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Mopar updates owner apps to make car ownership easier

Owners of any Fiat Chrysler vehicle will want to head to the Apple App or Google Play store to download the latest version of their brand-specific smartphone app. Developed by Mopar, the new suite of FCA Owner apps specific to each brand pack a number of valuable features. For starters, the apps let owners access information like maintenance schedules, service history and recall notices. The apps also include an array of how-to information and instructional videos, offer push notification for important updates like maintenance offers and recall alerts, and allow customers to schedule test drives and receive quotes from their local dealers for new vehicles. But that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The FCA Owner apps also feature an augmented reality function that helps drivers identify instrument-panel icons. There's a Parking Reminder feature that helps drivers remember where they parked their car, guides them back to their parking spot and tracks the time left on the meter. Finally, there's an Accident Assistant feature that helps drivers record the specifics of an accident, upload insurance information and take photos of the scene. It'll even help find the closest certified collision repair facility, schedule an appointment and access roadside assistance. The apps are available for any Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Fiat or Alfa Romeo built from 2011 till today, and are available for either iOS or Android. If you've got more than one FCA vehicle in your garage, you needn't download multiple versions of the app as they'll work on any model the Italian-American automaker offers. Mopar Enhances FCA Owner Apps - Redesigned FCA Owner apps offer a wide range of VIN-specific information - Owners can access maintenance schedules, service history, recall notices and more - "Augmented reality" function, beginning with 2015 models, allows owners to use camera feature on mobile devices to scan and identify instrument panel icons - Industry-first Accident Assistant feature helps owners easily document important accident information and quickly locate a certified repair facility - Individual brand versions of the app support all FCA brand vehicles - FCA Owner apps are free to download for both iOS and Android mobile devices May 29, 2015 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - The Mopar brand has redesigned and enhanced its suite of FCA Owner apps, putting more resources than ever at owners' fingertips with easier access to vehicle and lifestyle information.

Jeep hiring 1,000 part-time workers in Toledo on Wrangler, Cherokee demand

The new Jeep Cherokee has been quite a success for Chrysler, but its factory workers are getting tired. The automaker has agreed to hire up to 1,000 part-time, temporary employees at its Toledo Assembly Complex where the CUV and Wrangler are built. It will allow the company to keep Jeep production moving, while giving laborers a break.
According to plant manager Chuck Padden in the Toledo Blade, full-time workers are regularly taking on 60 hours a week, and it's beginning to wear on them. "To get them more time off is important to us, to make sure they're refreshed, and can work safely," said Padden.
Chrysler has already hired 380 temporary, part-time workers for the plant, and 50 have been converted to full-time employees. The company is in the process of interviewing the rest of the new hires now and plans to have all 1,000 in place by the summer. They will work between 10 and 30 hours a week mostly on weekends for $15.78 per hour with limited benefits. The temporary positions will last "as long as demand continues for the Jeep Wrangler and the Jeep Cherokee," said Jodi Tinson, Chrysler spokesperson for manufacturing and labor communications, to Autoblog in an email.

Jeep Cherokee faces on-sale delay

A report in The Wall Street Journal looks at some of the obstacles to the 2014 Jeep Cherokee that go beyond its mootable yet "very contemporary" looks, almost all of them based on Fiat's financial position. Starting with that sheetmetal, in defense of it SRT president Ralph Gilles and Jeep design head Mark Allen said they wanted to "make sure the design still looks modern five years from now."
The WSJ piece doesn't cite longevity as a factor, instead saying that its features originated in a design for an Alfa Romeo, the transformation into a Jeep design meant allowing Chrysler get it to market more quickly and save "hundreds of millions of dollars" in engineering.
The need for Fiat to save money while it weathers the European situation has cut budgets for development, engineering and the pace of retooling the Toledo, Ohio plant to build the Cherokee. In a familiar case of snowballing at work, among the effects will be pushing back the Cherokee's volume sales date and delaying updates to some of Chrysler's other products.