Chrysler will pull plug on hybrid Aspen, Durango DETROIT -- Chrysler LLC will stop producing its first two hybrid-electric vehicles slightly more than two months after they started arriving in dealerships. This summer, Chrysler introduced the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango Hemi hybrid SUVs to great fanfare. Production began in August. But the two were doomed to a short lifespan from the beginning. They are made at Chrysler's Newark, Del., plant, originally scheduled to close at the end of 2009. But slow full-sized SUV sales pushed Chrysler to move the closing up a year. The company announced last week it will close Newark at the end of this year. Chrysler has no plans to produce the hybrid SUVs elsewhere, said spokesman Todd Goyer. "Keeping the plant open for the hybrid versions isn't a sound business decision," he said. ... story Published: Oct 28 7:05 pm U.S. Eastern time

This Day in Auto History: 10.29.1922 George Chaffee Dillon, Chairman of the Manville Corporation, a Denver, CO automobile parts manufacturer, is born in Kansas City, MO 10.29.1942 G. B. Upton, a professor of automotive engineering at Cornell University, dies at age 60 10.29.1954 The last 1954 Hudson is produced - many consider this the end of the “real” Hudson, although the marque continued to be produced until 1957 as a badge-engineered Nash 10.29.1962 The Chrysler Corporation begins its Consumer Delivery Program as a public hands-on test of the semi-production Chrysler Turbine Car 10.29.1975 Sir Alfred Owen of BRM dies at age 67

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

2009 Dodge Ram Wins Best New Pickup Truck In Canada

by thesavagepony

Texas just awarded the 2009 Ford F-150 as the Truck of Texas Award. Dodge didn't really like the idea of there truck not being the best so they did the next best thing, go to Canada. Sure enough there little scheme worked as Canada just chose the 2009 Dodge Ram as the Best New Pickup Truck Award. Naturally, Dodge is pleased with the win. Reid Bigland, President and CEO of Chrysler Canada, said: "we thank AJAC for this recognition which confirms that the all-new 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 is the best pickup truck in Canada." The 2009 Dodge Ram went up against the 2009 Ford F-150 and the 2009 Chevy Silverado. Congratulations goes to Dodge for a job well done, even if it's not in the U.S.

Win a 2008 Dodge Charger

Enter here for a chance to win a 2008 Dodge Charger. That’s a nice looking ride. It’s come a long way from the old Dukes of Hazzard days. Good Luck!
http://www.stanleycargiveaway.com/

Entry Frequency: single
Age: 18+

GM, Chrysler seek merger aid

They are asking for a US$10b govt loan

NEW YORK/DETROIT - GENERAL Motors and Cerberus Capital Management have asked the US government for around US$10 billion (S$15 billion) in an unprecedented rescue package to support a merger between GM and Chrysler, two sources with direct knowledge of the talks said on Monday.

The government funding would include roughly US$3 billion in exchange for preferred stock in a merged automaker, according to one of the sources, who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.

The US Treasury Department is considering a request for direct aid to facilitate the merger and a decision could come this week, sources familiar with the still-developing government response said earlier on Monday.

GM has been in talks with Cerberus about buying Chrysler since last month but the discussions have been snagged by difficulty in securing investment or financing for a deal at a time when credit is tight and global auto sales are in rapid retreat, others close to the talks have said.

A decision by the Bush administration to provide the government's first funding for the auto sector since the US$1.5 billion bailout of Chrysler in 1980 has been widely seen as the merger's best chance for success.

'The automakers are facing a maelstrom and that's why I think an unprecedented government infusion could happen', said Mr Efraim Levy, an automotive equity analyst with S&P.

An injection of US$3 billion in equity to support a GM acquisition of Chrysler would be roughly equivalent to the current, depressed value of the top US automaker.

It would also give US taxpayers a large stake in the turnaround of a struggling auto industry that employs over 350,000 American workers and is credited with supporting employment for another 4.5 million in related fields.

Analysts see GM, Chrysler and rival Ford Motor having been driven to the brink of failure by a combination of management missteps, slowing global growth and problems in credit markets.

