1961 Chrysler 300 Series on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Junkyard Gem: 2001 Plymouth Neon

Chrysler's Plymouth brand was created in 1928 (and named after a brand of twine favored by farmers), in order to compete against Ford and Chevrolet for entry-level car shoppers. Plymouth stayed in third place in the US-market new-car sales hit parade for most of the years through the early 1950s and remained a strong (if gradually shrinking) player for decades after that. By the 1990s, though, it was tough to distinguish Plymouths from Dodges and DaimlerChrysler announced in late 1999 that the Plymouth Division would be getting the axe. 2001 was the last model year for Plymouth, with just one kind of vehicle sold for that year: the Neon. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those final Plymouths, found in a Denver self-service yard recently. In the years just before the DaimlerChrysler "merger of equals," Chrysler had attempted to make the Plymouth brand more interesting. An updated version of the old Plymouth ship emblem was created, a Plymouth-badged car on the Chrysler LH platform was planned, the PT Cruiser was going to be a Plymouth, and then there was the Prowler crypto-hot-rod. Those dreams of a revived Plymouth bit the dust once Herr Schrempp took over. The Prowler and Voyager became Chryslers, while the PT Cruiser never had even a single year of Plymouth badging. The only 2001 car sold as a Plymouth was the humble Neon. Since the very beginning of Neon production as a 1995 model, there never had been much difference between the Neons with Dodge badges and the ones with Plymouth badges, continuing the tradition of the Dodge/Plymouth Colt and Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon. Earlier generations of Plymouths (e.g., the Valiant) had been mechanically identical to their Dodge-badged siblings, but at least they looked different and had smaller price tags. In 2001, the MSRP of a base Dodge Neon was $12,715, or about $22,156 in 2023 dollars. The price of the base 2001 Plymouth Neon? $12,715. At least the Plymouth Division got two model years in which to sell the second-generation version of the Neon. The engine is the SOHC version of Chrysler's 2.0-liter straight-four, rated at 132 horsepower and 130 pound-feet. Sorry, 2001 Plymouth shoppers, your Neons didn't get the 150-horse version that Dodge Neon R/T and ACR models received that year. This car has some extra-cost goodies. There's this three-speed automatic transmission, which had a $600 cost ($1,036 in today's money). It has the $1,000 air conditioning option as well ($1,742 now).

Auto News Recap For 5.13.16 | Autoblog Minute

Senior Editor Greg Migliore recaps the week in automotive news, including a look at Hyperloop One's desert propulsion test, Chrysler 300 rumors, and Nissan's purchase of Mitsubishi. Chrysler Mitsubishi Nissan Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video hyperloop

Stellantis earnings rise along with EV sales

AMSTERDAM — Automaker Stellantis on Wednesday reported its earnings grew in 2022 from a year earlier and said its push into electric vehicles led to a jump in sales even as it faces growing competition from an industrywide shift to more climate-friendly offerings. Stellantis, formed in 2021 from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and FranceÂ’s PSA Peugeot, said net revenue of 179.6 billion euros ($191 billion) was up 18% from 2021, citing strong pricing and its mix of vehicles. It reported net profit of 16.8 billion euros, up 26% from 2021. Stellantis plans to convert all of its European sales and half of its U.S. sales to battery-electric vehicles by 2030. It said the strategy led to a 41% increase in battery EV sales in 2022, to 288,000 vehicles, compared with the year earlier. The company has “demonstrated the effectiveness of our electrification strategy in Europe,” CEO Carlos Tavares said in a statement. “We now have the technology, the products, the raw materials and the full battery ecosystem to lead that same transformative journey in North America, starting with our first fully electric Ram vehicles from 2023 and Jeep from 2024.” The automaker is competing in an increasingly crowded field for a share of the electric vehicle market. Companies are scrambling to roll out environmentally friendly models as they look to hit goals of cutting climate-changing emissions, driven by government pressure. The transformation has gotten a boost from a U.S. law that is rolling out big subsidies for clean technology like EVs but has European governments calling out the harm that they say the funding poses to homegrown industry across the Atlantic. Stellantis' Jeep brand will start selling two fully electric SUVs in North America and another one in Europe over the next two years. It says its Ram brand will roll out an electric pickup truck this year, joining a rush of EV competitors looking to claim a piece of the full-size truck market. The company plans to bring 25 battery-electric models to the U.S. by 2030. As part of that push, it has said it would build two EV battery factories in North America. A $2.5 billion joint venture with Samsung will bring one of those facilities to Indiana, which is expected to employ up to 1,400 workers. The other factory will be in Windsor, Ontario, a collaboration with South KoreaÂ’s LG Energy Solution that aims to create about 2,500 jobs. The EV push comes amid a slowdown in U.S.