2002 Chrysler Pt Cruiser Touring Wagon 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Renault wants to merge with Nissan, then go after Fiat Chrysler

The late Sergio Marchionne used to say consolidation would be the only way to compete against the biggest global carmakers. The company looks certain to fulfill that goal, but perhaps not in the way he intended. The Financial Times reports that Renault wants to begin merger talks with Nissan in the next 12 months. Assuming a merger gets completed, the plan is for the combined company to then pursue another merger, with Fiat Chrysler a prime target. Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi have been busy since cutting ties with ex-alliance boss Carlos Ghosn. They formed a new alliance board with Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard at the helm, Renault has shrunk the size of its board while Nissan added more outside directors, and the two agreed to a new governance structure to ease operational decision making. All three automakers have walked away from Ghosn-era goals to sell 14 million cars and find 10 billion euros in savings by 2022. New strategic plans for all three car companies are in the works. With stability in sight, it's said Senard wants to succeed where Ghosn failed — a full-fledged merger between Renault and Nissan with talks to begin "as soon as possible." Ghosn's pursuit of a merger last year in attempt to make the 20-year-old alliance "irreversible" is part of what led to his downfall, with Nissan executives including CEO Hiroto Saikawa against the push. The new effort is presented as larger scale being the only way for the alliance to take on companies like Volkswagen and Toyota. But the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi trio sold 10.76 million cars around the world last year, second to Volkswagen with 10.83 million sales, ahead of Toyota with 10.39 million. If Nissan hadn't suffered a 2.8 percent dip in sales, the alliance would have taken the top spot. If a little scale is good that means more is better, right? Pulling Fiat Chrysler into the alliance would add around 5 million annual sales, and would be another move in Ghosn's footsteps. The former honcho is said to have "held talks with FCA" about some kind of union within the past three years. The French government, which has a 15 percent stake in Renault and double voting rights, shut down the initiative. It's not clear if FCA will be an independent company by the time a potential Nissan-Renault merger closed, though.

2017 Chrysler Model Year Preview and Updates

FCA's now-iconic minivan is all-new. The 'Town & Country' tag is out, a resurrected CHRYSLER PACIFICA tag is in, and both the design and content are transformational – at least in the context of a minivan available in North America. And for those looking to both capacity and efficiency, Chrysler now offers a plug-in Pacifica hybrid with 30+ miles of all-electric range. While all Pacifica trims represent good value, with federal tax credits the Pacifica Plug-In is great value. 200: In 2017 Chrysler offers a 200 with both a new Dark Appearance package and an Alloy Edition. The 'Alloy' offers a sport-tuned suspension in combination with an all-wheel-drive system featuring a 'sport' mode for better all-season traction. And then, of course, Chrysler discontinued the 200, citing a lack of all-season sales traction. 300: The venerable (translation: 'old') 300 continues the long run with fourth-generation Uconnect, along with the addition of both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Beyond that, it's a new year with new colors, trims and packaging. And while the platform may be showing its age, it remains a compelling option for those wanting upmarket content at a reasonably accessible ($30K to $40K) price point.

Stellantis launching at least 25 EVs for America by 2030

Stellantis has announced a wide-ranging plan for the company through 2030 covering everything from product to financials. The product plans are what really caught our attention, particularly for the surprise reveal of the first electric Jeep, as well as new teasers of the electric Ram 1500. But the company also provided more broad details on what we'll be seeing in the future including both electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. All of the plans are in service of the Stellantis goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2038. On that way, it plans for all European vehicle sales and half of all American sales to be electric by 2030. It will launch 75 new electric vehicles by that year, and at least 25 of them will be coming to the U.S. The first of those electric cars will be the aforementioned Jeep in 2023, but many Stellantis models will follow close behind. The electric Ram ProMaster will launch in 2023 as well. In 2024, we'll see the electric Ram (and its plug-in hybrid counterpart), two more Jeeps (an off-road model and a family-oriented model) and the Dodge electric muscle car. We'll get a preview of the Dodge with a concept this year. Then in 2025, Chrysler will launch its electric car, likely based on the Airflow concept. Stellantis has previously announced Chrysler will be fully electric by 2028, and it further announced that Alfa Romeo and Maserati will be fully electric by 2030. Stellantis is also working on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, mainly for commercial use. For the U.S., it plans on offering a large, ProMaster-size hydrogen van in 2025. That year or a little later, it also has plans for a hydrogen heavy-duty pickup truck, presumably Ram 2500 and 3500. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares noted that among the benefits of hydrogen for large and commercial vehicles is being able to avoid compromising payload capacity, since hydrogen powertrains are lighter than giant batteries. Hydrogen filling times are quick relative to charging, too. The company will continue working on and offering advanced driver aids. This year it will offer hands-free cruise control like GM's Super Cruise and Ford's BlueCruise. In 2024, the company intends to introduce a system that is hands-free and won't require the driver to be watching it the entire time. The technology is being developed alongside BMW. These are, of course, broad plans, and they could change as time goes on. Expect more details as we get closer to individual product releases.