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Chrysler Pacifica reportedly getting updated design and eAWD system for 2021

Chrysler is preparing to give the Pacifica and Voyager minivans a comprehensive mid-cycle update, according to a new report. Both models are scheduled to make their debut in early 2020. The Pacifica currently shares styling cues with the 200, a sedan discontinued after the 2017 model year. The team of stylists tasked with updating it returned from the design well inspired by the third-generation Town & Country released for the 1996 model year, and the 300, the firm's only sedan. Mopar Insiders described a sportier look characterized by a bigger grille, and sharper-looking headlights with LED accents. New-look rear lights connected by a light bar will round out the nip and tuck. The publication added camouflaged prototypes will hit the road in early 2020. The Voyager added to the range for the 2020 model year is a cheaper, less equipment-rich variant of the Pacifica. While it will receive the same updates as its more expensive sibling, it might not come standard with the aforementioned LEDs. Expect other minor trim differences inside and out, too, but the two nameplates will continue to share a basic design. The Dodge Grand Caravan is finally retiring in 2020, so the Voyager will become the ever-important entry point into the group's minivan range. The same report sheds light on the mechanical changes Chrysler has in store. The firm will give buyers in the market for an all-wheel-drive minivan an alternative to the Toyota Sienna by adapting Jeep's plug-in hybrid technology to the Pacifica. Called eAWD, the system consists of a battery-driven electric motor integrated into the rear axle. It delivers through-the-road all-wheel drive, meaning there's no connection between the front and rear wheels, and clever packaging makes it compatible with Chrysler's Stow and Go seats. The gasoline-electric setup will make the Pacifica a rear-wheel drive electric car on short trips, while improving its gas mileage the rest of the time. There's no word yet on what will be under the hybrid, all-wheel-drive model's hood. Jeep's upcoming Compass and Renegade hybrids use a turbocharged, 1.3-liter four-cylinder, but that sounds a little bit small for a reasonably big van developed with the American market in mind. Motorists not interested in going hybrid will likely still have the venerable 3.6-liter V6. And, whether the Voyager will be eligible to receive the new hybrid powertrain remains unclear.

Fiat Chrysler expands Takata airbag recall to 3.3M vehicles

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is expanding its recall of vehicles equipped with Takata airbags, moving beyond Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to the greater US, as well as Mexico, Canada and beyond. The affected vehicles, some 3.3 million in total, were built between 2004 and 2007, with many models, including the Dodge Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500, Durango and the Chrysler 300, having been affected by Chrysler's previous recall. Despite the somewhat alarming nature that comes with a recall of this many vehicles, it seems that Chrysler is moving more out of an abundance of caution (and federal pressure) than anything else, saying: "Neither FCA US, nor Takata Corporation, the supplier, has identified a defect in this population of inflators. These components also are distinct from Takata inflators cited in fatalities involving other auto makers. More than 1,000 laboratory tests have been performed on these components. All deployed as intended, but FCA US continues to study the suspect inflators, which are not used in the Company's current production vehicles." Owners of affected vehicles will be notified and asked to report to dealers for a free replacement driver's side airbag. Scroll down for the official press release from FCA. Statement: Global Air-Bag Inflator Replacement December 19, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - FCA US LLC will replace driver's-side air-bag inflators in an estimated 3.3 million older-model vehicles worldwide, in an expansion of an ongoing regional field action. Neither FCA US, nor Takata Corporation, the supplier, has identified a defect in this population of inflators. These components also are distinct from Takata inflators cited in fatalities involving other auto makers. More than 1,000 laboratory tests have been performed on these components. All deployed as intended, but FCA US continues to study the suspect inflators, which are not used in the Company's current production vehicles. Outside of Florida, one of the areas covered by the original action, no FCA US vehicle has been linked to an air-bag deployment of the type that has raised public concern. Nevertheless, the Company is replacing the Takata components tied to that concern. FCA US is aware of one related injury involving one of its vehicles, an older-model sedan. It occurred in a southern Florida region marked by persistent, high, absolute humidity – a condition believed to be a contributing factor in the air-bag deployments under investigation.

Former Treasury boss unaware auto task force fired GM's Wagoner

We dig a good political tell-all every once in a while (how else will we get our political fix while waiting for House of Cards' third season?). Today, we get just that from former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's new book, "Stress Test," which details, among other parts of the 2009 financial catastrophe, the structured bankruptcy that allowed Chrysler and General Motors to emerge as competitive players in the auto industry.
In the book, which is nicely recapped by The Detroit News, Geithner discusses the firing of GM CEO Rick Wagoner while explaining how much trust he had in the auto industry task force that executed the move without his knowledge.
Auto Czar Steve Rattner "didn't even consult me before he fired General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner; if anything, that move increased my confidence in Team Auto," Geithner wrote.