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June 25, 2002: Pontiac Solstice considered for production?

As the Dodge Razor goes by the boards, word from Automotive News has General Motors trying to build a case for production of the small rear wheel drive car that was a hit at the Detroit auto show.

June 25, 2002: Schrempp: Profit in 2002 for Chrysler Group

DC CEO Schrempp told the Wall Street Journal:"We will have a very, very good second quarter at Chrysler and, of course, that means at the group as well," "Chrysler will be positive this year." Chrysler Group posted an "adjusted operating profit" of 127 million euros in the first quarter of this year, which includes one time events such as plant selloffs. One unarguable high point has been overall sales, which rose 4.4 percent in May, and three percent in April (both compared with the same month a year ago).

June 25, 2002: Exploding Crown Vics

After being prodded by Arizona's governor, NHTSA is sending an investigator to study a series of explosive fires involving Ford Crown Victoria police cars. At issue is the placement of the gas tank. NTHSA has been investigating incidents like these for eight months. Ford says their internal tests do not indicate a safety problem.

June 21, 2002: More on product emphasis at Chrysler

The aforementioned reorganization combines product planning with advertising and marketing, and corresponds with the creation of a "look and feel" group charged with ensuring that, as Mitsubishi and Chrysler (and probably Hyundai, later on) are merged into one engineering and design unit, a Chrysler is still distinct from a Mitsubishi, and that both are palpably different from a Dodge. The overall perspective we see is that all DCX units are being brought together - even Mercedes, though to a lesser degree - so that cars and trucks will be jointly engineered (though Mercedes, Mitsubishi, and Hyundai seem to be doing all the cars), but adapted through changes to the sheet metal, interiors, and suspensions so they feel very different. Chrysler has done its share of this internally - the B-bodies are one example, the extended K line (including the Daytona sports car, Reliant economy car, and minivans) is another. On the lighter side, this can strengthen the neglected branding of Chrysler and Dodge. On the darker side, this will also disguise their consolidation with Mitsubishi, Mercedes, and Hyundai, which is likely to lead to shuttered factories, the loss of domestic engineering capabilities and staff, and the full-scale demise of Chrysler Corporation as even a semi-unique entity.

June 21, 2002: Chrysler rearranges marketing

In an effort to actually have readily definable brand identities - something Chrysler has lacked for decades - DCX is rearranging its marketing team, with a vice president in charge of each brand - Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep.

June 21, 2002: Chrysler to slash development costs

According to Chrysler Group's president, the group will be slashing new car development costs by 20-25 percent by using more efficient methods. Our take: (rant mode on) it's not hard to slash development costs when all your new models are based on another company's existing platforms. Use Hyundai engines, Mitsubishi and Mercedes transmissions, Mercedes electronics, and Mitsubishi platforms, and suddenly lots of development costs go away. Of course, the cost of the vehicle goes up, and sales go down as your formerly loyal customers turn to General Motors - which is cutting developments costs and times the way Chrysler did in the 1990s, which is by making the best use of its existing people and resources - but that's not important, because DCX controls Mitsubishi and is investing in Hyundai/Kia as well, and with any luck, by the time Chrysler is totally gone, Mitsubishi and Hyundai will have taken its place, and Juergen Schrempp will have retired. By the way, do you remember when there were American-designed TVs and stereos - and why there are almost none now? (rant mode off)

June 19, 2002: Mercedes to use Mitsubishi trucks?

Even Mercedes' truck division is feeling the heat of the DCX mergers, as DCX is reportedly thinking about replacing the Vario small trucks sold outside the US with a new Mitsubishi design. According to Just-Auto, Mitsubishi may well take the lead on the engineering of small trucks sold by both MMC and Mercedes. The Mitsubishi Canter truck may also be sold in the United States as a Freightliner. /rant mode on/ Note that Freightliner is being used as a nameplate attached to Mercedes and Mitsubishi trucks - sound familiar? /rant mode off/

Mitsubishi and DCX are, according to Just-Auto, considering spinning off their small truck divisions into a joint venture. DCX currently owns 37 percent of Mitsubishi but has the option to buy more next year - something which might be hard if the company was as strapped for cash as they claim when shutting down and selling Chrysler plants, but which we suspect will be suspiciously easy when the time comes.

June 14, 2002: Concept 4.7 engine: 14 percent better efficiency

With a series of engineering changes to Chrysler's standard gasoline-powered, 4.7-liter V-8 engine, researchers have produced an engine with 14 percent better fuel efficiency. The cost of those changes: less than $200 per engine. The project has been nicknamed the MAGIC engine, which stands for Multiple Approaches to Great Internal Combustion. The improvement in fuel efficiency was achieved with no sacrifice in emissions, power, cost, weight, engine life or other engine characteristics such as noise, vibration or harshness.

Eight different design and engineering changes were made to the standard engine. "Most of these changes are not new, and individually, they produce miniscule gains in fuel efficiency," Chrysler's Thomas Moore said. "The idea of the MAGIC engine is to package them all together so the overall gain is significant."

Chrysler engineers packaged the MAGIC engine into a Dodge Durango SUV with several additional design changes to enhance fuel efficiency. That vehicle, project Apollo, achieves an overall improvement in fuel efficiency of 25 percent. Total additional costs for project Apollo are only about $700 per vehicle.

Areas of improvement are:

• Increased compression ratio (4 percent) -- resulting in greater efficiency and lower emissions -- through:
  + Intake port air-gap thermal barrier.
  Chrysler has applied for a patent for this innovative feature.
  + On-demand piston oil-squirters
  + Precision cooling system