Chrysler & Ford’s Patriotic Ads Scrutinized As Misleading

Remember during the superbowl when Chrysler paid millions of dollars to essentially relate their cars to Detroit? They said Detroit used to be a broke down city but hard work and determination prevailed to make Detroit the city it is today- not unlike Chrysler. Supposedly.

The slogan ‘Imported from Detroit’ resinated quite well with everyone as a catchy play on the positive reputation that most imported car companies hold. Turns out, Chrysler really should’ve went with ‘Imported from Canada’.

A U.S consumer group has filed several complaints against Chrysler for using the imported from Detroit tagline in a Chrysler 300 commercial. Why? Well because the 300 is actually built in Brampton, Ontario alongside the Charger and Challenger.

Made in the USA chairman Joel Joeseph said, “the Chrysler 300 is assembled in Brampton, Ontario, Canada and often includes a Mexican-made engine. Last time I checked, Detroit is not in Canada. Chrysler is flat wrong to imply the Chrysler 300 is made in the United States and we have asked the FTC to order corrective advertising.”

Good point.

Chrysler responded by saying that the complaints are “completely without merit” and that they will continue using the tagline on all their products.

Ford was also named in complaints for an ad that claimed the Fusion was American, however it’s built in Mexico. They also take issue with the Edge, Flex and Lincoln MKT which are all built in Oakville.

Ford’s response is that the ad specific to the Fusion was developed by a dealer and that most dealers crate their own content.

What do you think? Is it harmless patriotism or should Chrysler and Ford pull or even correct the ads?

[CTV]

2013 Dodge Caliber To Bow At 2012 Detroit Auto Show

Since Fiat is now calling the shots at Chrysler, the brand as seen its misfortunes reverse in a big way. The result is sub-par product (see almost every model in the Chrysler/Dodge lineup) that has now been successfully refreshed to be more competitive. Unfortunately, one car that did not get a much needed make over is the Dodge Caliber. It continues to soldier on unchanged which is a big problem considering how Ford and Chevrolet have stepped up their compact segment game with the Focus and Cruze.

Well the Caliber hasn’t  been forgotten, in fact, it’s on schedule to be completely redesigned for 2013. And by redesigned, I mean it will essentially be a completely different car. The new Caliber is expected to largely be an Alfa Romeo Giulietta except styled as a a Dodge. Not a bad move at all. The new Caliber is expected to show its face at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show and go on sale in 2013. That puts its debut almost on par with Alfa Romeo’s return to Canada, which apparently has been delayed. Styling conflicts and an apparently picky CEO have been reported as they cause.

This gives Ford and Chevrolet ample time to eat up Caliber sales, however considering the rave reviews the Guilietta receives in Europe, the new Caliber could very well be worth the wait. Since it will be a completely new car, let’s hope Chrysler decides to give it a completely new name as well.

[Ward's Auto]

Fiat 500 vs. Mini Cooper Canadian Sales Numbers Are In

The Fiat 500, a relative newcomer and arguably the only true competitor to the Mini Cooper, has been for sale on our shores now for the past few months. It is also Fiat’s first model for sale in North America in decades and it takes aim squarely at the offering from Britain Germany. The Mini Cooper has been for sale in Canada for close to a decade now and has been doing well since its introduction. It’s no secret that Canadians love hatchbacks and we love micro hatchbacks even more. So the question is, who is the sales leader so far?

Well the Fiat 500 has sold 889 units. The Mini Cooper’s sales over the same period were 475. Looks like the 500 has taken an early lead. This is likely due to the hype surrounding the return of Fiat, its low starting price and the strong marketing campaigns. In fact, it’s reported that the 500′s success in North America is so important that it’s delaying (possibly indefinitely) Lancia badged Chryslers from crossing the pond.

Chrysler is heavily relying on our market specifically for the 500′s success and it looks like it’s paying off as the 500 even beat U.S 500 sales by 7 units. That doesn’t seem like all that much, but it’s extraordinarily rare that any model from any brand outsells the U.S sales.

Things are looking good so far. Will Chrysler be able to maintain those sales once the hype dies down? I’ll have to get a review of the 500 up quite soon. Getting one to drive seems to be easier said than done, however. Stay tooned.

