2008 Chrysler Pacifica Lx Automatic 4-door Wagon on 2040-cars

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Marchionne defends FCA recalls, says Wrangler won't be all-aluminum

FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne recently received the 2015 Industry Leadership Award from the SAE Foundation. While speaking with the press after the event, the boss discussed his thoughts about some key issues regarding the company's future. One of the big regulatory issues facing FCA at the moment is the upcoming public hearing by the National Highway Traffic Safety into the automaker's handling of 20 recalls. Marchionne has no intention of testifying there, according to The Detroit News. The CEO also thinks that the government regulator is becoming much more aggressive in how it handles safety campaigns, but the Feds aren't necessarily doing a very good job of communicating that. "We need to work with the agency in a very cooperative and open way to make sure that we can meet their requirements for their new stance," he said, according to the newspaper. "We have no option but to comply with their requirements and we will. I have nothing to hide in this process. I just want clear rules." Marchionne also dropped the news that the company has changed its mind about making the next Jeep Wrangler totally from aluminum. "Because of the difference in cost, not just the new material but the actual assembly process, I think we can do almost as well without doing it all-aluminum," he said to The Detroit News. This seemingly opens the door for the model to remain in production in Toledo, OH, but only just a crack. Marchionne says that the new Wrangler would still use a large amount of aluminum, and there are "at least" two sites in contention for the assembly. The company doesn't have too long to make a decision because the model reportedly launches in 2017.

Former Chrysler dealers could reopen under appeals court ruling

Years after the bankruptcies and subsequent bailouts of Chrysler (now FCA) and General Motors, the automotive industry is still seeing legal decisions about them come through the courts. The latest ruling from a US appeals court has given 4 of the 789 dealers that Chrysler closed in its Chapter 11 process one less hurdle towards reopening. Following the bankruptcy, 105 of the shuttered dealers went through an arbitration process in hopes of reopening, and 32 won their arguments. However, a victory in that undertaking didn't necessarily mean that the stores could reestablish themselves. For these three showrooms in Michigan and one in Las Vegas, state laws allowed nearby competitors from the same automaker to stand in the way of restarting, according to Automotive News. This problem brought yet another lawsuit, and a US district court found that the arbitration decisions did not overrule state laws. The latest appeals court ruling overturned that decision. However, as with many legal proceedings, the process for reopening for these dealers still isn't exactly easy. The latest decision only covers the nearby dealers' ability to protest; it doesn't mandate FCA actually to open the stores again. According to a statement from Michael Palese of FCA legal communications to Automotive News, the ruling, "did not provide for reinstatement of the dealers who prevailed in arbitration, but only gave them a right to a 'customary and usual' letter of intent." It means for these showrooms to start selling again, now they need to work things out with Chrysler's new owner.

Stellantis — seriously? Exploring the pros and cons of Chrysler’s new name

I took Wednesday off. I came in Thursday and Chrysler was renamed Stellantis. Aside from lighting Twitter on fire and drawing a lot of snarky responses from car journalists, the name is actually decent. Let’s look at it from a few angles. For starters, Chrysler, the 95-year-old automaker founded in Detroit by Walter P. Chrysler (his name still adorns everything from a major freeway in Michigan to an iconic art deco skyscraper in New York), isnÂ’t actually Chrysler. ItÂ’s FCA, which stands for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The name change actually happened in 2014, which you might have easily missed. The American unit, formerly Chrysler, is known as FCA US in some legal matters, but does not operate independently.   The Stellantis name takes effect in 2021. HereÂ’s why itÂ’s needed: Fiat Chrysler is merging with Group PSA. (Peugeot and Citroen) to form a transatlantic alliance that will be larger than even Ford. Stellantis sounds a lot better than FCA-PSA. Or PSA-FCA. You might poke fun at it, but it beats the alternatives. Or at least it could be worse. Stellantis is the name for the corporate entity that will house Chrysler, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, and oh by the way, Opel and Vauxhall, which PSA bought in 2017 when GM unloaded its European arm.  Your Jeep will not say Stellantis on the fender. Your Hemi Hellcat wonÂ’t say “powered by Stellantis” under the hood. Your Fiat 500 or Alfa Romeo Giulia will not have a script “Stellantis" crest. Speaking of that, roll call: HereÂ’s all of the brands that will be housed under the Stellantis umbrella: Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Mopar, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Abarth, Ram, Lancia, Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall. ThereÂ’s also a couple of lesser-known subsidiaries, Comau and Teksid, that sell parts. ThatÂ’s 18 brands. They have origins in Detroit, Paris, Turin, Chalton (England), Russelsheim (Germany) and several other places. All of these carmakers have deep histories. No one was going to agree on using someone elseÂ’s name. You might notice Chrysler is still in there. Chrysler as the brandname for the 300 sedan and Pacifica minivan lives on. Stellantis replaces FCA, which replaced Chrysler, as the name of the parent company. Yes, it's a little confusing. HereÂ’s more perspective. Chrysler was once owned by Cerberus, a three-headed dog that guards the gates of hell, according to mythology.