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Chrysler Pacifica-based crossover SUV coming soon

Chrysler is finally going to get another vehicle to support its minuscule lineup. According to Motor Trend, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said that the company has a three-row crossover based on Chrysler's Pacifica minivan ready to go in as little as 18 months. Moving past the irony that Chrysler repurposed the old Pacifica crossover's name for a minivan, only for that very van to yield a new crossover, this is a vital vehicle for Chrysler that offers some interesting possibilities. Firstly, as we just mentioned, Chrysler hardly has anything in its lineup right now. With the departure of the 200, it was left with the 300 and the Pacifica. Both are perfectly fine machines, and we especially like the Pacifica, but they didn't leave the brand with much breadth for people who wanted something that wasn't a large sedan or a minivan. Both of those segments are giving up market share to crossovers, so a Pacifica-based crossover, one with three rows, will be beneficial beyond just offering another model, but also offering one that is more broadly popular, especially as more companies including Subaru and Volkswagen expand into the large three-row segment. The Pacifica platform also offers some unique opportunities for this upcoming Chrysler crossover. Using such a space-efficient starting point could give this Chrysler class-leading passenger and cargo space. Most interesting to consider, though, is the possibility of a plug-in hybrid. With the heavy lifting done during the Pacifica's development, it shouldn't be too difficult to adapt the PHEV powertrain to the new crossover. Shockingly, plug-in crossovers have only been tried by luxury brands and Mitsubishi, the latter with the Outlander PHEV. So this Chrysler could be in a class of its own by offering a larger PHEV than Outlander, but at a better price than the luxury automakers. As such, we're quite interested to see how this crossover turns out. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Work at a Chrysler dealership, get free college education

The cost of a college education in the US can put a student tens (hundreds, in some cases) of thousands of dollars into debt. FCA US wants to give its dealership employees a leg up, though, and the automaker is now offering a completely free education to them through a partnership with Strayer University. The workers can take any of the college's classes online or on campus through program called Degrees@Work. Currently, the offer is only available to employees Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Fiat dealers in the automaker's Southeast region, which includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. However, a national expansion will happen before the end of the year, Strayer spokesperson Cristina Henley tells Autoblog. The program will cover all of the students' expenses, including their books, according to Henley. FCA US sees this partnership as a way to improve the talent of its workforce, retain employees longer and possibly attract people wanting to take advantage of this free education. "Many of our dealers have expressed concern over the availability of talent to fill open positions due to business growth and turnover in their stores, especially in metro markets," Al Gardner, the company's Head of Dealer Network Development, said in the Degrees@Work announcement. Strayer has about 40 programs available, including in business administration, accounting, marketing, and more, and the university offers associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees. It will also give FCA US employees credit for their work experience to get them a diploma even more quickly. FCA US Dealers to Offer Employees No-Cost, No-Debt College Education FCA US teams with Strayer University to develop first-of-its-kind dealer program Degrees@Work program open to all employees of participating dealerships Employees can earn no-cost, no-debt degree through Strayer University All Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge, Ram and FIAT dealerships may participate First phase of program rollout begins with dealers in the FCA US Southeast Business Center National rollout expected later this year May 4, 2015 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Employees of Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge, Ram and FIAT dealerships will have the unique opportunity to earn a no-cost, no-debt college degree through Strayer University's Degrees@Work program, developed in collaboration with FCA US LLC. FCA US is the only company in the automotive industry to offer the program.

10 automakers shack up in Detroit hotel to talk Takata airbags

Since Takata has decided not to take the lead concerning potential issues with its airbag inflators, the automakers have. Perhaps that's unsurprising, since it's the automakers, not Takata, that will take a beating on the dealership floor if consumers decide its models are a health hazards. The Detroit News reports that Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Subaru met in a hotel conference room near the Detroit Metropolitan Airport last week to sort out a way to understand the technical issues involved. So far, faulty airbag inflators have been ruled the cause of five deaths and 50 injuries around the world, but neither Takata nor investigators understands exactly why the inflators are malfunctioning. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently asked Takata to issue a national recall, Takata declined, citing a minuscule failure rate and the fact that it's still investigating the issue. Toyota and Honda then made an industry-wide appeal for "a coordinated, comprehensive testing program" that would pinpoint the problem inflators and get them replaced, and that's what the Detroit meeting was about. Numerous issues, however, will make this a long row to hoe: simply getting the parts to replace the nearly 20 million inflators in cars recalled around the world so far - even working with other suppliers - will take a years, but more importantly, no one knows if the replacement inflators currently being installed will suffer the same issue. Answers will hopefully come quickly with Takata, the ten automakers and NHTSA all independently investigating the problem.