[BMW Canada, Chrysler Canada]

Forbes Releases Top 10 Worst Vehicles on the Road

Forbes, the people obsessed with making top 10 lists about, well everything, has just released its list of the worst vehicles on the road. How do you make such a list without accusations of being biased or opinionated? Well with the way Forbes did it, they essentially compiled six studies done by Consumer Reports on the most reliable, best and worst safety, best and worst fuel efficiency, best and worst value, and highest cost of ownership. They then compiled a top 10 list made up of seven American makes, two European makes and one Japanese make.

The Cadillac Escalade embarrassingly took the top score for least value, highest cost of ownership and worst safety scores. I’ll throw in that the Escalade is probably the easiest to steal for good measure.

The Chrysler Town & Country took worst reliability and faired pretty badly for cost of ownership. The Jeep Wrangler and Liberty scored for poor reliability and fuel economy while the Dodge Nitro and Dakota shared in those honours failures as well.

Along with the Escalade, GM took some hits with the Aveo, Colorado and Tahoe Hybrid making the list. All got marks for worst reliability, high cost of ownership and worst safety results.

The two Euros to make the list were both from Mercedes-Benz. The S-class made the list for high cost of ownership and low fuel efficiency scores while the Smart Fortwo was dinged for poor reliability and value.

The lone Japanese vehicle on the list was the Nissan Titan for poor fuel efficiency, reliability and cost of ownership.

With the exception of the three imports which are low volume sellers, people still seem to not get that the above mentioned domestics don’t excel in much. Yet they still sell in large numbers. Are there just that many stupid people out there? But before anyone starts on an anti-domestic vehicle tirade, it should be noted that not a single vehicle from Ford made the list.

[Forbes]

No Lancias Coming to Canada?

With the Fiat 500 officially on sale on our shores, it’s just the first of Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne’s plan of an Italian invasion. We will see many more Fiats, the return of Alfa Romeo, and even some Lancias. Or will we?

According to reports, the idea to bring the Lancia Ypsilon (pictured above) and the Lancia Delta has been shelved. The latter was even shown off at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show badged as a Chrysler. So, what gives? Well, apparently the launch of the Ypsilon was too close for comfort to the launch of the Fiat 500. There was a fear of the Ypsilon stealing the 500′s time to shine in the spotlight and cannibalizing 500 sales.

I can buy that, but why not just stagger the launches? Why cancel the plans all together?

Plans to sell the Chrysler 200, 200 convertible, 300 and Town & Country are apparently still on, however. They will be badged as Lancias.

So, not the greatest news, but I guess we should thank our lucky stars that we’re getting any Italian cars in the first place.

[Italiaspeed]

Oh Hi: 2012 Chrysler 300S

Before you go rolling your eyes at the thought of another Chrysler product that is seemingly aimed at chrome-loving douchebags or Mafia wannabes, read the following sentence:

“No chrome . . . no wood . . . matte carbon fiber finishes . . . unique black or Radar Red leather . . . our biggest wheels, and world’s first integration of Beats by Dr. Dre audio technology – the best standard audio system period.”

That was Olivier Francois, president and CEO of the Chrysler brand describing the new 300S. Sounds pretty good so far, doesn’t it? Apparently Chrysler had been in negotiations with Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine for months trying to get a deal to get the Doc’s audio technology standard in the 300S. If you’ve ever experienced Beats by Dr. Dre, you should very much appreciate that Chrysler went through all that effort because they’re definitely worth it.

Also, the 300S isn’t just all show. You get your choice of a either a 292 horsepower V6 or the 363 horsepower Hemi V8. A performance suspension, steering mounted paddle shifters and bigger ventilated disc brakes are all standard.

Helping to set itself apart from the regular 300 and the 300 SRT-8, the 300S will get a body coloured front facia, black bezel head lights, and 20 inch wheels. The horizontal grille blades will get painted in black chrome. So yeah, I guess Chrysler can’t quite quench its chrome addiction even when they try. At least it’s black chrome though. Whatever that is.

Anyway, the 300S will slot itself as the mid-level trim in the 300 range. I must admit, this is the closest Chrysler has come to making a credible and tasteful performance sedan. Keep it up, Chrysler!

[Top Speed]

Chrysler Unleashes Latest SRT-8 Models

Chrysler’s Street and Racing Technology division is still in the game making regular Chrysler product much more interesting. How much more interesting? Well Chrysler has just revealed the new Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8 will be the fastest Jeep ever made.

