No surprise: Nissan-built small Chrysler model in trouble
Click above for high-res image gallery of the Dodge Hornet concept Color us unsurprised at the revelation that the long awaited tie up between Chrysler and Nissan has hit a rocky patch. Recall that the two automakers struck a deal last April that would have Dodge supply the next generation of the Nissan Titan fullsize pickup truck (built atop its Ram platform) in exchange for a duo of small cars to be built by Nissan and sold as Dodges. After the last few years of failed attempts to get some other automaker (first by way of Chinese automaker Chery , then Nissan ) to build a small car for sale here in America, we’ve grown immune to the disappointment of not getting the Dodge Hornet concept produced in a timely fashion. According to reports, sales of the Dodge Trazo, which is literally nothing more than a Nissan Versa wearing new badges, will go on as planned in South America. The other small car and the Dodge-built pickup have reportedly been put on hold as the companies work to fix their own financial problems. Our last hope may be that Chrysler is able to drum up enough money to make the planned strategic alliance with Fiat work out as hoped before its too late. Gallery: Dodge Hornet [Source: CNN ] Auto Blog: Chrysler , Dodge , Nissan , Fiat No surprise: Nissan-built small Chrysler model in trouble originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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No surprise: Nissan-built small Chrysler model in trouble
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Leave a commentNeil Young eat your heart out: presenting EVCast, the musical
Neil Young is not the only one who can write some green car songs . Our friends Bo and Ryan over at EVCast have taken it upon themselves to put together a collection of parody songs explaining the plight and hope of the EV community these days. Special guest stars include Gavin Shoebridge (kiwiEV), known for his electric vehicle conversions, and a great Kermit impression. Pay attention and you’ll relive the Tesla price increase fallout , dream about hypermining, and hear Elon Musk turned into a vilian (of sorts). No one – not even Bo and Ryan – are promising in tune performances, but at the very least this is a little uplifting bit of audio in the middle of a lot of bad news. Thanks to Michal B. of the Czech EV Club for the tip! You can listen to EVCast: The Musical here . Enjoy! [Source: EVCast ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Green Daily Neil Young eat your heart out: presenting EVCast, the musical originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Neil Young eat your heart out: presenting EVCast, the musical
Washington 2009: Riding in the Chrysler EVs [w/VIDEO]
Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Chrysler , Dodge , Jeep , AutoblogGreen Exclusive , Green Daily , Washington DC Auto Show Click above and scroll down to watch the video People are rightly skeptical about whether or not the Chrysler electric vehicles will ever make it to market. For now, all we can say for sure is that some of Chrysler’s EV prototypes can go for a spin around the Washington DC Convention Center. We were able to go for a ride in the Dodge EV and the Jeep ER-EV with Crysler’s Douglas Quigley, executive of product engineering for ENVI (the Chrysler electric vehicle “start up” ) when we were in town last week, and you can see our video of the rides (no drives yet, sadly) after the jump. Quigley said that it is not Chrysler’s intention to sell 100,000 of the Dodge EVs a year. You can roll your own joke about that, but his explanation was that the battery pack that is good for 150 miles will be expensive and therefore the target audience is someone who wants to cruise through the city or on the track for a few hours on the weekend. He’s got a lot more to say about these two vehicles in the video, including how they’re being used for testing in Arizona, what might make it into a possible production version and how fun it is to drive the Lotus Europa-based Dodge EV. Continue reading Washington 2009: Riding in the Chrysler EVs [w/VIDEO] Washington 2009: Riding in the Chrysler EVs [w/VIDEO] originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Washington 2009: Riding in the Chrysler EVs [w/VIDEO]
Posted in Auto Green | chinese, chrysler, daily, dodge, dodgeev, electric dodge, entirely, envi, featured, fifth gear, jeep ev, jeep re-ev, jeepev, latin-america, lotus europa | Leave a commentFiat Could Help Chrysler With Small Cars
If the proposed alliance between Chrysler and Fiat goes through, the company could produce a total of six new models—ranging in size from small to smaller. The terms of the deal would give the European carmaker a 35 percent stake in Chrysler. In exchange, Fiat’s small car experience could give Chrysler the opportunity to reduce its dependence on larger vehicles. Chrysler suffered a sales decline steeper than any other automaker in January—down 55 percent from January 2008. The decline spanned most of the lineup, but car sales were hit hardest. Two of six future vehicles would be from the smallest ‘A’ segment, two from the subcompact ‘B’ segment, and two from the compact ‘C’ segment. The ‘A’ cars are the Fiat 500 retro 3-door liftback, as well as the 5-door liftback version of the Fiat Panda. The car based on the Panda would probably be badged as a Chrysler or Dodge. In the subcompact category, one of the vehicles could be the Alfa Romeo MiTo—Alfa Romeo is owned by Fiat. The other vehicle is not yet known, but will most likely be placed under the Dodge brand. A brand new vehicle built on Fiat’s ‘C’ platform could be the replacement for the Dodge Caliber. The Caliber is Chrysler’s only compact car and is currently being redesigned for the next model year. The second C-segment car to be introduced would be the Alfa Romeo 147. It would probably retain its name for the US market. read more
