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Filed under: Car Buying , Hatchbacks , Chrysler It seems as if earlier rumors of the PT Cruiser's death may have been slightly exaggerated. According to PTCruizer.com , the retro-style hatch from Chrysler is still alive, though perhaps on some sort of artificial life support. At least for the 2009 model year, the Cruiser is expected to be built alongside the Dodge Journey, though this could change in the blink of an eye. The plant in Toluca, Mexico where the two vehicles are built is capable of switching at a moments notice between the Journey and the Cruiser. So, if the Journey picks up sales or Chrysler does the unthinkable and launches its own version of the Dodge crossover, the PT could wave good bye for good. If you are in the market to do some Cruisin' of your own, our suggestion would be to act fast. Reports indicate that Chrysler is reducing the options on the vehicle as much as possible to make them as easy, and therefore as cheap, to build as possible. For instance, the...
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Filed under: Coupes , Economy , Hatchbacks , Chrysler , Dodge , Nissan Click above for high-res gallery of the Dodge Hornet concept The Dodge Hornet was one of the best-looking concepts that Chrysler has produced the past few years, and thanks to a partnership with Nissan , the impressive-looking compact is inching closer to production. Chrysler and Nissan have yet to officially announce details of the upcoming Nissan Versa-based vehicle they'll develop together, other than to say that it'd be available as a 2010 model, but everyone is banking on a production Hornet. Chrysler vice president of international sales Thomas Hausch recently said that the Pentastar is working hard on a Hornet Study, and that Chrysler would "announce something" in the near future. The linked Automotive News article is further evidence that our suspicions were correct and that Nissan, rather than Chinese automaker Chery, will build it. [Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd] Read | Permalink...
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Filed under: Economy , Plants/Manufacturing , Hatchbacks , Chrysler , Dodge Click above to view high-res gallery of the Dodge Hornet Concept It's been so long since we've heard anything new regarding the Dodge Hornet concept from way back in 2006 that you could be forgiven for assuming it was dead on arrival. Not so, according to Thomas Hausch, ChryCo's veep for international purchasing, who says that the automaker is hard at work developing its Hornet model. Not that it's particularly shocking that Chrysler would be doing everything in its power to bring more small cars to market, considering that sales in that segment are so strong in the face of $4 per gallon gasoline. It has long been assumed that the tie-up with Chinese automaker Chery would yield the first Chrysler compact, but remember that Chrysler recently made a deal with Nissan. In that arrangement, Nissan would get a version of the Dodge Ram in exchange for a Nissan-built small designed and developed by Chrysler...
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Filed under: Economy , China , Plants/Manufacturing , Hatchbacks , Chrysler , Dodge The Dodge Breeze is A #1. Or, rather, it's an A1. Chinese automaker Chery's deal with Chrysler LLC to produce small cars for Chrysler's three brands begat the little buzz-about you see above. The photo appeared on a Chinese forum and is supposedly the Chinese Plymouth Dodge Breeze, one of the aforementioned adventures in rebadging. The cars produced as a result of the agreement would not be limited to China, as the low-end rides would be sold in other developing markets, and high-end cars will be destined for others. The Breeze would be a Chinese-built car that gives Dodge a presence in the minicar segment. It also has the honor of dragging (if obliquely) The Brand Formerly Known As Plymouth back into our lives, though we really wish they would have gone with Volare. [Source: Carscoop] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Car Buying , Podcasts , Economy , Hatchbacks , BMW , Chevrolet , Chrysler , Ford , Jaguar , Jeep , MINI , Toys , Australia , FPV , Tata UPDATE: Back by popular demand, direct download of the podcast has been added as a link below. The biggest news of the past week: the suckfest that was the Knight Rider movie. Alex liveblogged it so that we didn't have to watch. Sure it was crap, but was it really that bad? The original was a clunker, too, remember. There's car stuff going on, too, and we move on to covering what's in our respective Autoblog Garages . Keep an eye out for some new reviews, and John has a podcast-exclusive announcement, too. We spin off into a small car smackdown, postulate on who should buy Jaguar if Tata flips them , and boomerang back to our MINI vs. Aveo sales number deathmatch. In this week's installment of "Fords We Don't Get," there's a new Austrailian Falcon that is available in full-on sinister. It's badass in FPV...
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Filed under: Economy , Plants/Manufacturing , Hatchbacks , Chrysler , Dodge , Jeep After a five-day shutdown due to a mechanical glitch at Chrysler's Belvidere stamping plant, the facility will again be able to resume building the Dodge Caliber , Jeep Compass, and Jeep Patriot . In the short term, Chrysler will keep the assembly facility running smoothly by outsourcing stamping to other nearby plants. The shutdown came only weeks before the Belvidere plant permanently drops one shift, which will result in the indefinite layoff of 1,000 workers. With a tough economy in which automakers are struggling to sell units, it's unlikely many people will have difficulty finding a Caliber, Compass, or Patriot as a result of the temporary shutdown. [Source: Auto News (subs. req'd)] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing , Hatchbacks Carlos Ghosn, Nissan/Renault's CEO, has been looking for a U.S. automaker to partner up with for some time and he may have finally found a suitable suitor. Reuters is reporting that a negotiations between Chrysler and Nissan to supply the Cerberus-owned automaker with a small car that would displace around 1.8-liters are being finalized. The move is an obvious attempt to provide Chrysler with a sub-compact competitor while simultaneously lowering the development and production costs of both automakers. What kind of vehicle will be created by the alliance is open to speculation, but a Dodge- or Chrysler-badged Versa seems like an obvious choice considering its platform and powertrain. [Source: Reuters] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Tech , Hatchbacks , Chrysler , Dodge Click on the Caliber for a hig-res gallery of the 2008 Dodge Caliber SRT-4 While the new Dodge Caliber SRT-4 was in the Autoblog Garage, I had a chat with Erich Heushele and Kathy Graham from Chrysler. Erich is the Vehicle Development Supervisor at Chrysler's in-house tuning group and Kathy is a communications rep for the team. We talked about some of the mechanical changes involved in transforming a Caliber into an SRT-4, including why it doesn't have all-wheel-drive. Autoblog : I just have a few questions about some of the things that your team did on the SRT-4 that differ from the standard Caliber. What sort of suspension and brake changes were made? Also, why is there no all-wheel-drive? Erich Heuschele : Sure, well I will try to see what I can give you. We dropped the front end 28-mm and the rear 22-mm. We actually have shorter dampers on the car so it has more jounce travel. We didn't just lower the car. We actually got...
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Filed under: Wagons/Estates , Hatchbacks , Chrysler PT Cruiser fans who were relieved to hear only the convertible version would no longer be built may, after all, have reason to mourn. The Wall Street Journal , quoting a Chrysler dealership owner, says the retro-styled wagon-like CUV is again on the company's hit list. No word on why Chrysler brass changed their minds or when the final PT will be built, but if you want a new one, you should probably take advantage of the soon-to-be-announced rebates soon. So, is it just a coincidence that the final special edition PT Cruiser will be the Sunset Boulevard Edition ? [Source: WSJ via All Cars All the Time ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Hatchbacks , Chrysler Scott Kissinger knows a thing or two about Chrysler's PT Cruiser. In fact, he knows enough about it to have started ptenthusiasts.org in 1999, before the the PT was even for sale. So as one who loves the PT Cruiser and...
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