A group of activist dealers rejected in the Chrysler and General Motors bankruptcies is contemplating going back to Congress to seek justice after a federal audit questioned the criteria used to terminate dealers, as well as the automakers’ claims the moves were necessary to help restore profits.

The report issued today said GM failed to apply the criteria uniformly. It also said cost savings were not the reason for the dealership closings, even though GM and Chrysler told Congress the terminations would speed recovery from their 2009 bankruptcies.

The report found that Chrysler, which made decisions on a case-by-case basis, followed the criteria for targeting dealers for termination. But it criticized Chrysler for not providing dealers with an appeals process. GM, however, did not follow this criteria.

Chrysler said that same month it was offering new franchises to 50 dealers who applied for arbitration, in addition to 36 previous offers or new agreements. Chrysler terminated 789 dealers in June of 2009 and said in January that 409 had applied for arbitration.

Chrysler, in a statement today, continued to defend the terminations, calling it “rightsizing” the dealer network.
“This optimized dealer network is already contributing to improved vehicle sales for Chrysler and will be a vital part of the Company’s success as we continue to deliver outstanding products to our customers,” the statement said.

Rightsizing…hmm. Regardless of the outcome, w hope that Chrysler sticks to their plan of reopening their dealerships, maybe all of them one day.

Source: Automotive News

“For a while, it was the best-selling Chrysler-brand vehicle,” said Jim Hall, managing director of 2953 Analytics, a Birmingham consultancy. In fact, the numbers show this as fact. Chrysler will have sold more than 1.3 million PT Cruisers when production ends on July 9. That means that there is a huge following for the design – maybe enough that Chrysler should do a next-generation version.

The Chrysler PT Cruiser went on sale in the year 2000 – at the height of America’s SUV craze. The vehicle, though much smaller than any SUV, became popular for a nostalgic look, cargo space and for being easy to drive. It broke the mold for that time in automotive industry.

If Chrysler executives had followed up on the PT’s initial success, they could have turned the car into an icon for the company. Instead, they left it alone as a singular sensation that bore no relationship to any other Chrysler vehicle. That alone made it a cult favorite.

PT Cruiser also became successful as a rental car. Companies like Hertz and Enterprise have ordered thousands of Cruisers over the years to rent to customers. For now, you can check out the final PT Cruisers at dealerships near you, after that – Hertz.com.

Chrysler is working to bring back their “ENVI” division – who introduced the world to several hybrid and electric cars years ago. With help from Fiat, Chrysler’s new owner, they plan on breathing new life into those vehicle technologies.

According to Automotive News, “Chrysler’s senior vice president for powertrain technologies, Paolo Ferrero, reiterated his company’s plans to bring an all-electric Fiat 500 onto the market by 2012. He also revealed details for a test fleet of Dodge Ram plug-in hybrids and hinted that there will be a full line of electric vehicles in Chrysler’s lineup. These are the two extremes [the Fiat 500 BEV and Dodge Ram plug-in hybrid], let’s say,” Ferrero said in an interview. “We have an electrification strategy, but we cannot yet disclose it.”

Chrysler’s green strategy also encompasses alternate fuels. One popular alt-fuel, compressed natural gas (CNG), is a topic of discussion around the division. Chrysler’s parent Fiat has extensive experience in building and selling CNG-powered vehicles, something that could be transferred over to Chrysler’s future lineup.

story: greencarreports

This three year alliance between Chrysler and the space agency intends on creating lighter-weight materials, more dexterous, even human-emulating robots along with advanced batteries that ease drivers’ worries about running out of power during longer trips.

Both industries have been performing a variety of research for almost a year, in areas such as materials engineering, robotics, radar and energy storage technology. Already in the production phase is an infant car seat that uses video and biotelemetry technology to monitor your child’s comfort and health.

Chrysler joined up with NASA to built Redstone rockets for the Mercury project back in 1961.

But fear not, Fiat-Chrysler has appointees its first North American chief to flip this company around, Laura Soave.

Laura has her work cut out for her – according to CNN Money; “Chrysler’s sales to consumers have plunged more than 44% so far this year…Toyota’s retail sales fell less than 14%, even though Toyota stopped selling its best-selling models for more than a week in January, and has been hammered by a constant drumbeat of bad news ever since.” So yes, even the struggling bad-PR machine Toyota, which has cars that attempt to kill drivers, is doing better than Chrysler. Ouch.

Soave will be charged with leading the introduction of Fiat 500 in the North American later this year. As Head of Fiat Brand for North America, Soave will be directly responsible for ensuring that Fiat is properly integrated into Chrysler’s current North American distribution chain and she will be in charge of all marketing activities.

Sources: LeftLaneNews | CNN Money

“Fiat 500 on sale in U.S. at end of the year”

That’s 1 – 2 years sooner then we thought Fiat vehicles would be on sale at Chrysler lots in the States. Fiat may have to adapt their tiny city cars to go along with US highway safety standards and fuel economy. Still, this is very exciting news!

Fiat-Chrysler also plan on dropping Fiat’s little 500 model to the US in coming years, along with hybrid EV variants of both models.

Lancia already grabbed attention with its 2009 Geneva Auto Show debut, and is touted by Fiat as “an environmentally friendly car concept, being luxurious but accessible, spacious but compact, sparkling but frugal in consumption. At Geneva, Lancia is further enhancing its “green” credentials by presenting, as a world preview, a dual-power LPG and gasoline range. Known as “Ecochic”, the range includes the Musa and Ypsilon models fitted with the 1.4 liter twin-fuel engine producing 77 HP…”

Stay tuned, and keep an eye open on Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealerships near you later this year – as Chrysler Lancias will most likely be popping up.

– 1.4-liter Multi-Air I-4
– 1.8-, 2.0-, and 2.4-liter I-4s
– 3.6-liter V-6
– 5.7- and 6.2-liter Hemi V-8s

According to the New York Times – “Its job is getting tougher by the month. Chrysler said on Tuesday that its new-vehicle sales in the United States fell 30 percent in October, a month when total sales were flat for the industry and for its two crosstown rivals, General Motors and the Ford Motor Company. G.M., which came out of bankruptcy a month later than Chrysler, reported its first year-over-year sales increase in nearly two years.”
Stay tuned – we will bring you an update about the CDF-5-Year Plan.

Chrysler

PT Cruiser
Sebring
Town and Country
300: Redesign in 2011
Fiat 500: 2011

Dodge

Caliber
Nitro
Avenger
Grand Caravan
Charger: Redesign in 2011 <–WE CAN’T WAIT!!!!
Challenger
Journey
Ram trucks

Jeep

Commander
Compass
Patriot
Wrangler
Grand Cherokee: Redesign in 2010

Alfa Romeo

Mito
Milano
New Mid-Size Sedan
8C Competizione