2012 Dodge Ram 2500 Hd Laramie Crew 4x4 Diesel Nav 17k Texas Direct Auto on 2040-cars

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FCA is setting a five-year strategy: Here's how the last one played out

We're slightly more than four years removed from Sergio Marchionne last five-year plan for FCA, a tell-all where the Italian-American automaker divulged its plans for the 2014 through 2018 model years. It was a grand affair, where Sergio told FCA investors that all was right in Auburn Hills, Alfa Romeo and Maserati were making comebacks, and the fifth-gen Dodge Viper received a mid-cycle refresh. You can read every last one of those past predictions right here. We're on our way to Europe to see Sergio's sequel, coming out Friday straight from FCA's Italian headquarters. (Bloomberg reports a plan to expand Jeep and Ram globally, combine Alfa Romeo and Maserati into a single division for an eventual spinoff, and downsizing Fiat and Chrysler. Also, EVs.) But before we arrive in Italy and find out exactly what Marchionne has planned for 2019 through 2023 as his last act as CEO, let's take a minute to tally up the results of his last term based on the same scoresheet we used in 2014. Now, we're only five months into 2018, so much of this — including vehicles like the Ram HD and Jeep Grand Wagoneer — could still debut this year. For those, we'll mark things TBD. We're not going to draw any conclusions or make any objectionable remarks. We're simply going to let the stats speak for themselves.

I sold my Viper, but the memories I'll keep

The following is written by auto industry veteran Tow Kowaleski. The words are his own, but the memories now belong to everyone thanks to his willingness to share. If you're an industry veteran with a story to share, contact us at tipsATautoblogDOTcom.
It became the flame that started the fire of belief in the next life of Chrysler.
I just sold a car. Nothing new. Millions do it every day. But my car was a 1995 Dodge Viper, so maybe it was a bit more unique since just 12,000 were built. And like others selling a car that's been a part of the family for close to 20 years, this was a confluence of emotions for me. I was sad to see it go, but happy to have the cash and one less big, shiny, under-utilized object in my life.

Gauging reaction to the 2015 Dodge Charger Pursuit on Detroit highways

Steven Ewing and I kind of pretended to be cops a few weeks ago. No, not in the illegal way; we just took turns driving the 2015 Dodge Charger Pursuit around Detroit and its suburbs, learning invaluable life lessons along the way. A lot of those lessons came in the form of weird reactions from other drivers. Steve peeved his neighbors by surprising them in the parking lot, I can damn close to sitting in jail next to a murderer and we both caught our fair share of evil-eyed glances. One of my very first observations was a pronounced "bubble effect" when driving in traffic on the highway. Attempting to recreate the effect for the video camera, I grabbed Senior Producer Chris McGraw and we went for a ride in the name of pseudo psychology. The results weren't exactly as we'd predicted, but we had fun all the same. Get one more dose of your cop car fix, above.