Chrysler Surpasses Ford as Canada’s Biggest Seller of Light Trucks

Canada’s economy seems unaffected by most of the Western World’s woes, where markets are struggling and unemployment is booming. In fact, Canada’s economy is growing and as a result, unemployment is falling and people are getting jobs. Therefore, they have money to buy cars, or light trucks, pickups and SUVs. Read more »

Chrysler Announces Prices on New 2012 SRT8 Models Including the 300, Charger, Grand Cherokee and Challenger

The Chrysler Group’s newly formed Street and Racing Technology (SRT) brand has released pricing on its latest crop of models, which include the 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8, the 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8, the 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 and the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.

Prices together with an $825 destination fee start at $47,995 for the Chrysler 300 SRT8, $46,660 for the Dodge Charger SRT8, $44,077 for the Challenger SRT8 and $55,295 for the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.

All four SRT8 models are powered by the Chrysler Group’s new 6.4-liter HEMI V8 with Fuel Saver Technology that cranks out 470 horsepower (351kW) and 470 lb-ft (637Nm) of peak torque (465 lb.-ft. / 630 Nm in the Grand Cherokee SRT8).

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Video: Watch the Mopar Team Turn a Jeep Wrangler into a Pickup Truck

As well as announcing the U.S. market launch of the JK-8 kit that carries a $5,499 sticker, Chrysler’s Mopar division also released a new time-lapse video that shows us a team of workers turning a four-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited into a pickup truck with a small bed at the back.

According to Mopar Performance Team engineer, Steve Houtman, it took the four-man crew (or at least that’s our count of the number of people seen working on the Jeep) about an hour to complete the transformation using the JK-8 kit. Watch them in action for yourself in the clip after the break.

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Jeep Prices New JK-8 Kit to Transform Wrangler Unlimited to a Pickup Truck at $5,499

Those of you that fancy turning your four-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited into a two-door pickup truck will be happy to know that the firm’s much-talked about JK-8 Kit is available for order now through Mopar at Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram dealerships, with pricing set at $5,499.

However, Jeep does note that the JK-8 kit, which comes with a three-year/36,000-mile warranty, is for “skilled do-it-yourselfers”. For the less handy amongst us, the company said that the kit may be purchased and installed at a Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge or Ram dealership.

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New Jeep Grand Cherokee Lands in the UK, Available Exclusively with 3.0 V6 Diesel

Jeep claims that it has created the premium SUV market almost 20 years ago with the first generation of the Grand Cherokee (though Mercedes’ M-Class may actually have a better claim on the word “premium”, but whatever…). We’ve already seen the latest iteration of Jeep’s iconic 4x4, and we must admit that, on paper at least, it looks like a significant leap forward from its predecessors. Read more »

Chrysler Seeks Fiat Synergies to Produce Cars in China

China is the world’s largest car market: last year alone, more than 18 million vehicles were sold there, of which 13.76 million were passenger cars. Furthermore, analysts McKinsey & Company predict that it will grow tenfold between 2005 and 2030.

Do you want to know Chrysler’s share in this massive car market? A measly 31,000 in 2010 and a projection for just 40,000 in 2011. Therefore, it is only natural that the American carmaker is looking for ways to increase its share in this rapidly expanding market.

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Maserati SUV may get Hemi V8, not Ferrari V8 after all

Environmentalists may hate them, but SUVs have proved quite popular –that’s why even carmakers with no former experience are jumping in on the bandwagon, especially in the executive (and most profitable) market. The latest automaker to do so is Maserati which will launch its first ever crossover next year.

At first, Fiat-Chrysler’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne, had revealed that that the Maserati SUV will be based on the new Grand Cherokee’s platform, which in turn is based on the quite capable Mercedes M-Class. However, Marchionne had also hinted that, like other Maserati models, it may get a Ferrari V8 –a very mouth-watering, and logical, proposal since the two companies belong to the same group.

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Jeep Survivor Concept Study - For the Man Who Has Everything

A cross between the Warthog from Halo and the pseudo-militaristic Mercedes-Benz M-Classes from The Lost World: Jurassic Park, is the best description I can come up with for Max Ostap's Jeep:Survivor [sic] concept study for the Art Center College of Design.

An off-road vehicle for the man who considers nature an enemy to be vanquished more than anything else, the Survivor draws its inspiration from the Jeep Bantam of WWII.

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Multiple 2011MY Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep Vehicles Recalled to Fix Steering Columns

A dozen vehicles from the three core Chrysler brands covering more than half of the company’s 2011 models are being recalled in the United States to fix a potential problem with the steering column.

The recall covers 11,351 vehicles and affects certain 2011 model year Dodge Journey crossovers, Jeep Wranglers, Chrysler 200s, Chrysler 200 Convertibles, Dodge Avengers, Dodge Nitros, Jeep Liberty SUVs, Dodge Calibers, Jeep Compass crossovers, Jeep Patriots, Dodge Grand Caravans and Chrysler Town & Country minivans.

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Jeep’s Drive Your Track Lets you Plan World Road Trip from Your Music

I’ve been trying out Jeep’s Drive Your Track website for their Wrangler model’s Infinity Sound System. You start by uploading a song from your hard drive: I chose Gary Numan’s, “Cars” for reasons that should be readily apparent.

It takes a few minutes to load your song, and then the sound waves are somehow mapped to certain geographical features from around the world.

You end up with eight or so places, which for me included the Appalachian Mountains, the Himalayas, the Andes, the Ural Mountains and Colorado Rockies.

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