Chrysler (Page 15)

The hoards of faithful Dodge loving NASCAR fans around the country received some very bad news this week as SRT Motorsports President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Gilles announced that Dodge would be pulling out of the NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series after the current 2012 racing season.

Saturday afternoon brought about the debut of the 2013 SRT Viper GTS-R race car in the American LeMans Series in Mid Ohio and while their 10th and 12th place finishes are a far cry from the win collected when the original GTS-R debut in the 90s – Team SRT is happy with the performance of their brand new race cars and they will make their next attempt in two weeks at Road America.

Today began Day Two for the new SRT race program featuring the 2013 Viper GTS-R and while Day One brought a disappointing set of slower lap times – today brought about a much more serious problem as the #91 Viper ran into engine problems during the first practice session that kept them out of qualifying.

While the recent success of the Japanese automakers doing business in America have pushed the Chrysler Group out of the top spot in terms of year over year growth, Chrysler was able to continue their strong year as they were the only American automaker to show positive growth in July 2012.

The two new 2013 SRT Viper GTS-R teams completed their first official practice with the American LeMans Series a couple hours ago with both teams turning in mediocre times – putting them both in the lower end of the GT Class field after very short practice sessions.

When Fiat SpA took over the Chrysler Group in 2009, Duke Energy of Illinois required the company to pay a security deposit of $2.5 million dollars – money which the Chrysler Group wants back right now.

The Chrysler Group has announced that the 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 will be available in two new special edition appearance packages named Vapor and Alpine that center around a pair of striking new paint options along with a bump in power.

An evaluation process by the German magazine Auto, Motor und Sport has found that the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee poses no threat of rollover during a sudden evasive maneuver known as the “moose test” or “elk test” – putting to rest the claims by a smaller Swedish publication claiming that the Grand Cherokee’s safety features did not work properly.

The Chrysler Group announced their financial results for the second quarter (Q2) of 2012 with impressive results including a new income of $436 million – a 141% increase over the second quarter of 2011 – while also seeing their worldwide shipments increase by 22%.

TorqueNews recently brought you the news that the 2013 SRT Viper GTS-R would make its return to racing at the American LeMans Series event on August 4th at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course and today we have a full look at the four drivers who will help reintroduce the Viper to endurance racing.

When the 2013 SRT Viper reaches full production later this year, the Chrysler Group plans to impose strict requirements for carrying the new supercar – meaning that less than 20% of the company’s dealerships around the country will have the new Viper on their showroom floor.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched a preliminary investigation into the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee over a concern that the power steering system may leak flammable fluid onto hot components in the engine bay – with very dangerous results.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a preliminary investigation into select Dodge Ram 1500 pickups over a concern that the rear differential may fail, causing the rear wheels to lock up while moving and vastly decreasing the driver’s ability to control the vehicle.

This past Saturday, our spy cameras caught a 2013 SRT Viper GTS out cruising Metro Detroit area roads in a dark metallic blue that harkens back to the blue featured on the debut of the original Viper GTS Coupe in 1996 – a color choice that will almost certainly be a big hit with Viper enthusiasts should it become a production option.

This past weekend marked a major milestone in the life of the 2013 Dodge Dart as Travis Pastrana took his Discount Tire/Red Bull Racing Dodge Dart rally car to the winner’s circle for the first time – dominating the field at the 4th event of the Global RallyCross season at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Yesterday after, the DriveSRT Facebook page posted a picture of a 2013 SRT Viper sitting under a canopy at what looks to be a race track and today, thanks to a reader from Car and Driver – we have video footage of the new Viper GTS tearing around Gingerman Raceway in Michigan.

The Chrysler Group’s aftermarket support brand Mopar plans to offer a great many accessories ranging from performance brakes to carbon fiber hoods and while Mopar hasn’t shown off any factory-offered striping packages, enthusiast forum Dodge-Dart.org leaked images of a few stripe packages coming later this year.

The Chrysler Group expects great things from the 2013 Dodge Dart when it hits showrooms at full steam later this month and to support the ongoing product launch – the company has published the first television ad for the new Dart with the small-screen debut expect to come during Tuesday night’s Major League Baseball All Star Game on Fox.

The internet was abuzz this weekend with news that Swedish magazine Teknikens Värld had found the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee poses a substantial rollover risk during a drastic lane-change maneuver but the Chrysler Group has been quick to defend their top-selling SUV, supporting further testing with no instances of near-rollovers and pointing out that the original Jeep tested had been intentionally overloaded.

Chrysler is selling a 3.0 L diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee in Europe "and other diesel markets," but not in the U.S., so a new trademark filing with the USPTO by Chrysler may be good news for American's desiring a diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Even though Ford and GM have essentially pulled out of the minivan segment, it remains a hotly contested portion of the American auto industry and through the first half of 2012, the Dodge Grand Caravan holds a fairly substantial lead over the Honda Odyssey and the Toyota Sienna.

Last month, the Chrysler Group began handing dealerships all over the country their first 2013 Dodge Dart demonstration model and as the month came to an end, 202 of those dealerships opted to sell their first Dart but the number could have been much higher had a few things been different.

Zagato has graced us with stunning coach work on top on some of the most amazing cars in the past and this latest is no different. But is it an Alfa Romeo, a Dodge Viper or just another amazing exercise from the Zagato house?