The all-go Jeep will get a 6.4 litre Hemi V8 generating 465 horsepower. 0-100 will take only 4.8 seconds. That’s supercar level of performance! It even comes with steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. Keeping in line with every other automaker, Chrysler’s new V8 is also more fuel efficient despite being more powerful. It will be 13% more efficient thanks to help from cylinder deactivation technology and a new active exhaust system. 13% may not sound like a whole lot but considering the regular Grand Cherokee isn’t winning any awards for fuel efficiency in the first place, 13% is very much welcomed when you throw a Hemi in the engine bay.

However, what is probably the most impressive number is the 0.90 g skidpad rating the SRT-8 Grand Cherokee gets. During my test drive of the Grand Cherokee Laredo X, I noted that one of the downfalls was the lack of handling abilities (along with poor fuel consumption). Looks like Chrysler was able to fix the top-heaviness by incorporating a new Select-Trak system which allows the driver to choose between five suspension modes, one of which being ‘sport’ mode. I have to assume that the Grand Cherokee SRT-8 needs to be in sport mode to achieve those skid pad numbers.

Brakes weren’t ignored in the tuning process either. The Grand Cherokee SRT-8 can stop in just 116 feet from 100 km/h. Considering the weight of this thing, that’s mighty impressive.

So, it seems like there isn’t a whole lot that the Grand Cherokee SRT-8 can’t do, eh? Well, there’s one thing. It will almost certainly be somewhat useless offroad, which is blasphemy to say of any Jeep. But with a lowered ride hide, body clad add ons, massive chrome rims and performance tires, you won’t be getting too far in the mud or a rocky mountain. Still, for those crazy people that demand an SUV somehow perform like a supercar, this looks pretty good on paper. Especially considering the competition in this market is in the form of the BMW X5 M, the Mercedes-Benz ML 63 AMG, the Range Rover Supercharged and the Audi Q7 V12 TDI (which we can’t even get here in Canada). Those cost likely twice the price (although you get a lot more power, refinement and handling abilities). I don’t really get this market at all.

If you don’t get why anyone would want a performance capable SUV either, then Chrysler has another option for you. The 300 SRT-8 sedan. Click past the jump for more info and pics.

[Chrysler]

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2013 Dodge Viper Coming Next Year

Chrysler announced today that a next generation Viper will finally rear its head next year. The current Viper has been on about a billion year life cycle and was well overdue for a redesign.

Probably the biggest news is that the next generation Viper will come with stability control. It will be the first Viper ever to have it. Why has Chrysler been omitting stability control for decades? Well, they apparently wanted to market the Viper as a raw performance car. Aka real performance driver’s should be able to reign in the beast snake with pure driving skill, not electric nanies. So what changed? Well it’s likely that the new regulations coming in the next two years that forces all manufacturers put stability control as standard on all their vehicles is the culprit. Or the life saver. Depending on how you look at it. I would point out that this likely has Viper purists shouting blasphemy from the hills, but, I’m not sure if Viper purists even exist.

Other news is that the new snake will get anywhere from 600-700 horespower, likely from a V8 rather than the V10 currently offered in an effort to reduce fuel consumption.

Chrysler has set its sites  the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and Nissan GT-R as the new Viper’s main competition, and if that’s the case, they better come up with something that’s 100% better than the outgoing model because those two cars have already proven their worthiness.

[Chrysler]

Alfa Romeo’s Canadian Return Delayed?

Along with the return of Fiat, most Canadians are eagerly awaiting the return of another Italian brand: Alfa Romeo. However it seems we will have to wait a bit longer because reports are now surfacing suggesting it will be delayed. Alfa Romeo was originally slated to return to Canada in the fall of 2012.

The report is now pegging Alfa’s return sometime in 2013 citing production and styling conflicts. It seems CEO Sergio Marchionne (the man we all have to thank for bringing the brands back in the first place and for making Chrylser way less embarrassing) does not like the new styling direction of the Giulietta – the car that’s supposed to replace the ridiculous Dodge Avenger and the recently restyled (but still terrible) Chrysler Sebring (now known as the 200). This inevitably means a delay for those vehicles as well when they come to the end of their cycles.

But this doesn’t just affect us Canadians. Since the Giulietta is currently sold in Europe and Marchionne wants to make it a global car, that means Europe will have to make due a gap in the lineup until designers can come up with something that pleases their seemingly anal boss. But hey, it’s better to have a delay to make sure you come up with the best product rather than rushing it. Chrysler can speak to experience with that.

