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Ward's releases 10 Best Interiors list for 2014

While we're still a ways off from the automotive awards season proper, where things like North American Car and Truck of the Year, Motor Trend's Car of the Year and Car and Driver's Ten Best are named, that doesn't mean there aren't trophies being handed out to deserving automakers. Ward's 10 Best Interiors being one of them.
As the name might imply, the magazine focuses on the very best interior treatments in the US market. Whereas some awards purposely exclude extreme, high-dollar offerings, Ward's considers them - the only requirement is that a vehicle has a "new or significantly redesigned interior."
Ward's offered up the list of winners in simple, alphabetical order, and it only seems fair to do the same:

Toledo continues fight for Jeep Wrangler production, despite mayor's death

Where will the next-generation Jeep Wrangler be built? That's an open question, but it's one that the city of Toledo, OH desperately wants to be the answer to. The city suffered a major blow, though, with the death of Mayor Michael Collins earlier this month. Collins had been the city's biggest champion during talks with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, before suffering a fatal heart attack on Feb. 6. But Collins' tragic death isn't dampening the city's desire to carry on as the home of the Wrangler. "The mayor's passing is tragic. But on Monday, when I came to work, I knew exactly what I needed to do and exactly what needed to be done," the city's director of development, Matt Sapara, told the Detroit Free Press. According to the Freep, Sapara said Toledo and the state of Ohio have delivered an outline of a development plan that would give FCA the ability to buy an extra 100 acres to expand the factory. This is to help accommodate FCA's targeted output of 300,000 to 350,000 next-generation Wranglers, up from the 240,000 the factory can make now. "Our target in the proposal is to provide a way to increase the production capacity to a number that allows Fiat Chrysler to meet its business model," Sapara told the Freep, adding that the land could be available later this summer. FCA, meanwhile, has shown a somewhat ambivalent attitude towards Toledo production, with CEO Sergio Marchionne openly discussing the pros and cons of continuing to build the Wrangler south of the Michigan border. "We are going to take a very hard look at this without ignoring what these guys have done," Marchionne told the Free Press at last month's Detroit Auto Show, adding that he'd like to keep production there, provided the cost of retooling is comparable to relocating to another facility. Related Video:

Chrysler appoints new heads of Alfa Romeo and Ram

Chrysler has announced to two key appointments to its senior leadership, both of them taking immediate effect. First up is Reid Bigland, who has been named head of the Alfa Romeo brand for North America. Bigland has served until now as head of the Ram Truck brand, a portfolio he now hands over to Robert Hegbloom, who had served until now as its director.
As a result of the appointments, both Bigland and Hegbloom will take up seats on Chrysler's NAFTA Leadership Team, and Bigland will also join the Fiat Chrysler Group Executive Council - the highest decision-making body in the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles empire.
As per Sergio Marchionne's leadership style, Bigland will continue to serve in two major capacities, maintaining his role as president and CEO of Chrysler Canada. Other senior executives who hold multiple key portfolios include Harald Wester (who serves as the group's Chief Technology Officer and also overseas Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Abarth), Olivier Francois (group Chief Marketing Officer and head of the Fiat brand) and Michael Manley (head of the Asia-Pacific region and the Jeep brand).