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Filed under: Minivans/MPVs , SUVs , Crossovers/CUVs , Chevrolet , Dodge , GM , Rumormill We reported last month that General Motors could move the next Cadillac Escalade to its Lambda platform that's currently used by the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave and Chevy Traverse, and now GM Inside News is reporting via an inside source that the Suburban/Yukon XL may also get the unibody treatment. With replacements for the smaller Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Escalade reportedly cancelled , we think all signs are pointing to each GMT900-based SUV moving over to the Lambda platform with some of the current slow-selling Lambda-based models being cut altogether. But the craziness doesn't end there. GM Inside News also reports an even more surprising vehicle could get moved to the crossover platform: the Dodge Caravan, assuming of course that the General follows through on talks to purchase Chrysler from Cerberus. You may recall that GM abandoned the minivan market earlier this year...
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Filed under: SUVs , Green , Chrysler, LLC. , Dodge Click for a high res gallery of the Aspen and Durango hybrids Those who have had a hard look at their needs and still come to the conclusion that a full-size SUV would fit the bill officially have a new option. The Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango hybrids are now on sale and the EPA has determined that the pair have the best fuel economy of any such vehicles on the U.S. market. The Chrysler duo are officially rated at 20 mpg in the city and 22 mpg on the open road. Chrysler has opted to offer the Two-Mode hybrid trucks only with all-wheel-drive while GM's similarly powered Tahoe/Yukon can be had in rear- or all-wheel-drive. Comparing like configurations, both brands get an equal 20 mpg in stop and go traffic. Once you get up to cruising speed, the Chryslers pull out ahead, topping the GM SUVs by 2 mpg. At about $45K, the Chrysler/Dodges provide what may be an even more important advantage over the competition. An AWD Tahoe will run...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Minivans/MPVs , Sports/GTs , SUVs , Green , Chrysler, LLC. , Dodge , Jeep CNBC's Phil Lebeau got a sneak peek at the new EVs Chrysler is developing, and it looks like Auburn Hills is pulling a Tesla, among other things. The yellow Dodge EV you see here is basically an electrified Lotus Europa. With lithium ion battery power, it's reportedly got an operating range of 150 - 200 miles and can be plugged in to household 110 or 220 outlets. Figure a four-hour charge on the latter, and 8 or so on the former. Zero-to-sixty is said to be under 5 seconds. Like we said, this is basically Chrysler's Tesla, right down to the Lotus-sourced donor vehicle. We'll see the Dodge EV introduced formally later this afternoon, along with range-extended EV versions of the Chrysler Town & Country (can you say, "killer app"?) and Jeep Wrangler. With regard to timing, Chrysler says it would like to have "at least one" of these vehicles on...
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Filed under: SUVs , Dodge , Jeep News out of Toledo is that Chrysler plans to drop either the Jeep Liberty or the Dodge Nitro within four years and merge the two vehicles into one. These two 'utes are built on the same exact platform, use basically the same engines and are built in the same Toledo plant. There is no good reason for both of them to exist, which makes us wonder why they ever did in the first place and why it will take three years to correct. Regardless, considering that Jeep will always be the off-road brand, it would make most sense to keep the Liberty name going. Losing the Nitro, meanwhile, might actually help Dodge improve its image as a volume performance brand. This convergence of duplicate vehicles is part of Chrysler's Project Genesis plan. Under the plan, dealers will begin to offer Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles under the same roof. Other nameplates that are or should be converged include the Jeep Compass/Jeep Patriot and Dodge Durango/Chrysler Aspen...
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Filed under: SUVs , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs , Plants/Manufacturing , Dodge , Jeep , Earnings/Financials Jeep sales are down. They're way down , in fact, posting a 44-percent drop in their daily sales rate last month. Though the larger 'utes are really dragging down sales, even the once-untouchable Wranger has been feeling the sting of escalating fuel prices, as its blocky shape and 3.8-liter V6 engine conspire to deliver awful fuel mileage. Also selling rather slowly are the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro, which are assembled at the same plant in Northwest-Ohio. In an effort to save costs, Chrysler officials are considering reducing the work-week at the Toledo plant from the normal five days down to four and allowing its workers to stay on for ten-hour shifts. While that total still equals the forty-hours from a five-day, eight-hour per day work-week, Chrysler believes it can save on energy and fuel costs by shuttering the plant for an extra day. [Source: 13abc.com ] Read | Permalink...
