Chrysler starts new ad campaign

 
Chrysler LLC will launch a new advertising campaign which highlights current and future vehicles on Monday, May 11, using the new slogan “We’re building a new car company. Come see what we’re building for you.” The campaign focuses on the quality, technology, safety and value built into every Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep® vehicle.
In the Scoop, Steven [...]

Chrysler plan objectors disappearing

The number of creditors objecting to the Chrysler-Fiat-Treasury plan appears to be dwindling, if a motion filed today by the “Attorneys for the Chrysler Non-TARP Lenders” (Thomas Lauria, who claimed death threats as the sole named attorney) is any evidence. 
In part II, the document tellingly describes the “Non-TARP Lenders” as holding “over $300 million of [...]

Allpar updates Grand Cherokee, Phoenix, show coverage

Allpar has made substantial updates to its coverage of the New York Auto Show and the vehicles introduced there:

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Pentastar engines (known as Phoenix before a trademark issue arose)
2009 New York Auto Show coverage

Later today, SMS will be bringing out its latest highly-modified Dodge Challenger.
We previously noted that the term “Phoenix engine” conflicts [...]

Obama’s actual statements

In their rush to send out key details of Obama’s auto plan, many journalists ignored important information. This is the full text; other documents are available from the White House.
One of the challenges we have confronted from the beginning of this administration is what to do about the state of our struggling auto industry. [...]

Bankruptcy is only for the poor

Head of the Fed Ben Bernanke flatly ruled out a government takeover of major banks, such as Citigroup, that would wipe out stockholders.
Rhetoric is rather different when talking about banks vs. automakers. When they mention GM and Ford, they say the stockholders deserve nothing because they were asleep at the switch. Automaker bankruptcy has almost [...]

Fiat in junk status

Automotive News just reported that Moody’s Investors Service has cut Fiat SpA’s long-term rating to Ba1, the first level of “junk” status, as a result of negative cash flow, debt, and a weak automotive market.
Moody’s put on a negative outlook, indicating that they could downgrade it again within two years. While Moody’s noted Fiat’s [...]