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Fiat Chrysler wins top Total Quality Award for first time

The Strategic Vision Total Quality Awards are 20 years old in 2015, and Chrysler has never topped the awards before. Until now, that is. Fiat Chrysler takes the overall award on the corporate level with six segment leaders from Fiat, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. The Fiat 500 won Small Multi-Function Car, the 500e won Small Alternative Powertrain, the Dodge Challenger tied at the top in the Specialty Coupe category alongside the very un-coupe Mini Cooper Countryman, the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited took the Entry SUV category, the Dodge Durango won in Mid-Size SUV, and Ram took the overall in Best Non-Luxury Brand. The accolade means FCA has gone from one segment winner in 2010 to overall victory in five years. Cars have gotten so good, says Strategic Vision, that it is harder than ever to win. In fact, says the group, 18 years ago 85 percent of all vehicle brands had more than half a problem per vehicle. This year, no brand has more than half a problem per vehicle. The organization measures "over 155 specific aspects of the customer's experience," and scores are based on input from more than 46,000 customers. Other notables in and near the winner's circle include Volkswagen and General Motors, who tied for second place on the corporate scale, one point behind FCA. The Mini Cooper Roadster scored the highest of any model, the Corvette Stingray Convertible and Coupe scored the second- and third-highest. The Chevrolet Colorado is the first domestic Standard Pickup winner in more than ten years, and the Nissan Titan carried the Full-Size Pickup category. The press release below has all the details on how winners and losers are selected, and the full list of automakers and how they finished. "The Customer's 'Total' Experience Defines Quality, Fiat Chrysler Scores Highest in Total Quality," says Strategic Vision The 2015 Total Quality Awards® SAN DIEGO, Friday, July 17, 2015 — Unknown to many, when some consumer research firms rank a car company's quality performance they often do so by simply "counting problems." In the past, this may have been acceptable, but in today's modern and efficient manufacturing world the difference between the worst brand and best brand is LESS than half-a-problem per vehicle. Thus, any "quality ranking" based on this method is severely lacking in the complete picture of the "Total" Quality experience that customers actually use to judge their product ownership.

Jeep pickup confirmed, will be built in Toledo

Finally. In 2011 Jeep CEO Mike Manley said, "It is too late in Wrangler's product cycle to add a pickup. The 2015 or 2016 time frame makes more sense," when the next-generation Wrangler is due. A year later, Manley told an Australian outlet that a decision on a Jeep with a bed would come "pretty soon." Now, The Detroit News reports that the decision has been made, and it's a "Yes."A Wrangler-based truck is expected to arrive in 2017, sometime after the launch of the next Wrangler. And it'll be built in Toledo next to its sibling. Those desperate for a carry-all Wrangler have been able to buy Mopar's JK8 conversion kit for the past four years. Frankly, even though the Jeep Gladiator concept (pictured) is now 11 years old and the JT concept is nine years old, we think either one of them could roll off the line in a year and be welcomed with hosannas. This year's New York Auto Show will also be the site of the reveal of the compact SUV that will slot in between the Renegade and the Cherokee, built on the Renegade/Fiat 500X platform and replacing both the Compass and Patriot. Derided by many, in the US the two aging CUVs still sell terrifically well - they both hit records here last year. One of them will live on in name, the new SUV to be called either Compass or Patriot; the former name is bigger in international markets, the latter name gets more recognition here. That show is when we'll also get Fiat Chrysler's updated five-year plan that will take us through the presumed end of CEO Sergio Marchionne's tenure at FCA. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2005 Jeep Gladiator Concept News Source: The Detroit News Jeep Truck Off-Road Vehicles jeep compass jeep patriot jeep wrangler pickup

Chrysler expecting up to 200,000 9-speed transmissions for 3 models this year

Striving for improved fuel economy, we already knew that Chrysler will begin using a nine-speed automatic transmission in some of its new products this year, but what we haven't known is that volume at which this gearbox will be used. According to Bloomberg, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has been quoted as saying that the automaker expects to sell close to 200,000 units equipped with this new transmission in 2013. Those gear-rich trannies will be spread out across three models, consisting of the redesigned Chrysler 200, the still-unnamed Jeep Liberty replacement and the Dodge Dart.
This transmission should play a pivotal role in making Chrysler vehicles more competitive in their respective segments. Just for comparison, one of the Dart's key competitors, the Toyota Corolla, still uses a four-speed automatic, and a previous report indicates that the next-generation 200 could get up to 38 miles per gallon on the highway, which is better than most non-hybrid midsize sedans on the market. Marchionne says that the new Jeep model is expected during the second quarter of this year, but there is no word as to when the new 200 or nine-speed Dart will debut, but clearly Dodge would like to have the transmission in its compact yesterday. As for that volume figure, it definitely doesn't seem out of reach since the Dart, Liberty and 200 combined for a total of more than 225,000 units in 2012.
How many more gears can we expect in future cars? Probably not many more, since the CEO of transmission-builder ZF, Stefan Sommer, previously stated that nine speeds was the "natural limit" for transmissions.