All Kind Automotive

In the Chrysler Group’s latest commercial for the 2011 Dodge Charger called “The Future of Driving”, we are presented with a gloomy future, in which robots control all aspects of our lives, from choosing our diet and wardrobe to even walking our pet dogs. The hero of the commercial has nothing to say about all these things, but when a robot invites him to sit on the passenger seat of his own car, things get a little bit out of control...

The Chrysler Group said it plans to complete the repayment during the second quarter of 2011 (ending in June). The company will use money from a new term loan facility plus a new issue of debt securities that will be sold to institutional investors in a private offering along with proceeds from Fiat’s recent cash infusion to increase its stake in Chrysler.

"Our plans for Europe are ambitious but doable. Europe for Jeep is an incredibly important market. We have been here for 30 years and half of our international sales historically were in Europe," Jeep CEO Mike Manley told Autonews Europe.

Now it seems that the automaker has changed its strategy. At the New York Auto Show, Chrysler and Lancia brand president Olivier Francois told Car&Driver that the Ypsilon-based Chrysler model is dead for the U.S. as the company believes it is too similar with the Fiat 500, upon which the Lancia subcompact is based on, and could hurt its sales.

For the record, during a recent press event in Turin, Italy, a Lancia official told Carscoop that the Ypsilon U.S. launch would largely depend on the market's response to the Fiat 500.

The 2012MY 300S has a more distinct look than the standard model, new interior materials and features, plus a touring-tuned chassis (performance-tuned in combination with the HEMI V8 engine). The latter has 25 percent quicker steering and 20 percent heavier on-center feel than the entry-level 300 model, with both modifications contributing to sportier handling.

The flagship model of Chrysler’s redesigned 300 series packs a more muscular 6.4-liter Hemi V8 pushing out an estimated 465-horsepower and 465 lb.-ft. of torque, up 40 horsepower and 45 lb.-ft. over the 6.1-liter mill it replaces. All that power is channeled to the rear wheels through a carried over five-speed automatic transmission with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters.

Chrysler’s projected performance numbers include 0-60 mph (96 km/h) sprint time in the high 4-second range; quarter mile in high 12 second range; 0-100-0 mph (0-160km/h-0) in less than 16 seconds, top speed of 175 mph (281 km/h) and stopping power from 60-0 mph in 120 feet.

Following the appearance of the 2011MY 300, 300 and Town & Country S Concepts at the 6th Annual Spring Festival of LXs in California, in late March, Chrysler has lifted the veils off the first production S models based on the 200 Sedan and Convertible.

The ‘S’ treatment is a cosmetics-only package, with both the saloon and drop top 200 gaining a bespoke front grille with a black background, body color mirrors and door handles, smoked headlamps, unique 18-in. aluminum wheels with dark painted pockets and “S” badging.

Not surprisingly, the Auburn Hills-based automaker released very few details on its upcoming high-performance sports car as the only piece of information we get is that “SRT engineers expanded the development scope for the next generation Dodge Viper to include stability control tuning for the first time.”

Two of the three factors which will help American manufacturers' sales stem directly from the tsunami in Japan a month ago: factory shutdowns have limited parts/vehicle availability, while the yen gained value as the Japanese are expected to repurchase some currency for disaster mitigation.

“The increase is the result of the Company’s achievement of the second of three performance-related milestones outlined in a recent amendment to its June 10 2009 Operating Agreement, which broadens the Chrysler Group-Fiat partnership and enhances Chrysler Group’s international market position,” Chrysler said in a press statement.

As you can see after the jump in a small sample of the videos that made their way onto the web, a brand new Dodge Durango that was towing a parade float carrying a band, suddenly started blowing smoke from under the hood.

The driver was forced to come to a halt and open the bonnet to see what was going on. The situation only got worse as flames started spilling out and eventually something blew up. At the same time, the parade came to a stop and the crowd went video-crazy.

The do-it-yourself Mopar kit allows owners to convert a 4-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited into a two-door pickup truck with seating for two and a pickup style bed. After the conversion, the bed length is 50 inches and the width between wheel wells is 44 inches. The package includes all the necessary parts such as the bed floor, inner and outer body panels, half hard top (works with Freedom Top panels), and a new bulkhead.

The first condition is that 90 percent of Fiat's Latin American dealers must offer Chrysler vehicles as well. To satisfy this request, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne plans to sell Chrysler models rebadged as Fiats in Brazil, Latin America's largest market, where the Italian brand holds the number one spot.

"After the success of our Mopar '10 Challenger, we moved on to the iconic Dodge Charger and added even more performance," said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group's service, parts and customer-care brand. "As a new company, we will continue to leverage the heritage of the Mopar brand at every turn."

The first sedan will be a compact model built on the next generation Dodge Caliber, which is expected in the USA next January. According to an Autonews report, this model will enter production in China in the second half of 2011, while timing for the Russian launch has not yet been disclosed. The other four-door saloon will be a mid-size model based on the replacement for the Dodge Avenger, which is scheduled for launch in the USA in 2013. It will go on sale in China and Russia the same year.

The very first customized 2011MY Chrysler 300 is called the Fatchance 2.0 and it made its debut alongside the firm’s “S” concept cars at this past weekend’s Annual Spring Festival of LXs in California (see here). The low-rider 300 was crafted by John Fortuno aka Fatchance, who apparently caught the attention of Chrysler with his first generation 300-based FatChance 1.0.