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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.

Autoblog Minute: FCA unveils 4x4 all-weather drive cell

It's winter time any time at the FCA Tech Center as FCA unveils an all-weather 4x4 drive cell. Autoblog's Mylencia Gillenwaters and Eddie Sabatini report on this edition of Autoblog Minute. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] It's winter time any time at the Chrysler Technical Center as FCA unveils a new all-weather 4x4 test site. I'm Mylencia Gillenwaters and this is your Autoblog Minute. FCA calls it their first 4x4 in drive dyno cell, with rain and snow testing capabilities. We sent Autoblog's Eddie Sabatini to Auburn Hills for a closer look at the $2.5-million investment: [00:00:30] [EDDIE SABATINI INTERVIEW] This 4x4 dyno adds to the FCA's already impressive 5.4-million square-foot research and development center. The Tech Center features some 14,000 employees, an aerodynamic test facility, and [00:01:00] hundreds of test sites that run 24/7. Truly making it an auto engineer's dream. For Autoblog, I'm Mylencia Gillenwaters. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals. Chrysler Technology Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video engineering 4x4 research and development

China-FCA merger could be a win-win for everyone but politicians

NEW YORK — Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne has said the car industry needs to come together, cut costs and stop incinerating capital. So far, his words have mostly fallen on deaf ears among competitors in Europe and North America. But it appears Marchionne has finally found a receptive audience — in China. FCA shares soared Monday after trade publication Automotive News reported the $18 billion Italian-American conglomerate controlled by the Agnelli family rebuffed a takeover from an unidentified carmaker from the Chinese mainland. As ugly as the politics of such a combination may appear at first blush, a transaction could stack up industrially, and perhaps even financially. A Sino-U.S.-European merger would create the first truly global auto group. That could push consolidation to the next level elsewhere. Moreover, China is the world's top market for the SUVs that Jeep effectively invented, so it might benefit FCA financially. A combo would certainly help upgrade the domestic manufacturer; Chinese carmakers have gotten better at making cars, but struggle to build global brands, and they need to develop export markets. Though frivolous overseas shopping excursions by Chinese enterprises are being reined in by Beijing, acquisitions that support the modernization and transformation of strategic industries still receive support, and the government considers the automotive industry to be strategic. A purchase of FCA by Guangzhou Automobile, Great Wall or Dongfeng Motors would probably get the same stamp of approval ChemChina was given for its $43 billion takeover of Syngenta. What's standing in the way? Apart from price (Automotive News said FCA's board deemed the offer insufficient) there's the not-insignificant matter of politics. Even as FCA shares soared, President Donald Trump interrupted his vacation to instruct the U.S. Trade Representative to look into whether to investigate China's trade policies on intellectual property. Seeing storied Detroit brands like Jeep, Chrysler, Ram and Dodge handed off to a Chinese company would provoke howls among Trump's economic-nationalist supporters. It might not play well in Italy, either, to see Alfa Romeo and Maserati answering to Wuhan instead of Turin — though Automotive News said they might be spun off separately. Yet, as Morgan Stanley observes, "cars don't ship across oceans easily," and political considerations increasingly demand local manufacture of valuable products.