the Blacktop or Rallye Appearance Group options packages on the SXT trim. Or you can get it as part of the (deep breath) Sound Group and Wheels and Tunes package on the Charger R/T. Chrysler says it will hit showrooms and the streets in the first quarter of this year.
We first saw and listened to the Beats by Dre system in a 300 S at last year's New York Auto Show. It pounded out bass better than most OEM audio systems, thanks to a dual-voice-coil 8-inch subwoofer in a sealed enclosure in the trunk (which looks a lot like the Kicker subs in other Pentastar products).
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Categories: Car Tech,Chrysler
I'm back in MA for the holiday this week and I'm convinced that, knowing I'll be home eventually to tell them, none of my about-to-buy-a-car friends have read a single word on the current automotive landscape. Just yesterday a buddy came to me with this question, "Mike, I'm looking for a new car. It has to have at least four-doors. It has to be rear-wheel drive. It can't be German or Asian and from what I've heard Chrysler's interior's are terrible so it can't be one of those." He should've just said "What's the closest thing to my Caprice I can get that has a warranty and isn't rusting itself to the ground?"
I tried to explain that the current 300 is really, really nice (and has a killer user interface for the infotainment system) and pretty much his only option outside of the used market, a Tahoe or conning a salesmen into giving him a fleet-service Caprice. He wasn't having any of it and talked himself into keeping his car "one more year" to give GM a chance to win him back.
This is an unfortunately common occurrence for Chrysler and one they're not particularly thrilled with. Enter the 2012 Chrysler 300 Luxury Series. Expect to hear about this new 300's ultra-premium Poltrona Frau leather (which they claim was "once limited to some of the most exotic Italian luxury cars"), eight-speed automatic with paddle shifters, hand-sanded Natural Pore Mocha wood, and platinum chrome coated grille surround, mesh grille, mirror caps and door handle accents.
The Luxury edition starts at $40,145 for a rear-drive V6 and runs $45,245 for a 300C in AWD.
High res photos after the jump.
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Categories: Chrysler,Luxury Cars,Sedans
We all knew this day was coming, but now that it's finally here, we think it probably should've happened eons ago: The Dodge Caliber is officially dead. Production has finally stopped according to the Detroit News. "It's the last of the American bottom-feeder compacts" said analyst Jim Hall in the article.
The Caliber is set to be replaced by the Fiat-based 2013 Dodge Dart which has the potential to claim the volume-seller slot in Dodge's lineup. In November, Caliber sales were down 62% year-over-year moving only 1,202 vehicles. In 2011, Dodge has sold 33,632 Calibers. It is being outsold by everything in Dodge's lineup except the Viper (161 units) and the Nitro (22,445).
Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler,Hatchbacks
Wards auto has released its official list of the 10 Best Engines for 2012. A record seven feature direct injection and five engines feature turbo or supercharging. Wards made the decision after driving 36 different vehicles with 34 new or redesigned motors over 2 months. Scores are based on power, technology (think that slightly skews this towards DI/Turbo motors instead off something like, oh, the LS1?), observed fuel economy, noise, vibration and harshness. Vehicles must be priced below $55,000.
Full list after the jump. (Pretend you didn't see the spoiler photo above.)
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Categories: Audi,BMW,Buick,Car Tech,Chrysler,Ford,Hyundai,Infiniti,Jeep
