DaimlerChrysler has reported a profit of $7.3 billion in 2006, which is due
to the Mercedes arm and the commercial truck division. The Chrysler division
lost $1.3 billion last year. This is forcing management to re-evaluate the
current relationship.
Chrysler and General Motors are currently discussing the possibility of collaborating on a large suv for Chrysler. The SUV would be about the same size as the Suburban, something that Chrysler is currently missing from their lineup.
Rumors have been circling after DaimlerChrysler said that they were looking at every option necessary after the huge $1.3 billion loss last year (Chrysler Division). A possible de-merger could be on the horizon.
Continue reading "Is GM Really Thinking about Buying Chrysler?" »
According to the U.K.'s Times, U.S. investment bank JPMorgan is preparing to start an auction of the Chrysler Group on behalf of DaimlerChrysler. It was rumored that Hyundai may have been interested in buying the troubled automaker, but those rumors have been denied. That leaves GM as the only company currently interested in acquiring the group (not confirmed). It is rumored that GM is basically interested in Jeep and Dodge, but will buy the whole group if it is necessary. It is estimated that if it does go up for sale the Chrysler Group could go for $13 billion.
It has just been reported by Reuters that Chrysler is going to issue a recall of 489,000 vehicles. The recall is for three different models. 328,424 Dodge Durangos (2004-2006) are being recalled because of electrical problems, 149,605 Jeep Liberty SUVs (2006-2007) are being recalled because the blower motor could fail and 10,994 Dodge Avenger sedans (2008) are being recalled due to latch problems. There was also a recall last month of 51,000 vehicles that had brake issues.
According to CEO Dieter Zetsche all new vehicles built by the group will have a hybrid variant.
Continue reading "All Future DaimlerChrysler Vehicles will have a Hybrid Option" »
DaimlerChrysler has begun taking reservations for the its Smart ForTwo car that will be available in the U.S. in 2008. Buyers can reserve either the hardtop or convertible for $99. The company has set up a reservation page were people can enter their personal information and select the car that they would like. The $99 fee does not guarantee a car. Instead it is meant to help the company figure out where to distribute the car. The money will be applied to the cost of the car if you do actually buy one, if not it is refunded.
Continue reading "Reserve Your Very Own Smart ForTwo for $99 Bucks!" »
Chrysler has announced the pricing for its all new 2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible. The car will start at $26,145 and is priced $645 below the outgoing model. They describe the car as a convertible that delivers open-air freedon with elegant coupe styling and functionality of a year-round car.
Continue reading "2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible Pricing Announced..but it's Still Ugly." »
Chrysler has revealed the refreshed 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Notable changes for the new year are a new 4.7L V8 engine, and styling changes inside and out.
Continue reading "2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Revealed...but Who Can Tell the Difference?" »
Sales of the Chrysler Crossfire have never really taken off. The car is based on the previous generation Mercedes SLK, which was not enough to drive sales.
Toyota's sales increased 9% last month compared to March 2006. This was largely driven by sales of the new Camry, the RAV4 and the Prius.
Chrysler has unveiled the all-new 2008 Jeep Liberty at the New York Auto Show today. The new SUV is built on the same platform as the new Dodge Nitro, which you can easily tell.
Continue reading "2008 Jeep Liberty Ditches its Cute-Ute Styling" »
In the first quarter of this year, fewer than 50% of Americans that bought new cars, bought from domestic brands. 48.9% of Americans bought cars and trucks from Ford, GM or Chrysler. This is down from last year and represents a continued downward slide for the domestic automakers.
Continue reading "U.S. Automakers Continue to Lose Market Share" »
Chrysler has announced plans to build new plants in Michigan and to upgrade existing plants. The company is planning on building three new plants and upgrading their Warren stamping plant.
According to a report by the Automotive News, between September 2006 and February 2007, 48.5% of Chrysler brand sales were to fleets. That is an increase of 10% from the same period a year ago. 44.9% of Pontiac sales go to fleets, which is slightly lower than the 46.2% from the year earlier.
Continue reading "Nearly Half of all Chrysler and Pontiac Sales Come from Fleet Sales" »
Chrysler has announced that there will be a hybrid version of the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango on the market in 2008. The SUVs will feature a Two-Mode hybrid system that was developed with GM and BMW, coupled with a 5.7L V8 HEMI engine with cylinder deactivation.
Continue reading "2008 Chrysler Aspen Two-Mode Hybrid Will be the Automaker's First Hybrid" »
In order to spark interest in its rather lackluster new Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler is going to sponsor a giveaway sweepstakes this month. The campaign's inspiration is the one-in-a-hundred date and in order to win you have to be expecting your own bundle of joy on 05/06/07.
Continue reading "Chrysler Wants to Give You the Ultimate Baby Gift" »
Automakers have just released their April 2007 U.S. sales figures. Here is the list of the top 10 best selling vehicles last month (in order by number of sales). The bottom of the list may surprise you.