[Auto News]

Chrylser 200 Convertible Photographer Rants About Leaked Images, Attacks Car Blogs

Webb Bland is the man who was hired by Chrysler to photograph the new 200 Convertible. Bland did an excellent job (ironic considering his last name), but he is fuming because the pictures leaked ahead of the official Debut.

Bland took to his Facebook page to let loose on pretty much everyone. He blamed Chrysler for letting the photos leak so easily, specifically the “lone, misguided idiot” responsible.

But Bland also took aim at car blogs who have already posted the photos and “cropped the photos awkwardly without any back story”.

Oh hell no! Now it’s personal!

Here’s the thing, Mr. Bland. While I understand that you take your work very seriously and that you put lots of effort into your work,  you’ve obviously never dealt with the automotive industry before. Leaked pictures ahead of an official debut are as normal and as frequent as Charlie Sheen doing coke. For you to take some sort of egotistical and self centered stand, suggesting  you’re the only person this has ever happened to, is both immature and uninformed. This isn’t the art world and this isn’t the photography world. Leaked photos happen in the car world all the time.

Secondly, while I grant you the photos are well done and beautifully shot, no car enthusiast cares about the “back story” of them. All we care about is the car itself. You could have photographed the 200 Convertible amid a pile of vomit and we still only would’ve cared about the car. We don’t even notice the background 90% of the time.

Thirdly, and again, your lack of knowledge of the car world is apparent here, no one actually cares about the Chrysler 200 Convertible. We’ve already seen the 200 sedan and we can deduce from it what the convertible will look like. There are no real surprises here in terms of design. You’re lucky car blogs were even bothered to post the pictures at all. I certainly wasn’t. But the upcoming Chrysler 200 convertible is about as exciting as a prostate exam. Until Chrysler actually goes and redesigns it completely, it will still be as useless to the typical car enthusiast as the current Sebring is. To be blunt, your pictures really aren’t that important to us. The 200 convertible is the same as your last name which is also ironically hilarious.

And lastly, you got paid, didn’t you? And you got credit for the images didn’t you? Regardless of them being leaked ahead of time, Chrysler fulfilled their part of the deal. Just because it didn’t happen on your terms doesn’t mean the whole thing is ruined. And since it was their product that got leaked they should really be the ones pissed off about it, not you.

To attack car blogs for posting the leaked pics is kind of like biting the hand that feeds you. You need us to actually post your work, otherwise no one gets to see it, so I’d think twice before attacking us car bloggers next time. Just sayin’.

Click here to read Bland’s rant.

[Autoblog]

New Details Emerge on 2011 Chrysler 300

If for some reason you care, the new 300 has been designed to be more user friendly. The old 300 was notorious for lack of outward visibility, it felt like you were looking through the portal of a cruise ship. Chrysler as addressed this issue by raking the windshield back by three inches and also thinning out the all the pillars. This results in 15% increased outward visibility.

Great. So now you can see all the people laughing and pointing at you because you bought a wannabe mafia mobile.

Also, interior improvements can be found in the form of chrome everywhere. If you’re gonna go stupidly tacky, then you might as well go all out, right? One thing that’s actually kinda cool is the addition of an 8 inch LCD touchscreen.

The base model will get the Pentastar 3.6 litre V6, while a 5.7 litre V8 will be available on higher trim levels.

Douchebags everywhere rejoice!

[Chrysler]

Ward’s 2011 Engines of the Year Announced

This year’s engine of the year award winners are full of repeat winners and a few surprises.

The first big surprise is the Nissan LEAF winning this award. Mostly because it doesn’t even have an engine, it’s has an electric motor only. What was Ward’s reasoning? Apparently since the LEAF feels like a regular car (i.e four doors, five seats, an accelerator and brake) it deserves this award. That’s like saying since Stephen Harper has arms, legs and a face he should win a beauty contest.

Another big surprise is the engine/electric motor set up in the Chevy Volt. With the electric motor primarily propelling the car, it’s a wonder why it’s on the list. Ward’s sites reasons similar to the LEAF for its choice.

But despite those odd choices, the one that shocked me the most was Chrysler’s 3.6 litre Pentastar V6 making the list. This has been a traditionally awful engine. Just terrible. However since Fiat has taken the reigns, it appears they have put some work into this engine making it much better. It can be found in the 2011 Dodge Avenger and Chrysler 200.

