AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Chrysler LLC today announced 0% APR on select 2007 models for 60 months includes the following vehicles:
that the Company will continue its low-rate financing through October 1,
with a 0% APR offering for 72 months or a 0% APR offering for 60 months
on select 2007 model year vehicles.
These different options give customers many choices when purchasing a new Chrysler,
Jeep(R) or Dodge vehicle."Chrysler will extend its low-rate financing into September,
with a 0% APR offering for 72 months on select 2007 models," said Michael Keegan, Vice
President - Volume Planning and Sales Operations. "We will continue to focus on
our great products and the 2007 model year-end clearance while emphasizing the
new Lifetime Powertrain Warranty."0% APR offering for 72 months includes the
following 2007 model year vehicles: Chrysler Aspen; Chrysler Town & Country and
Dodge Grand Caravan minivans; Jeep Commander; Dodge Dakota and the Dodge Durango.
Chrysler Pacifica;
Jeep Grand Cherokee;
Jeep Liberty
and the Dodge Ram 1500 Regular and Quad-Cab Pickup Trucks.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
September 2007 Incentives
20 Dangerous Vehicles
Author: Evander Klum
The prestigious Forbes magazine has enumerated the 20 dangerous vehicles to avoid. Automotive safety experts said that the best way to determine the safety and danger risks a vehicle imposes greatly depends on the way it is configured, particularly with regards to few important aspects like side impact protection, stability control and roll-over risk that when combined provide ultimate safety in vehicular accidents like crashes significantly.
Here are the Top 20 Vehicles you should be wary of, according to Forbes magazine:
1. Buick Rendezvous
2. Ford Ranger/Mazda B-Series
3. Nissan Frontier
4. Ford Escape/ Mercury Mariner
5. Toyota Yaris
6. Hyundai Accent
7. Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe
8. Kia Rio
9. Chevrolet Aveo
10. Suzuki Reno/Forenza
11. Ford Focus
12. Jeep Liberty
13. Dodge Dakota
14. Chevrolet Cobalt/Pontiac G5
15. Nissan Xterra
16. Saturn ION
17. Chrysler PT Cruiser
18. Honda S2000
19. Toyota Scion tC
20. Mazda3 (lights can be replaced by APC lights)
With crash tests performed by the IIHS on new vehicles, they see a wide range of results concerning side-impact and whiplash protection.
"What makes a vehicle unsafe today is a lack of side-impact protection," says Rader.
"Whiplash is not a life-threatening injury but head injuries [from a side impact] are commonly life-threatening." he further stated.
Mandated to be installed in all 2009 vehicles, the side curtain airbags had been proven to increase the chances of survival in a classic "T-bone" side-impact accident. It also promotes passenger safety in cases of roll-overs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) predicts that side curtain airbags will decrease cases of fatal side-impact head injuries by 45 percent resulting to 1,000 safe lives per year.
"Side airbags designed to protect your head are crucial, because a head injury is the most common fatal injury in a crash," says Rader, "It's the difference between life and death."
Together with side curtain air bags, all vehicles need a strongly built side structure to bear strong blows from all kinds of vehicles.
As Rader points out the advantage of larger vehicles in accidents with their wider range of stability, the managing editor of Consumer Reports, John Linkov reckons that the smaller the vehicle doesn't necessarily mean the dangerous it gets. More often, smaller vehicles offer easy handling and maneuverability needed to prevent accidents. However, Rader and Linkov's thinking are not on the same angle. Rader's was more of the accident already happening and Linkov's focus was on the prevention.
Electronic stability control systems will be mandated for the 2012 model year. This system works by smartly applying the brakes on one or more of the wheels to avoid loss of vehicle control in an extreme maneuver.
"Electronic stability control is one of those rare safety features that's having a dramatic effect on saving lives," says Rader.
"Stability control alone can reduce the risk of fatal single-vehicle crashes by 56 percent. And it can reduce fatal single-vehicle rollovers by 80 percent for SUVs, 77 percent for passenger cars." Rader added.
