2006 Chrysler Pacifica Touring on 2040-cars

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Preserving automotive history costs big bucks

$1.8 million is spent each year to maintain GM's fleet of 600 production and concept cars.
When at least two of the Detroit Three were on the verge of death a few years back, one of the tough questions that was asked of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler execs - outside of why execs were still taking private planes to meetings - was why each company maintained huge archives of old production and concept vehicles. GM, for example, had an 1,100-vehicle collection when talk of a federal bailout began.

Chrysler Town & Country plug-in hybrid minivan coming in 2015

Among the multitude of models that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced as part of its five-year production plan in May was a plug-in hybrid version of the Town & Country minivan for sometime in 2016. However, according to the latest pronouncement from company CEO Sergio Marchionne, that timetable may have been moved forward quite a bit.
Marchionne told Automotive News at the Paris Motor Show that the PHEV minivan would now be launching in late 2015. That strategy does seem a bit confusing, though, because the next-gen platform for the T&C isn't supposed to hit the road until sometime in 2016, according to the plan. So it's not clear whether the boss means the PHEV rides on the current chassis or if the new model is going on sale early.
The technology underpinning the new plug-in hybrid has been shrouded in mystery. However, during the five-year plan meeting, FCA claimed the model could earn fuel economy figures around 75 mpge. Chrysler previously tested a 25-unit fleet of them as part of a demonstration test in Auburn Hills, MI, in 2012, but that didn't go so well.

Ferrari to be spun off from Fiat Chrysler

The recently merged Fiat Chrysler Automobiles empire has ambitious plans for growth, and it's going to need some big bucks in its coffers in order to enact them. Part of that cash injection is coming from the floating of its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, but now FCA has announced a further capital campaign to be based on the enormous asset that is Ferrari.
FCA's board of directors has just approved the separation of Ferrari from the rest of the group as a separate entity. Once that separation is complete, Ferrari will put 10 percent of its shares on the stock market "in the United States and possibly a European exchange" as well.
This isn't the first time that the idea of a Ferrari IPO has been raised. Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Chrysler, Fiat and Ferrari (pictured above), first raised the idea four years ago. Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo nixed the idea, but now that he's been discharged, it appears there's nothing to get in the way of Marchionne's desires.