2012 Chrysler 200 Limited on 2040-cars

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Volkswagen Routan dead one last time

Volkswagen halted production of the Routan minivan in late 2012 due to low sales volume, but there were reports swirling around that it would live on and continue production alongside the closely related Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan. But now VW says that it will indeed stop Routan production for good, The Detroit Bureau reports.
As of our report in March, VW hadn't built a single Routan in 2013, and we can't imagine things have gotten much better for the minivan since then. The Detroit Bureau reports that VW produced some 2014 Routans, but they aren't for sale to the public - they are fleet-only affairs.
VW originally intended to sell between 45,000 and 50,000 Routans per year, but since it was introduced for the 2009 model year, annual sales of the minivan have averaged only 11,500 units. VW has sold 57,683 Routans total.

Chrysler called out over lackluster Ram Runner by racer who helped develop it

Fans of off-roading and desert blasting might recall that Chrysler offers an aftermarket conversion that can turn a Ram 1500 into a road-legal desert racer, called the Ram Runner. The kit, sold through Mopar, includes some significant suspension upgrades, body tweaks and a brawnier cat-back exhaust for the truck's 5.7-liter V8.
Considering all of this, comparisons with the almighty Ford F-150 SVT Raptor are common. Among the off-road community, that makes these two a sort of Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang for people that prefer driving on dirt. In the Race-Dezert forum, the discussion as to which truck was better was proceeding as normal - Ram fans said their piece and Ford fans said theirs. Then, a man named Kent Kroeker offered up his two cents.
See, Kroeker is a Baja racer, and the man that helped develop the Ram Runner. Despite his association with the truck, though, he had some less than kind words for Chrysler and the Ram Runner.

Fiat to list on New York Stock Exchange?

Citing the ever-nebulous "two sources close to Fiat," Reuters is reporting that the Italian automaker and owner of the Chrysler brand is likely to list itself on the New York Stock Exchange. The move could reportedly happen as soon as 2015, marking the end, at least in the minds of investors, of Fiat's 115-year base in Turin, Italy.
The Italian government is not likely to react favorably to Fiat's potential move from Italy to the United States, despite initially positive reactions to Fiat's landmark final purchase of Chrysler, the third-largest automaker in the US. Fiat spent $3.65 billion to buy out the 41.46-percent stake in Chrysler that had been owned by the United Auto Workers' VEBA trust fund.
With little sign of a swift European recovery, Fiat has little choice but to focus on markets outside its traditional home, and a listing in New York could potentially be a boon for investors. According to International Strategy and Investment analyst George Galliers, speaking to Reuters, "People [would be] more likely to think of the entity in the same context as they do Ford and GM" if it were listed on the NYSE.