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Chrysler Recalls Over 566,000 Trucks, SUVs

Fiat Chrysler is recalling more than 566,000 trucks and SUVs in two recalls for malfunctioning fuel heaters that can cause fires and a software glitch can disable the electronic stability control. The recalls bring the newly merged company's total for the year to 6.4 million vehicles worldwide and 5.1 million in the U.S. as it continues to struggle with reliability problems. It was not immediately clear whether those totals were annual records. On Tuesday, its longtime quality chief abruptly left after Fiat Chrysler performed poorly in Consumer Reports magazine's annual reliability rankings. The largest of two recalls announced Wednesday covers almost 382,000 Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups and Ram 4500 and 5500 chassis cabs from 2010 through 2014. In trucks with 6.7-Liter Cummins diesel engines, corrosion on a fuel heater terminal could cause overheating, fuel leaks and fires. Chrysler is not aware of any fires or injuries. Owners could be warned by an odor of diesel fuel. Customers will be notified by letters starting in December. Dealers will install upgraded terminals and fuel heater housings could be replaced. The second recall covers more than 184,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs from 2014. A debris cover over a circuit board in the steering column control module can disrupt communications and disable the stability control. The problem was discovered when dealers started getting reports from customers that electronic stability control warning lights were coming on. Fiat Chrysler says it knows of no crashes or injuries caused by the problem. Technicians will upgrade software to fix the SUVs, and customers will be notified in December. Fiat Chrysler has issued 33 global recalls and 27 in the U.S. so far this year. Doug Betts, its longtime quality chief, left the company to pursue other options after Consumer Reports' survey-based rankings this year showed four FiatChrysler brands at the bottom of its list. Dodge, Ram, Jeep and Fiat performed worst of 28 brands ranked by the magazine. Company spokesman Eric Mayne said Fiat Chrysler's recalls average fewer than 200,000 vehicles each, below the industry average of 301,000. That means the company is responding quickly to problems, he said, adding that eight of its 27 U.S. recalls were announced before the company received any consumer complaints. Chrysler is not alone with a high number of recalls so far this year.

Sunday Drive: Spying an automotive future of performance

I spy, with my little eye ... the future of the automotive world here in the United States. That pretty much sums up this week's Sunday Drive, in which we pull out the most popular stories on Autoblog of the previous week and try to draw some sort of conclusion as to what binds them all together. This week, it's spy shots, starting with one of the biggest and baddest muscle cars the world has ever seen: the Dodge Challenger Hellcat. The Hellish coupe gets a new hood for 2019 with dual scoops, but that's about the only meaningful change for the new model year. No matter. As long as it's packing 700-plus horsepower under those two hood scoops, all will be right with the world. Moving on, we take keep the performance angle but move it from the street to the dirt with a new version of the Chevy Colorado ZR2 that we think is probably called the Bison. We think it'll keep the high-tech suspension bits of the regular ZR2, but add expedition gear that may include a snorkel and a winch. Which, if true, is pretty dang cool. Keeping the truck theme is the 2019 GMC Sierra. There's nothing particularly noteworthy about the trim level in which the truck was spied, and that's what makes this specific example interesting. Base-model trucks almost never get much attention, but they sell in droves to workers who need an honest-to-goodness truck for work or play and don't care about bells, whistles, or massive chrome badges. And finally we have the 2018 Jeep Wrangler, which is on fire on the sales floor right now. But those are all V6-powered Wranglers flying off the showroom floor. Soon, a turbocharged four-cylinder engine option will become available, and now we know that it will return up to 23 miles per gallon in the city and 25 on the highway. That makes it the most fuel efficient Wrangler that Jeep has ever sold. As always, stay tuned to Autoblog this week for all the automotive news that's fit to publish. 2019 Dodge Challenger Hellcat with twin-scoop hood spied with no camouflage Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison caught testing 2019 GMC Sierra 1500 spied in base trim level 2018 Jeep Wrangler four-cylinder fuel economy revealed Spy Photos Chevrolet Dodge GMC Jeep Truck Coupe SUV Off-Road Vehicles Performance dodge challenger srt hellcat sunday drive

2016 Dodge Charger and Challenger SRTs look juicy in Go Mango

The 2016 Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT models are ready to go with newly available Go Mango orange paint. The carrot-like shade is the latest in the brand's long line of vibrant, throwback colors like Plum Crazy purple and Sublime green. Dealers can start order the bright hue right now. Dodge originally introduced Go Mango on the 1970 Challenger and also offered the color on the 2006 Charger R/T Daytona and 2016 Dart. Now, it's available on the SRT 392 and Hellcat models. The orange shade highlights the vehicles' lines well and looks especially good with black stripes running from the front splitter to the rear bumper like in these photos. There's no way to blend into traffic in such a vibrant muscle car, so this hue is for extroverts only. Last year at the Woodward Dream Cruise, Dodge brought back Plum Crazy on most Challenger and Charger models. The deep purple is a nice enough color, but Go Mango seems like a better fit for the SRT's performance-oriented demeanor. Related Video: Go Mango: Dodge Launches Modernized Exterior Heritage Color for 2016 Challenger and Charger SRT Muscle Cars Dodge continues to answer enthusiast demand with the latest heritage-inspired exterior paint color Dealers can begin ordering Go Mango immediately on Charger and Challenger SRT models March 14, 2016 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - "Plum Crazy" purple, "B5 Blue" and "Sublime" green Dodge Charger and Challenger muscle cars have recently been streaming out of the FCA US Brampton Assembly Plant, bringing a sense of nostalgia and powerful bursts of high-impact paint color to highways and dragstrips across the country. Now, new for spring 2016 and shown for the first time this past weekend at the 11th annual Spring Festival in Irvine, Calif., Dodge is expanding its color palette with a new, modernized version of Go Mango exterior paint on 2016 Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT models. Dealers can begin ordering Go Mango immediately. Go Mango was first introduced by Dodge on the iconic 1970 Challenger. Following a limited production run in 2006 on specific Charger R/T Daytona models, and more recently featured on the 2016 Dodge Dart, the next generation of the legendary and limited-edition exterior hue combines orange and red tones into a high-impact color that showcases the legendary Dodge performance attitude.