Now, in addition to taking a stake in what would be the world's largest automaker by volume, the US government is also being asked to provide support by taking over some US$3 billion in pension obligations, the first source said.

The final component of the proposed support would be a credit line that could include US government purchases of commercial paper to relieve short-term pressure on liquidity, the person said.

GM could not be immediately reached for comment. Cerberus and Chrysler had no comment.

Too big to fail?
A combined GM-Chrysler would control roughly a third of the US auto market by sales and would face immediate pressure to cut costs stemming from excess capacity in almost every facet of its business.

Those would include a stable of 11 brands, some 10,000 dealers and 97,000 union-represented factory workers.

But one of the conditions of a merger would be that GM-Chrysler would spare as many jobs as possible to win broad political support for the government funding, people familiar with the merger discussions said.

Many analysts are skeptical that balance can be struck.

'I still think they need to make deep cuts to survive', said IHS Global Insight analyst Aaron Bragman.

The roughly US$10 billion in government funds to support a merger would be in addition to whatever funds would be allocated under an already approved US$25 billion program to provide low-interest loans to the auto industry for retooling to make more fuel-efficient cars.

A government rescue package would come at a time when investors and creditors are increasingly concerned about the ability of US automakers to survive a punishing downturn in sales now expected to continue into 2010.

'Nobody reasonable is going to tell you that next year we're going to be out (of this crisis)', Mr Carlos Ghosn, head of Nissan Motor and Renault, told a business seminar in Tokyo, adding the worst is yet to come.

Mr Ghosn predicted US auto sales would stay at an annualised rate of 12.5 million vehicles through March. US car sales slumped 26 per cent last month to that level.

Moody's Investors Service on Monday cut its rating on GM deeper into junk territory on the view that GM's liquidity would continue to erode into 2009.

The ratings agency also cut Chrysler for similar reasons and said it might cut Ford.

GM has a market capitalization of just over US$3 billion based on Monday's close and roughly US$10 billion of outstanding debt.

Chrysler's privately held auto operations were valued at zero last week by Daimler, which holds the 19.9 per cent of the struggling automaker not owned by Cerberus.

Chrysler's US sales have tumbled 25 per cent this year, almost twice the rate of decline for the overall market.

GM's sales had dropped almost 18 per cent through September.

GM's shares have slumped nearly 80 per cent this year and its market value has dropped below what it was in 1929. -- THOMSON REUTERS

This Day in Auto History: 10.28.1909 The Springfield Motor Car Company incorporates in Springfield, IL with Harry C. Medcraft as President, Rudolph Haas as Vice President, Edward Everett Staley as Secretary, and racer Otis Funderburk as Sales Manager - the new firm was a reorganization of the Med-Bow Automobile Company of Springfield, MA, but actual production was only about ten cars 10.28.1931 Racer Bernie Ecclestone is born in St. Peters, Suffolk, England 10.28.1945 The first post-World War II English sprint races are held at Filton Aerodrome near Bristol - class winners included Bob Gerard in a E.R.A. and Sir Alec Issigonis in the “Lightweight Special” 10.28.1955 Col. Elbert J. Hall, whose Hall-Scott aviation engines powered the super luxury Fageol car of 1917 and in 1930 was a cofounder with Norman DeVaux of the DeVaux-Hall Motors Corporation, manufacturers of the economy DeVaux of 1931-1932, dies in Los Gatos, CA at age 73 10.28.1981 The 1982 Pontiac Phoenix and T100 compacts are introduced

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History: 10.27.1891 Walter C. Baker marries Fannie Elizabeth White, daughter of Rollin C. White 10.27.1927 O. L. Arnold of the Ford Motor Company joins General Motors as Vice President and Director of Truck Sales for the General Motors Truck Company 10.27.1937 The 1938 Cadillac Series 90 is introduced featuring a totally redesigned 135-degree V-16 10.27.1946 The first major post-World War II race, the revived Pena Rhin Grand Prix staged in Barcelona, Spain, is won by Giorgio Pelassa in a Maserati 4CL 10.27.1957 Archibald G. Danielson, Assistant Chief Engineer of the Diamond T Motor Car Company and an employee of the firm for 37 years, dies at age 62

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter click below