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FCA goes all-in on Jeep and Ram brands on cheap gas bet

It's no surprise that as SUV and truck sales remain strong in the wake of unusually cheap gas, Jeep and Ram sales are taking off. What is a surprise is that FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne thinks that cheap gas will be a "permanent condition," and feels strongly enough about it to change up North American manufacturing plans. Jeep appears to be the biggest beneficiary of the product realignment. In addition to increasing the sales estimates for the brand worldwide upwards to 2 million units a year by 2018, the brand will get a flood of investment for new product and powertrains. Consider the Wrangler Pickup to be part of the salvo, as well as the Grand Wagoneer three-row announced in 2014 as part of the original five-year plan. The Wrangler four-door will get at least two new powertrains, a diesel and mild hybrid version, in its next generation. That mild hybrid powertrain may utilize a 48-volt electrical system like the one that's being developed by Delphi and Bosch – which the suppliers think will be worth a 10 to 15 percent fuel economy gain at a minimum. Down the road, in the 2020s, the Wrangler could adopt a full hybrid system. The diesel powertrain is planned for 2019 or 2020. The Ram 1500 is also pegged to receive a mild hybrid system, again potentially based on 48-volt architecture, sometime after 2020. Lastly, Jeep and Ram will take over some of the production capacity of existing plants. The Sterling Heights, MI, plant that builds the Chrysler 200 will now build the Ram 1500; the Belvidere, IL, facility that produces the Dodge Dart will take over Cherokee output; the big Jeep facility in Toledo, OH, will be used for increased Wrangler demand. In 2015, according to FCA's numbers, car and van demand went down by 10 percent, but SUV demand went up 8 percent and truck demand 2 percent. Considering that these are high-margin vehicles, FCA can't ignore the math. FCA also won't build any new factories to supplement production to meet demand, but instead are reshuffling production priorities. Think of it this way: FCA is gambling on cheap gas being a permanent part of our lives, at least into the 2020s. By doubling down on SUVs and trucks, the company stands to win big, unless a spike in gas prices changes the landscape. FCA isn't talking about a Plan B, so they're all in. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Macron and Le Pen decry 'shocking' Stellantis CEO pay

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron and his far-right challenger in the French presidential vote, Marine Le Pen, on Friday both decried as “shocking” the multimillion euro payout to the CEO of carmaker Stellantis. Stellantis CEO Carlos TavaresÂ’ remuneration package of 19.15 million euros just a year after the company was formed became an issue as Macron and Le Pen campaigned ahead of the April 24 runoff vote. Polls show purchasing power and inflation are a top voter concern. Stellantis was formed last year through the merger of PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Centrist President Emmanuel Macron, perceived by many voters as being too pro-business, called the pay package “astronomical” and pushed for a Europe-wide effort to set ceilings on “abusive” executive pay. “ItÂ’s shocking, itÂ’s excessive,” he said Friday on broadcaster France-Info. “People canÂ’t have problems with purchasing power, difficulties, the anguish theyÂ’re living with, and see these sums. Otherwise, society will explode.” Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who enjoys support from many working-class voters, called for bringing in more workers as shareholders. “Of course itÂ’s shocking, and itÂ’s even more shocking when it is the CEOs who have pushed their society into difficulty,” she said Friday on BFM television. “One of the ways to diminish this pay, which is often out of proportion with economic life, is perhaps to allow workers in as shareholders.” Stellantis continued to back the package despite a 52.1% to 47.9% vote rejecting it at an annual shareholders' meeting chaired from the Netherlands, where the company is legally based, on Wednesday. The company, citing Dutch civil code, noted that the vote is advisory and not binding. The company later said in a statement that it took note of the vote, and will explain in an upcoming 2022 remuneration report “how this vote has been taken into account.” In the 2021 report, the company identified peer group companies that it used as a salary benchmark, including U.S. companies like Boeing, Exxon Mobile, General Electric as well as carmakers Ford and General Motors. Stellantis, whose brands include Peugeot, Fiat, Jeep, Opel and Maserati, reported net profits last year had tripled to 13.4 billion euros ($15.2 billion). The French government is the third-largest shareholder in Stellantis, with a 6.15% stake through the Bpifrance Participations S.A. French public investment bank.

Inner Demon revealed: 840 hp and other jaw-dropping details

After months of teasers, rumors, cryptic messages, and veiled hints, the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is finally here, and it's as wonderfully insane as we hoped it would be. Finally we know the facts and figures that Dodge has been hinting at for so long. 840 horsepower. 770 lb-ft of torque. 2.3 seconds to 60 mph. A quarter-mile run of 9.65 @ 140 mph. While pricing hasn't been announced, Dodge is trying to keep it under $100,000. That horsepower figure makes this the most powerful production V8 ever. With those 0-60 and quarter-mile times, it's also NHRA certified as the quickest production car ever. Someone with the means needs to line a Demon up against a Tesla Model S P100D. All that power and all of the Demon's trick launching software and hardware will throw a driver back against their seat with 1.8 Gs. Drivers will be seeing a bit of sky, as the Demon is the first production car to pull a wheelie from a dead stop. Yes, this is all totally and 100 percent street legal. View 48 Photos In order to make all this power, the red-painted supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8 has been significantly improved over the Hellcat. It's equipped with a larger 2.7-liter supercharger that turns the boost up to 14.5 psi, redlines at 6,500, and has what Dodge is calling SRT Power Chiller, a system that uses the air conditioning to cool the air coming in through the new Air Grabber hood scoop. In order to keep your engine running time and time again, there is an after-run cooler than cools the supercharger after the car is shut off. The pistons and connecting rods have been strengthened to deal with the higher load. In order to feed enough juice into the engine, the Demon uses dual fuel pumps. We assume that a decent EPA rating wasn't on the top of the engineer's list. Oh, and the Demon can run on 100-octane with the press of a button. With the traditional SRT black and red keys, the Demon actually has three horsepower ratings: 500 with the black key, 808 with the red key, and the full 840 with the red key and 100-octane fuel. Don't worry, even if you have the black key, the Demon will drop the 1/4 mile in 11.59 seconds, still quicker than almost anything around. Most of the rest you already know from the seemingly endless teasers. The Demon wears lightweight wheels with sticky 315/40R18 Nitto drag radials at all four corners.