Continue reading "What are the Top 10 Best-Selling Vehicles in the U.S.?" »
April's auto sales numbers have just been posted and almost every major automaker had a sales decrease last month. Even the Asian automakers that have been making headlines for their sales gains, took a hit.
Continue reading "Auto Sales Dip Due to a Slowing Economy" »
Just in case you thought the Jeep Compass couldn't get an uglier, Chrysler has just announced a Rallye package for the wannabe SUV.
Continue reading "Jeep Introduces an Even Uglier Version of the Jeep Compass" »
Edmunds.com has posted a list of the most wanted cars in 2007 based on reader feedback. Out of the 32 categories you may be surprised which automaker took home the most awards....
Continue reading "What are the Most Wanted Cars in the U.S. for 2007?" »
For months there have been rumors and internal statements about the possible sale of Chrysler, which would result in the end of the current relationship with Daimler-Benz. The partnership that was announced in 1998 has now come to an end. Cerberus Capital Management has won the bid to take over the Chrysler group for $7.45 billion.
According to California Attorney General Jerry Brown, the federal government may need to bail out U.S. automakers in order to keep them in business. The bail out could amount to several billion dollars.
Continue reading "Should the Government Bail Out the U.S. Automakers?" »
Chrysler has approved the large luxury Imperial sedan for production. The official announcement will be on June 11th. Chrysler will invest $700 million for the new sedan, which will be built at the Brampton, Ontario plant. This announcement follows the sale of the Chrysler Group that took place earlier this week. Chrysler has had a rough year due to lower sales and recalls, is this sedan what the company needs right now?
According to an article by BusinessWeek, ex-Chrysler chief Lee Iacocca stated that, "Daimler screwed Chrysler royally" in the nine years that it owned Chrysler. According to Iacocca the recent sale of Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management was out of desperation.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has released crash test scores for the newest convertibles. The tests are pretty surprising since the new BMW 3-Series only received a marginal score, while the new Chrysler Sebring received good ratings in the crash tests. Apparently a higher price does not always mean you are getting a better car.
A new study by Harbour Consulting has announced that Toyota is the most productive automaker, since it only takes Toyota 29.93 hours to make a car. Nissan came in second with 29.97 hours and Honda came in third at 31.63 hours.
Continue reading "Toyota is the Most Productive Automaker but US Automakers Are Catching Up" »
The Detroit Free Press has posted the list of the top-20 best selling vehicles in the US last month. The list looks pretty similar to last month, with only a few vehicles moving up or down the list. The overall trend seems to be that consumers are moving further away from trucks and SUVs.
Last year Renault-Nissan was in talks with General Motors about a possible alliance between the automakers. But unfortunately the talks ended when neither side could come to an agreement on the price of the relationship. Now fast forward to 2007 and Renault-Nissan is reportedly looking for a relationship with either Ford or Chrysler.
Continue reading "Renault-Nissan May Still Seek an Alliance with Either Ford or Chrysler" »
Chrysler is about to announce that the Dodge Hornet Euro B-Car is going to be produced. The car will be produced by Chinese automaker Chery and there will not be a Chrysler version of the car.
Continue reading "Chrysler Confirms Production of the Dodge Hornet Supermini" »
Apparently Chrysler executives have admitted to their employees that the automaker misjudged the market for the new Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Nitro SUV. In a recent Q&A session a top Chrysler executive addressed the issues with Chrysler employees and assured them that the automaker is moving fast to correct the mistakes.
Continue reading "Chrysler Admits That the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Nitro are Duds" »
Earlier this week, Ford confirmed that the automaker has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to sell the Jaguar and Land Rover brands. Now according to recent reports, Cerberus, the firm that just bought Chrysler is also looking at the possibility of buying Jaguar and Land Rover.
Continue reading "New Chrysler Owners may Also be Interested in Land Rover and Jaguar" »
Flashback to 1957 to the town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The town buried the then new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere coupe in front of the county courthouse in a time capsule that would be unveiled on June 15, 2007 to celebrate Oklahoma's 100th anniversary of statehood.
In 2006 Chrysler made more cars than dealers wanted. Since the automaker had no dealers that wanted them, they stored them in various places around Detroit. Well now Chrysler is trying every way that they can to get rid of them. Deep discounts and significant rebates have not done the trick, so now Chrysler is going to allow dealers to label the new cars as "used" in hopes that people will finally buy them.
Continue reading "Chrysler is Going to Label Remaining 2006 Models "used" to Get Rid of Them" »
With gas prices consistently at record highs and consumers increasing demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, Chrysler has announced new plans to boost the fuel mileage of their cars and trucks. The new family of V6 engines will have cylinder deactivation technology, which will allow them to run on 3-cylinders when less power is needed. The automaker also plans to place its new two-mode hybrid powertrain in more of its vehicles.
Continue reading "New Chrysler V6 Engines Will Get 6-8% Better Gas Mileage" »