Chrysler Group's New SRT8 Video Works Visually but not Aurally

We all like watching powerful cars drifting slideways and burning rubber and fortunately, we get plenty of that in the Chrysler Group's new SRT video starring the 2012MY SRT8 versions of the Chrysler 300, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Challenger and Charger.

But (there's always a but, isn't there?) while there's no doubt that the clip is visually stimulating, it completely misses the point when it comes to making our ears happy. Watch the video after the break and you'll see/hear what we mean.

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Mopar Builds Dodge Durango Tow Hook Concept for SEMA Show

The annual Specialty Equipment Market Association show opens its doors next week and Dodge will be there with several proposals including this Durango concept named Tow Hook that was designed by Mopar Underground.

The most striking feature of the Durango Tow Hook is the muscle-car inspired color scheme that combines a four-coat orange paint work for the body with satin-black roof, fascia accents and hood graphics, plus blacked-out 22-inch forged alloy wheels paired with Pirelli tires.

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SEMA Preview: Dodge Readies Hardcore Challenger SRT8 ACR

Inspired by the now-discontinued Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR that recently posted a new record lap time of 7:12.13 at the Nürburgring Nordschleife track in Germany, Chrysler Group’s Mopar Underground team decided to apply a similar treatment to the latest Challenger SRT8 392 and bring it to the upcoming 2011 SEMA Show.

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Ya Don't Say: New Dodge Viper Debut at…Rides and Smiles Rumor Debunked

We had no intention of reporting on the somewhat far-fetched rumor about the 2013 Dodge Viper making its world premiere during a…charity event called "Rides and Smiles" at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, but since Mr. Matt Hardigree from Jalopnik took another stab at you know auto-what called a Dodge spokesperson to see what was going on, here we are.

And yes, as you may have already figured out, the Dodge PR said it ain't happening. For the record, the rumor surfaced in the form of a report that appeared on TopSpeed and which cited a page on SAMA (Southern Automotive Media Association) talking about the…2009 Rides N' Smiles event as the source.

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Chrysler Invests $165 Million in Michigan Assembly Plant

Chrysler announced today that it will invest $165 million in its Sterling Heights, Michigan plant to add a new state of the art, one million square-foot body shop.

Last December, the Detroit carmaker had also revealed that it would invest close to $850 million in the plant’s new paint shop and stamping facilities in Sterling Heights and Warren. The latest investment ups Chrysler’s total investments in its US factories to $3.5 billion since June of 2009 .

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Change of Plans for Chrysler Group, will Eliminate Duplicate Models, Hints at U.S. Market Delta

The product plan brewing continues over at the Fiat Group – Chrysler LLC alliance. Following the recent news on the Jeep and Alfa Romeo brands, the group's CEO Sergio Marchionne offered new details on Chrysler LLC's strategy.

In an interview with Automotive News, Marchionne said that the company has revised its Project Genesis plan, which was put in place in 2008 when Chrysler was still under the ownership of Cerberus Capital Management.

The two key elements of the Genesis plan are merging the dealerships of all four Chrysler group brands, including Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram under one roof, (with only a few exceptions), and abolishing duplicate products that are the result of badge-engineering such as the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger, and the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan.

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Singapore Company Selling Off 150 Brand-New 1997 Chrysler Neons

To answer your first question, no, we do not know how a Singapore based company got a hold of 150 allegedly brand-new 1997 Chrysler Neon sedans with zero mileage.

The ad along with a single picture showing some of the Neon cars covered in layers and layers of dust was posted by Arete Trading Pte Ltd. on Alibaba, which is an Asian online marketplace.

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Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale: Zagato's Italian Flavored Dodge Viper ACR on Film

Over the past few months, Zagato's limited production run Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale has made several public appearances including a pass from the Concours d'Elegance Uniques Special Ones event in Florence, Italy, this past September, just before the Frankfurt Motor Show.

If you follow the break, you can get a closer look at Zagato's unique creation from the motor show events as well as on the road.

As a reminder, the Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale is a road-going follow-up to the 2010 TZ3 Corsa racing car study. But while the one-off TZ3 Corsa was built on the Alfa Romeo 8C, Zagato chose to use the Dodge Viper ACR as a base for the TZ3 Stradale.

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Former Chrysler CEO Nardelli Says Cerberus Could Have Saved the Automaker

It's been two years since Bob Nardelli stepped down as Chrysler CEO while the company was still owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, for which he still works, but the 63-year-old exec still has the hots for the Detroit carmaker.

During an interview with The Detroit News on the sidelines of a recent Dow Jones conference in New York, Nardelli said that the Obama administration didn’t have to give Chrysler away to Fiat as he believes Cerberus could have done a better job of saving the automaker.

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Dodge Unleashes Video of Viper SRT10 ACR Reclaiming Position from Lexus LFA at the 'Ring with 7:12.13

A couple of weeks ago, Dodge brought its street-legal, but now discontinued, 2010 Viper SRT10 ACR to the Nürburgring racetrack to set the record straight – literally.

In 2008, while the sports car was still in production, the Viper SRT10 ACR turned the 'Ring in 7:22.10, which at the time made it the fifth fastest production car in the world, according to the figures listed on Wikipedia.

Since then, however, many production vehicles posted better times including the Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition with 7:14.64 on August 31, 2011, which placed it in fourth position behind the Radical SR8 LM (6:48), Radical SR8 (6:55) and the Gumpert Apollo Sport (7:11.57).

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2012 Dodge Charger Pursuit Records Fastest-Ever Lap Time at Michigan Evaluation Test

The ongoing bragging war among Detroit's big three and their newly launched police vehicles continues without an end in sight.

