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China's Great Wall confirms its interest — in Jeep, or all of FCA

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI — Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor reiterated its interest in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV on Tuesday, but said it had not held talks or signed a deal with executives at the Italian-American automaker. China's largest sport utility vehicle manufacturer made a direct overture to Fiat Chrysler on Monday, with an official saying the company was interested in all or part of FCA, owner of the Jeep and Ram truck brands. Automotive News first reported the news, quoting Great Wall Motor President Wang Fengying as saying she planned to contact FCA to discuss acquiring the Jeep brand specifically. Those comments sent FCA shares higher but also raised questions over the ability of China's seventh-largest automaker by sales to buy larger Western rival FCA, or even Jeep, which some analysts value at as much as one-and-a-half times FCA. Great Wall sought to dampen speculation on Tuesday. It confirmed it had studied Fiat Chrysler, but said there was "no concrete progress so far" and "substantial uncertainty" over whether it would eventually bid. "The company has not built any relationship with the directors of FCA nor has the company entered into any discussion or signed any agreements with any officer of FCA so far," the company said in an English-language stock exchange filing. It did not give further detail. Fiat Chrysler stock dipped on the statement on Tuesday. Great Wall said trading in its Shanghai-listed shares would resume on Wednesday after having been suspended. Fiat Chrysler declined to comment on Great Wall's statement. On Monday, it said it had not been approached and was fully committed to implementing its current business plan. FLUSHING OUT RIVALS? Great Wall Motor, which was early to spot China's love of SUVs, had revenue of $14.8 billion last year and sold 1.07 million vehicles - but that compares with FCA's 2016 revenue of 111 billion euros ($130.6 billion). Analysts said Great Wall would need to raise both debt and equity to complete any deal, meaning its chairman Wei Jianjun could lose majority control. One possible scenario, according to analysts at Jefferies, would see Wei keeping a roughly 30 percent stake, while Great Wall would raise $10-$14 billion in debt and $10 billion in equity - hefty for a group currently worth just $16 billion. Ultimately, politics could be the clincher.

The Dodge Demon's massive hood scoop sucks air like a jet intake

You know what they say about cars with big hood scoops? They usually hide big blowers. At least that's the case with the Dodge Demon and its 45-inch wide hood scoop, the largest ever fitted to a factory production car. The fifth Demon teaser, "Forced Induction," shows off the increased capacity of the car's air intake and the resurrection of the Air Grabber hood scoop on Dodge's upcoming quarter-mile killer. View 4 Photos As with previous teasers, few details have been given outside of the Subaru-trouncing scoop's dimensions. Dodge says the scoop drops air inlet temperatures by more than 30 degrees. Where the more pedestrian Hellcat only has one air catcher headlight, both inner lights on the Demon are used to feed in air. The hood itself appears to channel air in and to the right into a new airbox that appears to be fitted with a K&N-style filter. Dodge seems intent on preventing any asthma issues with the new car. Standing in front of the car might literally take your breath away. Outside of that, the images don't show any new cryptic messages like previous teasers, or at least none that we can spot. One thing we did notice was that the engine block appears to be painted red, not orange like on the Hellcat. Doing some back and forth comparison also shows that the supercharger appears to be the same size as the current one. Of course, this is all speculative, so if you spot anything, drop a note in the comments. Related Video:

Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat #0001 raises $825,000 for charity

$60,000 doesn't strike us as a lot to pay for a muscle car with 707 horsepower on tap. $825,000... now that's a different story. But, according to the official SRT blog, that's how much one generous and eager buyer paid for the privilege of getting his (or her) hands on the very first new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat.
Decked out in Stryker Red paint that's usually reserved for the Viper, the supercharged Challenger bearing the VIN 0001 went up for auction at the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino in Las Vegas on Saturday under the auspices of Barrett-Jackson. By the time bidding ended, the gavel dropped at $825,000 - nearly 14 times the sticker price - 100 percent of which will benefit Opportunity Vehicle, a charity that aids the intellectually handicapped in the Las Vegas Area.