2011 Chrys T&c Limited With Vmi Northstar Handicap Conversion 5,500 Mile. Loaded on 2040-cars

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Chrysler 300 SRT dead in US, updated elsewhere

The Chrysler 300 SRT is officially dead here in the US, but the sedan's big V8 continues to rumble in a handful of other markets around the world. In fact, the model just received a refresh abroad to fit the standard version's recently updated styling. According to Car and Driver, customers in countries like Australia, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, and a few other places can stop by their local Chrysler dealer soon to pick up some of this imported muscle. For the refresh, the 300 SRT's 6.4-liter V8 remains under the hood producing 470 horsepower, and it's now hooked up to an eight-speed automatic gearbox. The styling also gets some updates like LED lights in the lower air dam, a reshaped mesh grille with the SRT logo, and a simplified design for the taillights. If it seems odd to go to the work of updating the 300 SRT's styling, while killing off the model in the US, the reason has to do with FCA's brand strategy here. Dodge is supposed to be the automaker's performance marque in America, and according to Car and Driver, Jeep gets to keep SRT branding on the Grand Cherokee because of the brawny SUV's popularity. That might not last much longer, because reports suggest a Hellcat-powered Trackhawk is on the way. Related Video:

Four-horse race opens up for next Chrysler-Fiat CEO

There are some companies that could change leadership overnight and still remain more or less the operations that they are. But some have built themselves up around one central figure. Just ask Carlos Tavares, who found he couldn't escape the long shadow of Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. Tavares recently left to find his own limelight. But Ghosn isn't the only executive who presides over two disparate automakers on opposite ends of the globe.
Having built up Fiat and Chrysler around himself, we can hardly imagine either automaker getting along without Sergio Marchionne. But the day will come when the famously sweater-clad bigwig will step down. The pressing questions remain when when that day will come, and who will take his place. The only solid clues we have are in the statements made mostly by Marchionne himself, but those statements have been all over the place. When speaking to Automotive News in 2012, he said he would step down "no earlier than 2013, no later than 2015." But a year later, he had already seemingly changed his tune, indicating he could still be at the helm in 2016. Fiat chairman John Elkann seems to think Marchionne, 61, could and should stay on longer.

Google-Chrysler autonomous project will include ride-sharing

Google's new Waymo automobile-technology division might have just gotten "way mo" interesting, if you'll excuse the pun. Google, which this spring said it would work with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on the development of a self-driving Chrysler minivan prototype, is adding a ride-sharing component to the project, Bloomberg News says, citing people familiar with the process. Representatives with both Fiat Chrysler and Google parent Alphabet Inc. declined to comment to Bloomberg. The ride-sharing service, which would compete with fellow San Francisco Bay Area-based companies such as Uber and Lyft, may debut as soon as the end of next year. Uber continues to move forward with its own self-driving efforts, launching self-driving tests (with engineers behind the wheel) in Pittsburgh in September and announcing this week that it would start tests in San Francisco. Those efforts may be delayed, however, as the state of California requires special permitting for testing out self-driving technology, and while the state has granted those permits to automakers such as General Motors, Tesla and Ford, it hasn't for Uber. Google and Chrysler said earlier this year that it would develop about 100 autonomous-driving Pacifica prototypes, but the ride-sharing service would require more of those vehicles to be built. Google's auto-technology operations, now called Waymo, have been headed by former Hyundai executive John Krafcik since September 2015. The division has reportedly brought in more executive-level personnel to speed things along. Meanwhile, Chrysler is slated to unveil an all-electric prototype version of the Pacifica at Las Vegas's annual CES show next month. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.