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Fiat Could Help Chrysler With Small Cars
Posted in Hybrids | chrysler, city, country, currently-being, dodge, news, opportunity, panda, romeo, small-cars, subcompact, technology, under-the-dodge | Leave a commentThe seven cars Fiat might give Chrysler
Auto Blog: MPG , Chrysler , Fiat , Green Daily , Alfa Romeo Click above for a high-res gallery of the Fiat 500 We recently made our own list of five cars we want to see from the Chrysler/Fiat alliance and we’ve since heard that the 500 is a contender for 2010 U.S. release . Automotive News (subs req’d) is reporting that there are a full seven models that will soon come to North America thanks to the partnership, and they’re all small to mid-sized vehicles. Here are the details: Two minicars, a Fiat 500 3-door hatchback and a 5-door hatch version of the next-gen Panda Two subcompact vehicles, the Alfa Romeo MiTo and a Chrysler-branded model Two compacts, a model that uses Fiat’s C-Evo platform (maybe replacing the Dodge Caliber) and a Alfa Romeo 147 replacement One mid-sized vehicle, a Sebring/Avenger replacement from Fiat’s C-Evo platform This all makes a lot of sense for Chrysler, which doesn’t have enough small car models to sell in the upcoming high-mpg world. What would Fiat get? Perhaps the Journey CUV and the Dodge Dakota pickup to sell in Latin America, easier access to the North American market, and an engine or two. A final decision should be made by the end of April, so don’t count any of this as official just yet. [Source: Automotive News (subs req'd)] The seven cars Fiat might give Chrysler originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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The seven cars Fiat might give Chrysler
Posted in Auto Green | a-5-door-hatch, a-friend-via, a-golf-cart, chrysler fiat deal, daily, dodge, entry, fiat, fiat chrysler, fiatpanda, green-culture | Leave a commentDetroit 2009: Crosshairs on a Europa make a Dodge Circuit EV
Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Chrysler , Dodge , Lotus Click the Dodge Circuit EV for a high-res gallery As suspected from some recent spy photos Chrysler’s ENVI group has continued to work on the car that first appeared last fall as the DodgeEV. The car that was nothing more than a Lotus Europa with an electric powertrain and Dodge badges now at least looks kind of like it belongs in a Dodge dealership .The front fascia now sports the traditional Dodge cross-hair grille while the posterior gets cleaner look with a small diffuser. New wheels and a coat of orange paint that Chrysler’s press release dubbs”Tangoreen” round out the visual changes. As near as we can tell from that same press release the only real functional change to the car that is now called the Circuit EV is the positioning of the plug. The original car had the plug on the right side of the car, which would be the driver’s side over in the UK where this car was built. The Circuit now has the plug socket on the left flank where it would be more convenient to charge in this country. The A123 battery pack and 200 kW motor remain from the original iteration. Gallery: Dodge Circuit EV Continue reading Detroit 2009: Crosshairs on a Europa make a Dodge Circuit EV Detroit 2009: Crosshairs on a Europa make a Dodge Circuit EV originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Detroit 2009: Crosshairs on a Europa make a Dodge Circuit EV
Posted in Auto Green | a-now-sports, crosshairs, dodge, dodgecircuit, dodgecircuitev, lotus europa, plug, the-traditional | Leave a commentChrysler considers car-based pickup
Filed under: Chrysler , Dodge Click above for a gallery of the Dodge Rampage concept Upcoming CAFE regulations may sound the death knell that renders the mid-size pickup segment officially spent. Sales of the not-quite full-size trucks have been dwindling at an even faster pace than their larger brothers, and much of the blame can be attributed to the small price and efficiency improvements that the smaller trucks can offer, especially now that both Ford and General Motors offer specific fuel-saving versions of their full-sizers
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Chrysler considers car-based pickup
Lexus announces limited editions of RX 400h hybrid SUVs
Filed under: Hybrid , Lexus , Green Daily , UK Click the RX 400h Limited for high res photo If the standard Lexus RX 400h just isn’t enough high-priced hybrid handsomeness for you, then a Lexus sales representative would like to speak to you as soon as possible. Lexus has just announced two new Limited Edition RX 400h models that are now on sale in the UK at “highly competitive” prices. How competitive
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Lexus announces limited editions of RX 400h hybrid SUVs
Posted in Auto Green | a-friend-via, daily, detroit-news, dodge, dodge dakota, falseadvertising, lexus rx 400h, unibodypickup, unibodytruck | Leave a commentGet Approved!
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