Any vehicle can be entirely unsafe if is not properly built with important safety features. Plus if it is driven by a total reckless driver, accidents will always be on its way.
Credit story: click on title
20 Dangerous Vehicles
Author: Evander Klum
The prestigious Forbes magazine has enumerated the 20 dangerous vehicles to avoid. Automotive safety experts said that the best way to determine the safety and danger risks a vehicle imposes greatly depends on the way it is configured, particularly with regards to few important aspects like side impact protection, stability control and roll-over risk that when combined provide ultimate safety in vehicular accidents like crashes significantly.
Here are the Top 20 Vehicles you should be wary of, according to Forbes magazine:
1. Buick Rendezvous
2. Ford Ranger/Mazda B-Series
3. Nissan Frontier
4. Ford Escape/ Mercury Mariner
5. Toyota Yaris
6. Hyundai Accent
7. Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe
8. Kia Rio
9. Chevrolet Aveo
10. Suzuki Reno/Forenza
11. Ford Focus
12. Jeep Liberty
13. Dodge Dakota
14. Chevrolet Cobalt/Pontiac G5
15. Nissan Xterra
16. Saturn ION
17. Chrysler PT Cruiser
18. Honda S2000
19. Toyota Scion tC
20. Mazda3 (lights can be replaced by APC lights)
With crash tests performed by the IIHS on new vehicles, they see a wide range of results concerning side-impact and whiplash protection.
"What makes a vehicle unsafe today is a lack of side-impact protection," says Rader.
"Whiplash is not a life-threatening injury but head injuries [from a side impact] are commonly life-threatening." he further stated.
Mandated to be installed in all 2009 vehicles, the side curtain airbags had been proven to increase the chances of survival in a classic "T-bone" side-impact accident. It also promotes passenger safety in cases of roll-overs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) predicts that side curtain airbags will decrease cases of fatal side-impact head injuries by 45 percent resulting to 1,000 safe lives per year.
"Side airbags designed to protect your head are crucial, because a head injury is the most common fatal injury in a crash," says Rader, "It's the difference between life and death."
Together with side curtain air bags, all vehicles need a strongly built side structure to bear strong blows from all kinds of vehicles.
As Rader points out the advantage of larger vehicles in accidents with their wider range of stability, the managing editor of Consumer Reports, John Linkov reckons that the smaller the vehicle doesn't necessarily mean the dangerous it gets. More often, smaller vehicles offer easy handling and maneuverability needed to prevent accidents. However, Rader and Linkov's thinking are not on the same angle. Rader's was more of the accident already happening and Linkov's focus was on the prevention.
Electronic stability control systems will be mandated for the 2012 model year. This system works by smartly applying the brakes on one or more of the wheels to avoid loss of vehicle control in an extreme maneuver.
"Electronic stability control is one of those rare safety features that's having a dramatic effect on saving lives," says Rader.
"Stability control alone can reduce the risk of fatal single-vehicle crashes by 56 percent. And it can reduce fatal single-vehicle rollovers by 80 percent for SUVs, 77 percent for passenger cars." Rader added.
Any vehicle can be entirely unsafe if is not properly built with important safety features. Plus if it is driven by a total reckless driver, accidents will always be on its way.
Credit story: click on title
Carmakers Switching to Electric Motors
Associated Press
By TOM KRISHER 09.06.07, 12:15 AM ET
DETROIT -
Beneath your car's hood, there are belts hooked to the engine, running the power steering, air conditioning and other items that drag on the engine and cut gas mileage. But as fuel efficiency becomes paramount with high gas prices and pending government regulations, automakers across the world are trying to get rid of as many belts as they can, switching them to electric motors.
The power steering pump is likely to be the first casualty. Toyota Motor Corp. (nyse: TM - news - people ), General Motors Corp. (nyse: GM - news - people ), Ford Motor Co. (nyse: F - news - people ) already have electric power steering on some models, with more in the works, and they report fuel efficiency gains of up to 8 percent.
