Chrysler/Fiat
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One week ago, we got the first teaser photos of the 2013 Dodge Dart, the all-new compact sedan that will replace the unloved and obsolete Dodge Caliber hatchback. Now, we've got more. Chrysler has released two more photos, in this case of the instrument cluster and touchscreen center stack in the console. Dodge says the 2013 Dart's interior will "set new standards for compact cars," with "materials and precision craftsmanship" that heretofore have only been used in pricier cars. And taking a leaf from the Mini and Scion playbooks, the Dart will offer many ways for buyers to personalize their...
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Electric Fiat 500 Spied Testing In Michigan, Intro For 2013 Likely
Almost two years ago, in January 2010, a mysterious electric version of the Fiat 500 appeared the Detroit Auto Show on the Chrysler stand. Then, two months later, Chrysler said it would sell an electric 500 in the U.S. market. Engineers at the company's Auburn Hills, Michigan, headquarters would...
John Voelcker -
Chrysler: “We’re Making Hybrids, But Only Because We Have To”
Sergio Marchionne, the head of the Chrysler Group and Fiat Motors, has never been a fan of hybrid electric or pure electric vehicles. But in a recent interview with autonews.com, the boss of both car firms said that the only way Chrysler will reach fuel economy goals set in place by the Obama...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2013 Dodge Compact Sedan: More Info On Chrysler's Most Crucial Car
The most important car that will be unveiled at next January's Detroit Auto Show may be the new 2013 compact sedan from Dodge, the first all-new vehicle designed by the combined Chrysler-Fiat companies. This morning, spy shots have leaked out and GreenCarReports has a small nugget of information on...
John Voelcker -
For Better Gas Mileage, Ram Shrinks The Van To European Size
To compete with Ford's Transit Connect, Fiat will import the Doblo commercial van under the Ram brand for 2013.
Kurt Ernst -
2012 Fiat 500 Cabrios, Manuals More Popular Than Projected
Launching the 2012 Fiat 500 minicar in the U.S. market was a gamble to begin with. But it's one that is paying off in some unexpected ways. Fiat's top North American executive, Laura Soave, told trade journal Ward's Auto that the Cabrio model with the roll-back cloth roof is proving far more...
John Voelcker -
Well, looks like Chrysler is getting closer to playing with the big kids at last. The back-from-bankruptcy third U.S. automaker, now effectively controlled by Italy's Fiat, is putting together a financial package that will allow it to pay off all the money invested in it by the Obama Administration during the 2009 auto-industry bailout. Once it's paid the U.S. government with money raised by selling bonds and taking out private loans, the application it submitted last year for low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Energy can be considered. Today, Energy Secretary Steven Chu told...
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Ram Pickup Trucks To Get Natural-Gas Option For V-8 Engines?
The head of Chrysler's Ram truck brand, Fred Diaz, said at the Chicago Auto Show this week that the company is exploring the addition of natural-gas powered engines to its line of V-8 engined Ram trucks (formerly Dodge Ram). “I'm eager and very interested to see what we can do with CNG in our...
John Voelcker -
Is Natural Gas The Green Solution for Hybrid-less Chrysler?
Last summer, when Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne lauded his company's line of European vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, it may have seemed like an off-the-cuff remark. But in fact, natural gas may be the only green or alternative fuel that Chrysler can feasibly adopt in any kind of...
John Voelcker -
2010 Los Angeles Auto Show: 2012 Fiat 500 Minicar Unveiled
The launch of the 2012 Fiat 500 at the Los Angeles Auto Show wasn't only the first new model from Chrysler's partnership with Italian automaker Fiat. It also added a new and attractive model to a category of cars that have always been an afterthought in the U.S. market: minicars, those even smaller...
John Voelcker -
2010 LA Auto Show: Photo Gallery, 2012 Fiat 500 Launch
The 2012 Fiat 500 minicar is the first all-new car to be sold as part of Fiat's takeover of Chrysler. It's also a very cool and stylish little vehicle that won numerous awards in its first year on the market ... and it's the kind of car conventional wisdom says will never, ever sell in the U.S...
John Voelcker -
Fiat Brand May Be Sold By Competitors In U.S. Markets
The Fiat and Alfa Romeo Brands Could Sell Where You Don’t Expect Them
Jonathan McGrew -
A few years back Chrysler was working on all manner of electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid technologies, even going so far as to release a number of concepts as well as establish a separate division called ENVI to develop them into production models. Ever since Chrysler’s bankruptcy and eventual sale to Fiat, those original concepts had fallen largely off the radar. However, with the backing of Italian giant Fiat, Chrysler now has the resources behind it to bring some of those electric vehicle technologies to production. Speaking with Automotive News, Chrysler's senior vice president for...
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Snapped on the Street: Fiat 500 Electric Car Visits Palo Alto
The great thing about having your company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, is that you never quite know what you'll see on the street. There are lots of expensive cars like BMWs and Bentleys floating around. There are also a disproportionate number of Tesla Roadsters, since the company is...
John Voelcker -
Fiat 500 Four-Door For North America Behind Closed Doors?
Rumors Swirl About the U.S. Configurations Of the Fiat 500
Jonathan McGrew -
Fiat 500 To Get Plugged In To the Electric Market
Fiat Gives Chrysler a Boost Back Into the Green Scene
Jonathan McGrew -
Chrysler To Build All-Electric Version of Fiat 500 for U.S. Market
Much mystery surrounded the electric versions of the Fiat 500 that have appeared at auto shows over the last year. Now, Chrysler has cleared up a bit of the confusion: It will build an electric Fiat 500 for the U.S. market, with a powertrain developed by engineers at its Michigan headquarters, at a...
John Voelcker -
2011 Fiat 500 Mini-Car On Sale By End of Year, Chrysler Says
Well, here's some good news: We have less than a year to wait before the neat little Fiat 500 hatchback goes on sale at selected Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealers. When it arrives, it'll be Chrysler's greenest car by a pretty big margin. EPA fuel efficiency ratings haven't yet been issued for the...
John Voelcker -
Fiat Micro Car Could Be Integral To Chrysler’s Success In the Future
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Detroit Auto Show Preview: Electric Fiat 500 Mini-Car
An electric Fiat 500 has been rumored for several months now, including before the lengthy October press conference where Chrysler laid out its survival plan. But now, it appears that Chrysler will show an electric Fiat 500 mini-car as one of two concepts it will have on display at next month's...
John Voelcker -
Electric Fiat 500 Closer Than We Think From Chrysler?
Much of the auto world is waiting eagerly for Wednesday, November 4. That's when Chrysler will release the detailed product and business plan that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne promises will take the company to profitability within two years. Now comes the rumor that the two companies plan to build an...
John Voelcker -
Cute AND Clever: Chrysler's Coming Green Innovations
Chrysler's on the skids right now, no doubt about it. June sales plummeted 42 percent, and some consider its takeover by--errr, sorry, partnership with--Italy's Fiat to be the blind leading the lame. But Fiat is far from the company it was 20 years ago, when it folded its tents and snuck out of the...
John Voelcker -
Why Obama Could Be The Best Thing For Detroit Since Henry Ford
President Barack Obama has come under fire for using taxpayer funds to rescue the auto industry; we beg to differ
John Voelcker