truth about domestics

According to dealers and others who are in-the-know, Chrysler is planning on not only changing the “look” of the Sebring (halleluiah), but also the name. Nassau will be the new name and was the name of a Chrysler concept vehicle at the 2007 Detroit auto show. The Sebring’s image has been greatly tarnished because of its cheap interior and poor quality (I’d even throw in exterior styling). Every other automaker has a competitive mid-size sedan in the marketplace; therefore it is very important for Chrysler to get the Nassau right – as younger buyers upgrade from smaller cars, they look at this segment.

The Nassau and the new Dodge Avenger are expected to have completely new exterior styling, new fuel efficient powertrain options (2.4 liter four cylinder or the new V6 Pentastar), and vastly improved interior quality. The new vehicles are expected to launch towards the end of this year – they cannot come soon enough!

Read the full news story at the Detroit Free Press.

Awesome news for the domestic automakers: sales were up for February! GM posted a sales increase of 12% over prior year’s results with sales of 141, 951 vehicles, Ford posted a sales increase of 43% with 142,285 vehicle sales, and Chrysler posted a sales increase of 1% with sales of 84,449 vehicles. Plagued by recent recalls, Toyota posted a sales decrease of 8.7% for February with sales of 100,027 vehicles.

The second piece of the story is even more exclusive: Ford overtook GM in sales for the first time since 1998, when a strike caused a large decrease in sales for GM. The last time before that was 1970, when a walkout caused a similar situation. I’m not rooting for one company or the other, but this can only be good news for the consumers – competition generates better quality and better value for the customer.

Read the full article at BusinessWeek.

Chrysler will report a slight increase in sales for February over previous year’s results. Chrysler sold 84,050 vehicles in February of 2009. This will be the first sales increase in 26 months for Chrysler!

News courtesy of Bloomberg.

If you haven’t heard of the Lancia brand in the past, fear not.  Lancia is a brand that is only known across the Atlantic, over in Europe.  Lancia is owned by Fiat, which also happens to own our very American Chrysler brand.  Think these two have much in common?  If you said no, you’re right!  That happens to be exactly what Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne said and it is how he explains his idea for merging the two brands:

“In Europe, Lancia is an undersized, underdeveloped brand, with nothing bigger than the Delta.  Chrysler, which has true global reach, has nothing smaller.  Put them together and you have a full line-up.”

That all seems to make sense to me, but if you’re interested in reading more, head on over to Autocar.

(Image source: Lancia)

Jeep has stated that the Patriot and Compass will be killed off at the end of 2012 due to their slow sales success, but that will leave a gap in Jeep’s lineup.  The Grand Cherokee will fill the upper end, and another as-yet-unnamed CUV (possibly Liberty) will fill the middle and then a smaller CUV will be built on the Fiat Panda platform, wearing the signature seven-bar grill found on Jeeps today.  Only time will tell however, but for now, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: Jeep)

While it may be awhile before we see any products here in the U.S. from Fiat, it may not be so long before we see Chrysler products featuring Fiat technology.  Chrysler and Fiat will be sharing powertrain technologies in future products going forward, a move that Chrysler says will help increase their overall fuel-efficiency by 25% by 2014.  There will be two new four-cylinder engines and a new V6 as well.  The four-bangers will displace 1.4L and 2.4L and may feature turbocharging, direct injection and variable valve displacement too.  All versions of the engines should produce 10-15% more power while decreasing emissions by 10%.  For more details, including what products we can see these engines in, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: Chrysler)

Yahoo! Autos has decided to sit down and think up 3ish models from Ford, General Motors and Chrysler that could each (or more likely together) save that particular company.  One of the vehicles mentioned is the very attractive and high tech 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.  While I agree with most of the list, you should check it out for yourself at Yahoo! Autos.

(Image source: Chrysler)

Chrysler’s display at this year’s North American International Auto Show was expected to be basically void of any new sheetmetal.  That is until now.  Word has come out that Chrysler plans to show an electric version of the Fiat 500, as well as a new hatchback design.  For more details, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: Fiat)

Chrysler has announced that it will be investing $179 million in its Dundee, Michigan engine plant to convert it from production of its “World Engine” to Fiat’s 1.4L Fully Integrated Robotized Engine.  The Multiair engine will first see duty in the tiny little Fiat 500.  For more on the story, click on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: Fiat)

Jeep has a new advertisement out that shows women getting haircuts and fancy do’s and then hitting the road with the top down on their Jeep Wranglers.  Jalopnik apparently doesn’t get the message but I think I do.  Women are usually very particular about how their hair looks, hence the women in the commercial getting their hair styled.  What Jeep is trying to say next by having the women drive with the wind in their hair is that driving a Jeep is so much fun, you won’t care how your hair looks!  Or something like that.  Eh, cute girls driving American products, doesn’t get much better than that.