Volvo also picked up an award for the 3.0 litre inline six that it uses in the redesigned S60. Ward’s says this engine almost rivals BMW’s 3.0 I-6 as it is buttery smooth, has great mid-range pick up and has virtually no turbo lag. Quite the statement, I’ll have to try it out to see if it stacks up.

Speaking of BMW, they unsurpsingly won once again for their N55 3.0 litre twin scrolled turbo engine for the 5th year in a row. I can wholeheartedly agree with this decision after experiencing the 135i (read my test drive in the post below).

BMW also won a second award for the 1.6 litre turbocharged inline 4 that it uses in the Mini Cooper S. With more power, more efficiency and little turbo lag, it helps make the Cooper S quite the little performance machine.

Volkswagen picked up two awards as well. One for the supercharged V6 found in the Audi S4 and one for new Clean Diesel 2.0 litre TDI found in the Golf, Jetta and Audi A3. The former delivers all encompassing performance while the latter does exceptionally well at combining efficiency with performance.

Rounding up the list is the Ford and Hyundai. After reintroducing the 5.0 litre V8 found in the Mustang they were actually able to make a car that could keep up with the BMW M3. Enough said.

Hyundai on the other hand won for its 5.0 V8 as well found in the base Genesis sedan and the upcoming Equus flagship sedan. It won for keeping power plentiful while being even more efficient than the previous engine.

Congrats to all the winners!

[Ward's]

First Fiat 500 Models Already Sold Out

If you wanted to be among the first to own a Fiat 500 in Canada, bad news. They’re all gone. Chrysler Canada announced today that five hundred models of the 500 Prima Edizione sold out in 12 hours.

Reid Bigland, president and CEO of Chrysler Canada had this to say about it:

“I don’t think Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Leafs and the Canadiens would sell out this fast”

What a moronic thing to say. While 12 hours is pretty impressive, why don’t you call up Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini to find out how fast their limited models sell out. We’re talking minutes here.

So far as I can tell, the 500 Prima Edizione only has special edition badging so if you didn’t get one, it’s probably not a big deal. Just wait until early 2011 for get your hands on a regular one.

[Canadian Driver]

Chrysler Canada Announces Fiat Dealerships, 500 Abarth Coming to North America

Chrysler Canada announced today that it will open 50 to 70 Fiat franchises through existing Chrysler dealerships and as it stands right now, it seems there will be Fiat representation in all of Canada. Oh wait, except the Maritimes. Shocker.

The only Maritime Fiat dealership will be located at Halifax Chrysler Dodge, which will now bear the name of Halifax Chrysler Dodge Fiat. So if you live in New Brunswick, PEI or Newfoundland and you want a Fiat, better start making preperations for a road trip. Oh and also be prepared for a road trip every time your Fiat needs to be serviced or repaired. In Chrysler Canada’s defense, they did say that there will be more dealerships to follow, but that will likely be in the distant future.

In other good news, Chrysler also announced that the high performance Abarth version of the 500 will be coming to North America. The bad news is, we probably won’t see it for a while as the 500′s introduction of models and trim lines will be staggered.

We’ll get the regular 500 first, then we’ll get the 500C, then an all-electric 500 then the 500 Abarth. That would put the 500 Abarth available sometime in late 2012 or early 2013. Good things come to those who wait I guess.

Hit the jump for a complete list of Fiat franchises across the nation.

[Chrysler Canada]

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Alfa Romeo Giulietta Coming in 2012 As A Dodge

Beggers can’t be choosers I guess.

It would’ve been amazing to have the Alfa Romeo Giulietta in its current form, but apparently North Americans will have to settle for a Dodge version. It’s probably because the vomit inducing Caliber is scheduled to end its 5 year cycle in 2011. It will be officially dicontinued next year, so something needs to replace it and the Giulietta is a good fit.

As long as Chrysler doesn’t Americanize the design too much, it shouldn’t be too bad. Like I said, we’re lucky we’re getting the Giulietta at all.

We should also consider ourselves lucky as this likely won’t be the only Alfa to grace our shores as Fiat head Sergio Marchionne has promised at least 20% Italian influence into the faultering Chrysler brand.

Marchionne is also a Canadian, so thankfully he’s hooking us up with some sweet Euro product. Maybe we’ll even see some Canada only models? One would hope.

[USA Today]