Rattner: Chrysler’s survival depended on dumping Cerberus management

Steve Rattner, former head of the Obama Administration’s Auto Task Force, said replacing the management team installed by Cerberus Capital Mangement was one of the task force’s objectives in restructuring Chrysler.
Rattner, who was speaking at Council on Foreign Relations-sponsored forum about the global auto industry, told the audience, “We wanted to have a completely fresh [...]

Top safety picks: Chrysler 4, Toyota 0

Four Chrysler vehicles were named Top Safety Picks for 2010 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety while Toyota failed to place a single car or truck on the list. Chrysler also had more domestic models on the list than either Ford or General Motors.

Chrysler got the nod for the Avenger and Sebring sedans when [...]

Chrysler to invest $179 million in Dundee plant

Chrysler will invest $179 million in the Dundee, Michigan plant it formerly shared with Mitsubishi and Hyundai in the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance which was dissolved earlier this year. The funding will be used to covert production to building Fiat’s 1.4-liter, four-cylinder engines. The plant is expected to produce about 250,000 engines each year and [...]

Michigan Congressman defends Chrysler aid

Gary Peters, Democratic Congressman from Bloomfield Township, has taken issue with remarks made by former Republican Presidential candidate John MacCain. While serving as grand marshal at a NASCAR event in Arizona, McCain said, “Anybody believes that Chrysler is going to survive, I’d like to meet them.”
Peters accepted the challenge in a letter, saying he “will [...]

Sale of Newark Chrysler plant approved

Detroit News noted that the Old Carco has been given permission to sell its Newark, Delaware assembly plant to the University of Delaware. The plant, which most recently made the Durango and Aspen, was one of the last of many Northeastern auto plants to close down. Chrysler Group purchased $25,000 of equipment from the plant [...]

Chrysler ends ENVI, redeploys engineers

Chrysler has shut down its standalone ENVI electric vehicle program and its personnel have been assigned to other vehicle development programs as Chrysler and Fiat merge their hybrid and electric vehicle programs.
Lou Rhodes, who was in charge of ENVI, continues to oversee electrical vehicle development for both companies. A two-mode hybrid versions of the Ram [...]

Ford will not sell Ka in U.S.

According to CEO Alan Mulalley, Ford won’t be bringing the second-generation KA minicar to North America.
The Ka, which has been enormously popular in Europe, was being considered but Ford executives decided the car was too small for American tastes. The Ford Fiesta, which goes on sale early next year, will be the blue oval’s smallest [...]