Chrysler (Page 12)

Buoyed by sales of the Fiat 500, Chrysler Group LLC posted the highest increase in sales of the Big Three automakers selling 126,185 cars and trucks, a 10.2 percent jump over last October.

Among the massive indoor Mopar display at this week’s 2012 SEMA Show in Las Vegas was a trio of 2013 Dodge Dart sedans modified with items from the Mopar Accessories catalog that not only give current Dart owners a chance to see how much they can customize their compact sedan with company help but these sporty show cars could also give us a glimpse of what to expect from the Dart SRT.

A couple weeks ago we brought you a preview video discussing the joint project between ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and Chrysler’s Mopar division but at this week’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas – show goers got a chance to check out the heavily modified Dodge Challenger dubbed Project UltraViolet in person.

This week’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas offered tens of thousands of people a chance to get their first glimpse of the 2013 SRT Viper including a modified unit from Mopar and the unique Launch Edition model displayed by the folks at Pirelli tires.

The organizers for the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show have announced that among the new model debuts at the LA show this year will be the all electric Fiat 500E – giving the Chrysler Group their first electric vehicle and helping them show some support for the EV movement even though Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne seems less than enthusiastic about the project.

The 20th Annual Texas Truck Rodeo saw Chrysler Group vehicles taking top honors (again) as the Texas Auto Writers Association voted both Ram and Jeep products awards.

Comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is currently working on a project with the folks from Chrysler’s Mopar division to customize a 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8 with a series of YouTube videos chronicling the build – and the debut of this unique Challenger named Project Ultraviolet is set for the 2012 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

When the Chrysler 300 was first introduced in the 1950s, the high performance sedan was informally referred to as the “businessman’s muscle car” and with the introduction of the 2012 Chrysler 300C SRT8 – the 300 moniker is as much of a muscle car as it has ever been with more power and luxury than has ever been offered by the Chrysler brand in the past 50 years.

Among the Mopar artwork released last week was a shot of a 2013 Ram with a blue driver’s stripe that I speculated could be a hint as to the next Mopar branded vehicle but after seeing this sporty truck in person at the Mopar headquarters today – the black and blue ‘Urban Ram’ is more likely to be a hint to a future SRT pickup.

Mopar had an event this morning to show off a few of the modified vehicles that will line the massive display at the upcoming 2012 SEMA Show but among the most interesting vehicles was only shown in pictures with the introduction of the Moparized 2013 SRT Viper.

We brought you the news a few weeks ago that the Chrysler Group had trademarked the interesting name “8 Mile” and now we know that it will be used as a special Detroit-themed trimline for the Chrysler 200 midsized sedan with the 200 8 Mile being joined by the new Chrysler 300 Motown and Glacier packages.