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Despite annual warnings to parents and caregivers that leaving kids unattended in hot cars can have tragic consequences, at least 30 more children died last year of hyperthermia, a potentially deadly heat-related illness. On the heels of these deaths, a new poll by the National SAFE KIDS Campaign(r) and General Motors finds that one in five young parents believes it is acceptable to leave kids alone. GM and SAFE KIDS announced Thursday they will intensify their "Never Leave Your Child Alone" education outreach program. GM and SAFE KIDS will continue distributing English and Spanish-language brochures to more than 300 SAFE KIDS coalitions nationwide this year, and are working with broadcast members of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) to spread the word at the grassroots level.
Meanwhile, Chrysler is continuing local safety inspections of infant car seats - which are installed incorrectly by most parents, even though most parents think they are in the right way. Chrysler has documented a number of saved lives through these inspections.
The Howell Automotive Neon is currently the world SOHC record holder, with a quarter-mile of 12.03 at 117mph. It will be in an article in the upcoming Mopar Now Magazine. Details are at Howell Automotive.
The city of New Brunswick is suing Ford for not disclosing a hazardous design flaw - placing fuel tanks in the "crush zone" behind the rear axle, making them prone to catch fire in high-speed rear-end crashes. The city is suing under New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act, saying that Ford concealed the defect, found in crash tests over 50 mph, and that Ford used deceptive marketing to police departments. Ford replied by saying that the Crown Victoria must be safe because it is used by 90% of police departments (not mentioning that might be the result of being the only rear-drive squad sedan), and that the Crown Vic achieved a five star safety rating - good points, but totally irrelevant to the charges.
(Written by David Harris.) It’s been a long time since Mopar’s Darrell Alderman has heard the words ‘title chase’ attached to his name. Alderman, who drives the Hemi-powered Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T, currently rests third behind Warren Johnson and Jim Yates for this year’s NHRA Pro Stock honors. With the exception of Jeg Coughlin, Jr., in 2000, these three drivers are the only ones to etch their names in the championship trophy over the past 11 NHRA seasons.
2002 NHRA Pro Stock Points
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1. Warren Johnson 519
2. Jim Yates 472
3. Darrell Alderman 423
4. Ron Krisher 414
5. George Marnell 392
Alderman collected championship hardware in 1990, 1991 and 1994, with 28 NHRA national event victories. “It may be too early to talk about another championship run, but it’s always at the back of your mind,” said the 52-year-old Alderman. “I want to give my crew chief Rickie Smith a lot of the credit here. He has been a difference maker. He knows what the car wants and excels in the heat of the day. That consistency is what wins championships.
“We also have the tools,” Alderman continued. “The folks over at Mopar, and you can’t forget about the engineers, along with this whole Nickens Brother Racing team, have done a tremendous job. ... When you combine all of that with the power we’re producing with a three-year-old Hemi engine and the great aerodynamics of the Dodge Neon R/T, we have a strong combination."
Meanwhile, despite ending his day with a blower explosion in the first round, Mopar Parts Nitro Funny Car driver Dean Skuza was very upbeat about his team’s most recent weekend. The new Dodge Stratus R/T recorded its fastest speed and two consistent qualifying passes. Dean said, “We found a problem that’s been plaguing us on and off for the last two years...We looked at run after run over the last two years and we kept seeing the same problem in the clutch. We changed it and made a great run. The problem was such an intermintent deal that it was hard to track.”
Old Bridge Township Raceway Park has been a successful track for Larry Morgan, driver of the blue Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T. The Newark, Ohio resident made his only run to the semifinal during last year’s event. Morgan beat out current Mopar teammate Alderman in 1994.
Dow Jones reports that DCX is continuing its rapid dismemberment of the former Chrysler Corporation, now selling the Huntsville, Alabama electronics plant to Delphi. This plant produced computers and other components for all Chrysler cars. DCX claims it needs the cash for additional investments in Chrysler, though we note DCX is more likely to spend it on buying a larger stake in Mitsubishi and working on more heavy truck ventures.
DCX earlier sold Chrysler's thermal control plant in Dayton and its Eurostar plant in Austria. /rant on/ We would like to point out that Chrysler had saved $10 billion or so in order to prevent this sort of short-term behavior. Supposedly, the takeover would also have prevented the need to sell off large parts of the company in times of trouble. Instead, the Chrysler war chest was used to buy stakes in Hyundai and Mitsubishi, leaving the company with no resources for a downturn. At the same time, "merger" expenses weigh heavily on the balance sheet as Chrysler retools to use Mercedes architectures and components, and throws out existing work to start over again using Mitsubishi and Mercedes platforms. The sooner Chrysler is liberated from DCX, the more likely it is there will be enough of a company to survive. Click here for more. /rant off/
Deutsche Bank, one of Juergen Schrempp's greatest supporters, is reportedly preparing to sell its stake in DCX - 12 percent of the corporation, according to MarketWatch.
Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche presented the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) with a $1 million contribution to its Heritage Campaign Fund on Saturday, April 20, at the organization's 31st anniversary celebration. /rant/ Some would wonder why a company which is losing money would be donating $1 million to a heritage campaign fund, while eliminating jobs, selling plants, and losing market share. /rant off/
GM has officially announced that its new mid-size pickup, presumably sharing the TrailBlazer platform and drivetrain, will be called Colorado. This truck is similar in size and capacity to the Dakota, but has a more modern, efficient powertrain than the current-generation Dodge truck.
/speculation/ According to Detroit News, "DaimlerChrysler" will start using the Hyundai four-cylinder engines, which range up to 165 horsepower, in 2005, a year after Hyundai adopts them. Given that Chrysler has historically been loathe to switch engines in a car before its production run ends, this could indicate that the "new" Neon will appear in calendar year 2005 as a 2006 model. It is also possible that the Sebring/Stratus sedan or minivans will use the new engines first - the minivan is coming up for redesign at about the same time - since Mitsubishi will not use the new engines until 2006, and the next Neon will be a reskinned (or possibly "more different") Mitsubishi, that might be the more likely scenario.
Of course, one question in this discussion is what will happen to the Mini engines, which Chrysler developed with Mini creator Rover. Currently, those engines, newly developed, are only being used in BMW Minis and, according to some reports, export Neons.
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