Other manufacturers and parts suppliers also are using or developing the motors, which could spread to air conditioning and power brake assist devices run by belts that suck power from the engine.
"It's one of the top technologies on percent of fuel returned for the dollar that you put in," said Ali Jammoul, Ford's chief engineer for chassis in North America. "All that parasitic drag is gone when you remove the pump off the engine."
Ford, which launched electric power steering in January on gasoline versions of the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner small sport utility vehicles, reports an 8 percent fuel economy increase. The electric motors already were in use on hybrid models.
But fuel economy isn't the only benefit. Electric power steering has been linked to sensors so a car parallel parks itself, such as the system used on some Lexus models. The Ford system compensates for the crown in a road, eliminating drift. And the motors can be tied to sensors that stop a car from leaving its lane unless the driver wants it to.
Because there is no power steering fluid to monitor, no belt to check and far fewer moving parts, maintenance costs are lower, manufacturers say.
Steering feel also can be changed electronically from a softer feel for highway driving to a tighter, more sporty setting for winding roads.
"I wouldn't be surprised if it was on three quarters of all our models in five years because the advantages are huge," said Paul Williamsen, national manager of Lexus College, a training school for dealers who sell Toyota's luxury brand.
Toyota already has electric power steering on multiple models from top-line Lexuses to the popular new Camry to its youth-oriented Scion small cars.
Eliminating the power steering pump and fluid also helps gas mileage by shedding weight, said Williamsen, who reports a 3-to-5 percent fuel efficiency gain depending on model.
"It has absolutely saved us a four-pound lump of iron that would have been sitting there in the engine bay," Williamsen said.
At Chrysler LLC, which is working to bring electric power steering to its new models, engineers are looking at linking them to multiple safety systems including compensation for crosswinds.
The motors also will help make manufacturing more efficient, bringing down costs, said Donna Hale, Chrysler's manager for steering systems.
"You don't have to worry about assembling multiple parts in a vehicle," she said.
Bruce Belzowski, assistant research scientist with the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute, sees a mad rush to electrify belt-drive components once Congress raises corporate average fuel economy standards.
But with that rush comes a downside. If manufacturers are forced to install the motors before adequate durability testing, they could end up causing quality problems, Belzowski said.
"The bad news is the manufacturers have to do it in a relatively short period of time, so there is the potential for glitches in the system," he said.
Ford, which has pledged to place the technology on 80 to 90 percent of its North American models within four years, has data showing a 50 percent improvement in steering warranty costs for the Escape and Mariner, Jammoul said.
For automakers, especially the Detroit Three, which are struggling to keep market share from eroding to Asian competitors, making the change to electric motors and electronic controls is critical.
"The paradigm shift to the more electronic-laden vehicle is significant and has the potential to really differentiate which companies are going to survive in the future based on how well they can make this major transition," Belzowski said.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Hulk Hogan Defends Nick Hogan's Car Crash With Some Skewed Logic
| By Jim Roberts Sep 4, 2007 | |
When Nick Hogan crashed his yellow Toyota Supra just over a week ago, his father, reality television star and former wrestler Hulk Hogan, was quick to arrive on the scene. So quick was the Hulkster that many believed he may have been racing his 17-year old kid in the streets. Reports from the scene have claimed that before the crash Nick was racing silver Dodge Viper.
 |
| Hulk Hogan Priorities Seem Skewed in Nick Hogan Crash (Wenn) |
A witness named Frances Vitalis came forward and was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the cars were revving their engines and racing between traffic signals before 17-year-old Nick Bollea's (Nick Hogan's real name) car smashed into a median and spun into a palm tree Sunday night.
"We knew something was going to happen," said Vitalis, who was riding a motorcycle with a friend behind the cars. "You know that this is a bad situation and these guys are hot-dogging." So was it Hulk behind the wheel?
Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor issued a statement Wednesday saying Hulk Hogan "was not driving a car beside or near the one his son, Nick, was driving when it crashed." Shelor said Hogan arrived at the scene minutes after the crash. So he was close by.
Now Us Weekly has a tease of an interview where it sounds like the reality TV star has lost touch with reality. Hogan denies rumors that his son had been drag racing at the time of the accident. "It's just so unfair. There's not a bad bone in my son Nick's body, the most important thing to me was from all the eyewitnesses and from everyone who saw the accident, was that they were not racing."
He may want to read the Associated Press account. Hogan continues: "Nick's car was the only car involved. The media jumped on my son. I tell my son to stay strong because at the end of the day when all the facts are in, it was an accident."
Certainly this was an accident, but it is likely time to get the young kid out from behind the wheel of a car for a while. Hogan adds: “Nick is doing well, he's got a broken arm and a broken rib and some stuff wrong with his knees but he's hanging in there. He's going to be ok and we're going to move forward."
The real shame is his passenger. John Graziano, 22, remains in critical condition at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, according to the report. Nick "hanging in there" and his treatment by the press should be the least of either Hogan's worries. That's some seriously skewed logic and really bad PR.
New Chrysler CEO Says Quality Is Top Priority - Daily Auto Insider
| | |
The Daily Auto Insider | |
| September 2007 | |
| Chrysler LLC CEO Robert Nardelli told senior managers the company must improve the quality of its vehicles, The Detroit News reported. Nardelli delivered a rousing speech to a group of 300 top Chrysler executives, the News said, citing sources familiar with the session. In remarks which covered a range of topics, Nardelli focused on vehicle quality, the sources said. His remarks were apparently in reaction to such news that no Chrysler brand beat the industry average in J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Survey this year, which measures consumer satisfaction during the first 90 days of ownership. Also, in J.D. Power's Vehicle Dependability Study, which looks at vehicles that are 3 years old, Chrysler brands again finished below the industry average, although they showed some improvement, the News noted. Last month, Chrysler rolled out new lifetime warranty coverage on powertrains meant to show the company's confidence in the reliability of its engines and transmissions, and to reassure consumers about the reliability of its vehicles, the story said. | |
- Chrysler brand car sales rise 25 percent year-over-year led by Sebring
Sedan and Convertible
- Jeep(R) brand sales down 1 percent versus August 2006 while Wrangler and
Compass sales increase 58 and 76 percent respectively
- Dodge brand car sales up 13 percent from the same period last year
- Dealer inventory down 11 percent from August 2006, approximately 57,000
units
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Chrysler LLC reported U.S.
sales for August 2007 of 168,203 units; down 6 percent compared to August
2006 with 179,165 units sold. All sales figures are reported as unadjusted.
"Overall, the industry experienced softer sales in August than a year
ago," said Darryl Jackson, Vice President - U.S. Sales. "Our fleet sales
are down more than 20 percent versus August 2006. While this has driven the
overall sales decrease for the month, it is directly in line with the
company's Recovery and Transformation Plan to reduce sales of our daily
rental fleet during the second half of the year."
Chrysler brand car sales were led by Sebring Sedan which posted sales
of 4,929 for August, up 66 percent over the prior month. Chrysler Sebring
Convertible finished the month with sales of 2,730 units improving 8
percent over July. Chrysler Aspen sales also rose 62 percent versus July
with 3,599 units, posting its best month ever.
The Jeep(R) brand was down 1 percent versus last year while Wrangler
and Compass posted gains over August 2006. Jeep Wrangler and Wrangler
Unlimited posted sales of 9,464 units, up 58 percent compared to August
2006 with 6,002 units sold. The Jeep Compass finished the month with sales
of 3,625 units, up 76 percent from last year.
Dodge brand car sales increased 13 percent over last year led by Dodge
Caliber which posted a gain of 5 percent. Dodge truck sales were down 14
percent over August 2006. The all-new Dodge Nitro was up 51 percent over
July 2007.