Today, the Chrysler Group announced that the 2012 Dodge Charger Pursuit V8 with 370HP set the fastest lap time ever reordered at Michigan State Police’s (MSP) annual Police Vehicle Evaluation tests earlier this week at the Grattan Raceway in Belding, at 1:33.70.

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Dodge Mulling Super Durango SRT8 with 465HP Hemi V8

Chrysler already a high-performance SUV in its arsenal, namely the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 that comes fitted with a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 pushing out 465 HP and 630 Nm (465 lb-ft) of torque and which can complete the quarter mile sprint in the mid-13 seconds range.

But now, the Detroit carmaker it also considering giving the Durango the SRT8 treatment in 2013. This would be an easy task, since both models are based on the same platform.

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Chrysler Slows Down Production Due to a Lack of Carpets

A lack of carpets after one of Chrysler’s suppliers on the East Coast was hit by the tropical storm Lee has forced the automaker to slow down production and cancel shifts this week at three of its plants.

The carpeting shortage has hampered production at the Sterling Heights Assembly in Michigan, Toledo North in Ohio and Brampton Assembly in Ontario.

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Double Standards, or how (Not) to Sell Cars to Women

In the 1950s, products for women were no doubt designed and marketed by men. Take for example the 1955 Dodge Le Femme, a truly absurd car (by today’s standards) that came with a matching purse, raincoat and umbrella as well as a bright pint interior with rose-patterned trim.

It’s the equivalent of offering a car today with a…tampon dispenser in the glovebox.

Across the pond there was the Daimler 104 Ladies’ Model with electric windows, a simplified gear change (no, I did not make that up), an umbrella and a vanity case under the dashboard.

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D'oh! Ferrari 458 Italia Driver Starts Drag Race with Dodge Viper in…Reverse!

Before you watch the following video, take a minute to ponder this: You are sitting behind the steering wheel of an exotic, brand new Italian supercar, getting ready to drag race a V10-powered Dodge Viper on the quarter mile strip in front of a crowd of 100, or perhaps even more people. But when the race begins you start rolling backwards…

Oh yes, that’s right; the owner of the Ferrari 458 Italia that you’re about to see in the clip and who was pitted against a Dodge Viper at the ICAR motorsports complex situated just outside of Montreal in Canada, paddle shifted his car’s dual clutch auto transmission into reverse!

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Chrysler Announces Prices on New 2012 SRT8 Models Including the 300, Charger, Grand Cherokee and Challenger

The Chrysler Group’s newly formed Street and Racing Technology (SRT) brand has released pricing on its latest crop of models, which include the 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8, the 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8, the 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 and the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.

Prices together with an $825 destination fee start at $47,995 for the Chrysler 300 SRT8, $46,660 for the Dodge Charger SRT8, $44,077 for the Challenger SRT8 and $55,295 for the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.

All four SRT8 models are powered by the Chrysler Group’s new 6.4-liter HEMI V8 with Fuel Saver Technology that cranks out 470 horsepower (351kW) and 470 lb-ft (637Nm) of peak torque (465 lb.-ft. / 630 Nm in the Grand Cherokee SRT8).

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Report: New Alfa Romeo-Derived / U.S. Made Dodge Compact Sedan to Debut at 2012 Detroit Show

A new U.S. market compact sedan to be developed by Fiat and built by Chrysler is set to make its debut appearance at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit in the beginning of next year, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The as-of-yet unnamed model will be badged as Dodge and powered by a Fiat-derived 1.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engine. It’ll also do 40 mpg combined, or at least it will if Fiat wants to net itself a further 5% of Chrysler from Mr. Monopoly Uncle Sam.

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Ford and Dodge Flop, Lexus and Honda Top JD Power’s 2011 U.S. Initial Quality Study

The results are in for JD Power’s latest 2011 U.S. Initial Quality study that looks at the first 90 days of ownership and the news is not good for Ford Motor Company. The Dearborn-based company tumbled from fifth place and highest-ranking non-luxury automaker last year to 23rd in 2011 with 116 problems per 100 vehicles. Analysts claim that Ford’s freefall is due to complaints related to the company’s onboard MyFord Touch infotainment systems.

Even worse, Dodge was placed last in the list with 137 problems per 100 cars. Scion, MINI, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi and Suzuki didn’t fare well either occupying the last places in the study.

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Multiple 2011MY Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep Vehicles Recalled to Fix Steering Columns

A dozen vehicles from the three core Chrysler brands covering more than half of the company’s 2011 models are being recalled in the United States to fix a potential problem with the steering column.

The recall covers 11,351 vehicles and affects certain 2011 model year Dodge Journey crossovers, Jeep Wranglers, Chrysler 200s, Chrysler 200 Convertibles, Dodge Avengers, Dodge Nitros, Jeep Liberty SUVs, Dodge Calibers, Jeep Compass crossovers, Jeep Patriots, Dodge Grand Caravans and Chrysler Town & Country minivans.

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Chrysler’s SRT Team Teases…Next Dodge Viper SRT10 on Facebook

In a very…tongue-in-cheek move, Chrysler’s newly formed Street and Racing Technology (SRT) brand responded to fans asking them on various social media sites what future products are in development by posting this…revealing sketch on its dedicated Facebook page. Here is what Chrysler’s SRT team wrote:

“Like many of you, Twitter user @DaveOrrSales asked for a taste of what's to come at SRT. We dodged death to sneak you this top-secret photo. That's all you get, crew.”

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