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Filed under: SUVs , Green , Chrysler, LLC. , Dodge Click the above image for a hi-res gallery at AutoblogGreen Later this month Chrysler will finally launch the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango hybrids. These are the first non-GM products of the 2-Mode hybrid partnership that also includes GM, Daimler and BMW. Chrysler hopes that the hybrid models can revive its big SUV sales, but if GM's experience with the Tahoe and Yukon Hybrids is any indication, there may be cause for concern. With that in mind, Chrysler has priced its hybrids $8,000 lower than the comparable GM models in that hopes that doing so will kick-start sales. Back in June, AutoblogGreen drove the Chrysler Aspen hybrid from Portland, Maine to Boston, Mass. Head over to ABG to read all about how it fared and how much the hybrid system boosts the truck's mileage. Hint: it did better than expected. [Source: AutoblogGreen ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Car Buying , SUVs , Chrysler, LLC. , Dodge , Jeep , Earnings/Financials The automotive sales sector is in a major state of flux as consumers continue to run from SUVs and pickup trucks into smaller, more fuel efficient cars. One manufacturer hit especially hard by this transition is Chrysler, a company that recently posted the worst fleet average fuel economy numbers of all major automakers in the U.S. due to its truck-heavy lineup. Still, the automaker has built up a large supply of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep utility vehicles that they have got to get off dealer lots somehow. To ease consumers into the fuel-thirsy utes, Chrysler has introduced new incentives of zero-percent financing for 72 months on the 2008 Dodge Durango, Chrysler Aspen and Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander. While the lack of any financing charges will certainly impact the bottom line, it is nothing compared to the losses the automaker has been hit with over its past lease deals. In fact, truck and SUV residuals...
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Filed under: Trends , Minivans/MPVs , SUVs , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs , Plants/Manufacturing , Chrysler, LLC. , Dodge , Jeep , Earnings/Financials Click above high-res gallery of the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT Now that General Motors and Ford have completely abandoned the minivan market for good, the American originator of the species faces only Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Kia and soon Volkswagen as manufacturers that also offer competitive choices. Perhaps you'd think that Chrysler would be benefiting as the only domestic automaker currently playing in the segment, but it seems that sales are down this year by 13 percent for the Chrysler Town and Country while the Dodge Grand Caravan is down an alarming 35 percent. High gas prices are the obvious reason why the minivan market is seeing such a harsh downward trend, and likely the culprit behind Chrysler's impending move to idle its St. Louis South minivan plant as early as December, which would leave some 1,500 employees jobless. Utility...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Hybrids/Alternative , SUVs , Green , Chrysler , Dodge Click above for high-res gallery of Chrysler's hybrid SUVs Apparently hoping to avoid the ignominious fate of the full-size hybrid SUVs from two-mode hybrid partner General Motors, Chrysler is getting aggressive with the pricing of its new Durango and Aspen hybrids. At launch this fall, the Chryslers will be stickered at 45,340 and $45,570 respectively, some $8,000 below the four-wheel-drive versions from GM. GM recently had to slap $4,000 cash on the hood to entice customers to check out the Tahoe Hybrid and Yukon Hybrid. Unlike GM, however, Chrysler has chosen not to offer a two-wheel-drive variant of its hybrid SUVs. At this point we still don't know how equipment levels will compare between the GM and Chrysler models, so it's hard to do a direct comparison of these high-mpg hybrid SUVs. The last time we talked to Chrysler about the hybrids, they were not planning to implement any of the weight...
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Filed under: Car Buying , SUVs , Plants/Manufacturing , Chrysler , Dodge , Jeep Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 Dodge Journey Making a step towards a more fuel-efficient vehicle lineup, and reducing the number of overlapping vehicles between its brands, the plug has been pulled on a Chrysler-branded version of the 2009 Dodge Journey . Chrysler LLC will instead focus the resources on a Nissan-manufactured compact car. While the automaker currently captures the bulk of its sales from light trucks and SUVs, Chrysler is trying to pare down its lineup significantly to cut costs. So far, they have cut four models. Moving forward, the Jeep Commander SUV is expected to be dropped next year, and the company has already said they were canceling the PT Cruiser Convertible . While the 2009 Dodge lineup gains the aforementioned Journey, Dodge Challenger , and a redesigned Dodge Ram pickup, Chrysler's product lineup for the next twelve months looks particularly bleak with nothing significantly...