"Our exciting new 2008 models combined with the new Chrysler Lifetime
Powertrain Warranty continues to drive showroom traffic and contributed to
stronger closing rates in August," said Michael Keegan, Vice President -
Volume Planning and Sales Operations. "Chrysler will continue to support
2007 model year close-out with a highly competitive 0% APR into September."
Chrysler finished the month with 446,249 units of inventory, or a
72-day supply. Inventory is down by 11 percent compared to August 2006 when
it was at 502,946 units.
Chrysler LLC U.S. Sales Summary Thru August 2007
Month Sales DR % Vol %
Model Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Change
Sebring 7,659 1,188 545% 545%
300 9,016 11,703 -23% -23%
Crossfire 372 496 -25% -25%
PT Cruiser 10,938 15,552 -30% -30%
Aspen 3,599 0 0% 0%
Pacifica 3,228 6,212 -48% -48%
Town & Country 8,838 11,981 -26% -26%
CHRYSLER BRAND 43,650 47,132 -7% -7%
Compass 3,625 2,061 76% 76%
Patriot 5,081 0 0% 0%
Wrangler 9,464 6,002 58% 58%
Liberty 5,387 11,039 -51% -51%
Grand Cherokee 12,265 15,129 -19% -19%
Commander 5,890 8,012 -26% -26%
JEEP BRAND 41,712 42,243 -1% -1%
Caliber 9,320 8,877 5% 5%
Avenger 5,989 0 0% 0%
Charger 7,846 10,461 -25% -25%
Viper 1 122 -99% -99%
Magnum 1,087 5,247 -79% -79%
Dakota 4,620 8,891 -48% -48%
Ram P/U 32,309 34,177 -5% -5%
Caravan 9,548 13,241 -28% -28%
Durango 3,284 5,553 -41% -41%
Nitro 6,931 0 0% 0%
Sprinter 1,906 2,267 -16% -16%
DODGE BRAND 82,841 89,790 -8% -8%
TOTAL CHRYSLER LLC 168,203 179,165 -6% -6%
TOTAL CAR 41,221 34,896 18% 18%
TOTAL TRUCK 126,982 144,269 -12% -12%
Selling Days 27 27
Sales CYTD DR % Vol %
Model Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Change
Sebring 62,220 45,062 37% 38%
300 81,020 95,475 -16% -15%
Crossfire 7,789 5,950 30% 31%
PT Cruiser 71,243 95,439 -26% -25%
Aspen 18,593 0 0% 0%
Pacifica 38,691 53,439 -28% -28%
Town & Country 90,453 112,424 -20% -20%
CHRYSLER BRAND 370,009 407,789 -10% -9%
Compass 28,421 2,768 922% 927%
Patriot 23,367 0 0% 0%
Wrangler 83,944 49,202 70% 71%
Liberty 62,035 90,847 -32% -32%
Grand Cherokee 82,827 98,124 -16% -16%
Commander 45,615 55,049 -18% -17%
JEEP BRAND 326,209 295,990 10% 10%
Caliber 74,004 59,758 23% 24%
Avenger 50,830 0 0% 0%
Charger 80,225 77,540 3% 3%
Viper 324 1,003 -68% -68%
Magnum 18,714 28,978 -36% -35%
Dakota 37,188 56,856 -35% -35%
Ram P/U 246,878 250,144 -2% -1%
Caravan 120,055 151,858 -21% -21%
Durango 34,661 47,765 -28% -27%
Nitro 48,745 0 0% 0%
Sprinter 9,704 14,489 -33% -33%
DODGE BRAND 722,806 755,281 -5% -4%
TOTAL CHRYSLER LLC 1,419,024 1,459,060 -3% -3%
TOTAL CAR 367,481 360,691 1% 2%
TOTAL TRUCK 1,051,543 1,098,369 -5% -4%
Selling Days 205 204