Chrysler to revamp fading midsize cars | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Chrysler Group LLC is counting on significantly higher sales of its midsize sedans to meet ambitious growth targets outlined last week in its five-year business plan, but the automaker has not been competitive for at least a decade in the market's largest vehicle segment. The Auburn Hills automaker, whose U.S. sales have fallen 39 percent this year, has been particularly stung by poor quality and consumers leaving for other brands. Chrysler executives are quick to admit to their struggles and...

McCain says Chrysler unlikely to survive | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Arizona Sen. John McCain said Sunday that Chrysler Group LLC is unlikely to survive, despite receiving nearly $15 billion in government loans. McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, reiterated his opposition to the $80 billion auto industry bailout begun by President George W. Bush last December. "No, I don't think we ever should have bailed out Chrysler and General Motors," McCain said in Arizona, where he was serving as grand marshal of at the NASCAR Sprint Cup series race at the Phoenix...

Sneak peek: Chrysler 300 | detnews.com | The Detroit News
In one of the first signs of life we've seen at Chrysler in a while, this development car for the next-generation Chrysler 300 has been spotted. This modestly camouflaged mule likely has the 2011 front end grafted onto a current 300C SRT8 body to conduct airflow testing. A new motor, along with the new "LY" chassis, may also be underneath the body. The LY chassis will be a heavy rework of the current LX chassis. Some current components will be carried over. Fiat is said to be planning future cars on the...

Industry experts unsure Chrysler can reach market share projections | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Chrysler Group LLC's now-public five-year plan hinges on some targets that analysts say are unrealistic. The plan, unveiled Wednesday during an eight-hour session in Auburn Hills, may be a fair representation of what Chrysler needs to do to thrive and repay its loans, but some of the benchmarks, such as the projection of a 4 percent market share increase, are stopping many cold. "Is the plan outlandish or merely wildly ambitious?" said analyst Michelle Krebs of Edmunds.com, who described the overall...

Chrysler is in a race that already started | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Time is not on the side of Chrysler Group LLC. I say this not because CEO Sergio Marchionne doesn't have a track record of turning around businesses, because he does. Nor because the men and women of Chrysler can't deliver the upgraded cars and trucks promised at Wednesday's marathon confab. They can. Time is not on Chrysler's side because the clock clearly favors crosstown rivals Ford Motor Co. and, yes, General Motors Co. -- both of which have killer products in showrooms, right now, that deliver on...

2009 SEMA Auto Show: Chrysler Gives TV to its Passengers
If you forgot your DVDs at home and have nothing to do in a long trip, you can still watch some TV shows, says Chrysler. The auto manufacturer is offering 20 channels such popular ones as CNBC, Comedy Central, Fox News, MSNBC, MTV, and Nickelodeon. The new feature is going to be presented at the 2009 SEMA Auto Show. It will be available on several 2008-2010 models: two minivans Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan; numerous SUV’s Jeep Commander, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Journey, and...

Chrysler focused on boosting quality | detnews.com | The Detroit News
-- Chrysler Group LLC officials know quality sells, and they've set on an aggressive path to improve vehicle reliability to boost sales. To that end, they have instituted sweeping changes within the company to catch problems early and correct them faster than in the past. "We have one quality plan with specific goals," Doug Betts, Chrysler senior vice president for quality said Wednesday. He added that while Chrysler execs are unhappy finishing at or near the bottom of recent reliability studies, those...

Chrysler gives cause for hope | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Detroit's auto CEOs have their own style. Ford Motor Co.'s Alan Mulally never wears a suit. A sport coat and tie, but not a suit. Not even when he's meeting the president. General Motors Co.'s Fritz Henderson is almost always in a suit. He's a financial guy. Chrysler Group LLC's new CEO Sergio Marchionne is a sweater and slacks guy, which held true Wednesday when he and his team unveiled the company's business plan here to analysts, media and the world. The atmosphere was hectic, even frantic at times...

Chrysler eyes 2011 for profit | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Fiat's retooling of Chrysler foresees the littlest of Detroit's Big Three making profits by 2011 and paying off its bailout loans by 2014, officials said during Wednesday's daylong debut of what a post-bankruptcy Chrysler will look like. The profit forecasts are based on big cuts in expenses that already are under way; economies of scale from sharing parts and vehicle platforms; and a volume increase that calls for doubling U.S. and worldwide sales in five years. It will be a big gain from the...

Chrysler brands to aim appeal at specific lifestyles | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Chrysler Group LLC outlined new strategies for its four vehicle brands Wednesday, aimed at recapturing lost market share by bringing new buyers into showrooms. Dodge, which remains the nation's No. 3 brand by sales, will see its bad-boy image toned down, and its big trucks sold under a new standalone Ram brand. Dodge will get a "more mature" logo, and vehicles will focus on the "physics of fun," not macho design. The Ram brand will inherit the old Dodge logo and much of its swagger, but will concentrate...