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Filed under: SUVs , Etc. , Dodge , Driving Dodge's marketing slogan is "grab life." Apparently, the message has resonated with the youth demo in Palm Beach Gardens, FL , where a 7-year-old swiped grandma's car keys and commandeered her Durango while she was unawares. He subsequently played demolition derby on the streets of the Florida enclave. His eight-minute joyride saw him take out a pair of mailboxes, hit two parked cars in a Costco parking lot, and then two more moving vehicles at an intersection before he drove into a street sign and broke the right front wheel off the truck, ending his impromptu cruise through the neighborhood. Miraculously, no one was hurt throughout all this. The obvious quote of the day comes from PBG police officer Ellen Lovejoy, who noted that the kid's actions constituted "unusual behavior for a seven-year old." Maybe he was just getting himself amped up for this week's impending Grand Theft Auto IV release. [Source: Palm...
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Filed under: Aftermarket , SUVs , Trucks/Pickups , Dodge , Jeep Click above to view all of Mopar's "Psychotic Six" While you won't be able to buy any of what Four Wheeler Blog calls Mopar's "Psychotic Six", you are permitted to drool so grab your kerchiefs and read on. FWB has the scoop on half a dozen project vehicles that Mopar's been wrenching on and are ready for prime time. The lot includes four Wrangler-based vehicles, one Dodge Ram and one Jeep Liberty. We begin with the Jeep HEMI JK that's got a 110-inch wheelbase to prevent wheelies caused by its 6.1L V8. Then there's the Jeep Dana 60 JK , so named after its "Military Spec" Dana 60 rear axle. Our favorite is the Diesel TJ (above), which is basically a Wrangler outfitted with a 2.8L four-cylinder oil burner. The silver medal gets awarded to the Jeep J8 Sarge that is seriously spec'd out for some unforgiving ground warfare. The Cummins Power Wagon is inspired by PWs of old...
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Filed under: Car Buying , SUVs , Crossovers/CUVs , Chrysler , Dodge , Jeep It's no secret that Chrysler has some overlapping models in its lineup. Case(s)-in-point: it's hard to make a rational argument that Jeep should be offering both the Compass and Patriot (not to mention Dodge selling the Patriot's platform sibling, the Caliber) or the Grand Cherokee and the Commander. The Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango barely pretend to be different vehicles and there's no reason to sell both the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro when they're basically the same machine. This revelation is as obvious to Chrysler's new management as it is to us, and Chrysler President Jim Press, says as much. "We're going to stop overlapping, we're going to bring everything under one roof. By doing that we will have more products in the markets we are not covering." Also marked as redundant by Press are the Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Caravan minivans, but as easy as it...
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Filed under: SUVs , Plants/Manufacturing , Chrysler , Dodge , Jeep The Jeep Grand Cherokee is already past due for a full redesign and if Chrysler can hang in their long enough, a new one should debut in time for the 2011 model year. The privately-owned automaker has announced its intention to put $281 million in new tooling into the Jefferson North assembly plant in Detroit that produces the Grand Cherokee and Commander. The perenially slow-selling Commander is expected to get the chop as the latest new Chrysler pares down its redundant model lineup. However, that doesn't mean that the Grand Cherokee, the sales of which once supported three production shifts at Jefferson, will be alone. One of the plants that Chrysler previously announced would be shuttered is the Newark Delaware facility that builds the Durango and Aspen. One or both (more likely one) of those models will likely end up using the same platform as the Grand Cherokee and be coming off the Detroit line. When production...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Detroit Auto Show , Economy , Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , SUVs , Green , Chrysler , Dodge , Jeep Click image for a hi-res gallery of Chrysler's concepts We're back from the Chrysler press conference that saw the Detroit Auto Show debuts of the Jeep Renegade , Dodge ZEO , and Chrysler ecoVoyager . As we have mentioned already, each is born out of the automaker's ENVI program, the focus of which is on new, environmentally-friendly electric propulsion. As such, all the concepts share the same 200 kw (268 hp equivalent) electric motor powered by a currently nonexistent lithium-ion battery pack and augmented by a secondary "range-extender" in the Renegade and ecoVoyager. That includes a vaporware fuel-cell in the latter. It's all okay, though, because as Chrysler's Frank Klegon pointed out, these are "pure concepts." He then went on to say that these "pure concepts" would be seen "in future production vehicles...
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