Chrysler (Page 26)

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%.

One of the most anticipated video games of this year is the latest version of Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and to celebrate the use of the Jeep Wrangler in the popular shoot-em-up series, the Chrysler Group has teamed with Activision to offer the 2012 Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty: MW3 Special Edition.

Fiat SpA announced earlier this year that they were planning on building somewhere in the area of 280,000 Jeep models in their Turin, Italy plant along with a new Alfa Romeo small SUV based on those Jeeps but now rumors suggest that those vehicles will be built at existing Jeep production facilities in the US – including the Alfa models.

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.

The Dodge brand has become a regular competitor in the legendary Targa Newfoundland but for the 2011 rally event along the eastern coast of North America, Chrysler’s newly formed SRT brand will have three vehicles racing to raise money for autism research – with brand CEO Ralph Gilles leading the trio into battle.

The Dodge Caliber has never seen the success that the Chrysler Group had hoped for when it was launched in 2007 and with a replacement vehicle based on the Alfa Romeo Giulietta planned for unveiling at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, it came as no surprise to hear that the last Caliber will roll off of the assembly line on November 23rd, 2011.

Ford is currently in talks with the Union Auto Workers over a new contract but with talks going very slowly, one major production facility has already voted to strike while another is currently voting with expectations of a similar decision.

The Lancia Flavia and Flavia Cabrio made their conceptual debut earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show with these new models essentially being rebadged versions of the 2011 Chrysler 200 Sedan and 200 Convertible but new information suggests that when the 200-turned-Flavia hits the European market it will only be offered as a convertible.

President Obama will travel to Detroit to deliver remarks at the Labor Day event sponsored by the Metro Detroit Central Labor Council, the White House said in a statement late this afternoon.

Tuesday, August 23rd 2011 marks the end of an era for the Chrysler Group as the Dodge Dakota turned Ram Dakota will officially see the end of its 24 year production run.

We have known since late last year that Maserati would soon be offering a high end performance sport utility vehicles based on the new Jeep Grand Cherokee and thanks to inside information from Automotive News, we now know that this new Maserati SUV will be built in Detroit with the official concept debut planned for the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show.

The Chrysler Group’s Ram Truck brand is currently running a contest on Facebook that will award two lucky “friends” by giving them each a 2012 Ram 1500 Express for doing nothing more than signing up and inviting friends to do the same.

During a small media briefing this weekend, TorqueNews had a chance to talk to SRT CEO and President Ralph Gilles about the future of the high performance brand’s lineup as well as their stance on competing with the bestselling vehicles in the class.

This past weekend as the 2011 Mopar Nationals opened at National Trails Raceway near Columbus Ohio, the diehard enthusiasts who came together for the nation’s biggest all-Chrysler show, swap and drag race event got a firsthand look at the new 2012 Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler models as the first stop on the SRT High Performance Tour.

We have known for some time now that the midsized pickup formerly known as the Dodge Dakota (now a part of the Ram brand) would come to an end this year and reports are indicating that the Dakota will see its production end this month - with a questionable future for the smaller of the Ram brand pickups.