http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=990
Chrysler's new Italian chief said Wednesday the American icon is a leaner, more focused automaker well on its way to achieving long-term profitability and regaining its sense of style.
Wearing his signature rumpled sweater, Sergio Marchionne led a team of executives through an eight-hour-long presentation of the automaker's five year plan, some five months after Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy protection.
"What you're witnessing is the beginning of a genuine transformation," Marchionne told reporters and analysts gathered in Chrysler's design dome at its Auburn Hills, Michigan headquarters.
"It's comprehensive, it's ambitious and it's serious."
Chrysler said it expects to break even next year, reach profitability in 2011 and repay 7.4 billion dollars in loans from the US and Canadian governments by 2014.
Key to the transformation is an intense alliance with Fiat, which obtained a 20% stake in Chrysler in exchange for sharing its technology and charismatic chief executive.
More than half of Chrysler's vehicles - including its Jeeps - will be built on Fiat platforms and Chrysler expects to cut out 2.9 billion dollars in purchasing costs over the next five years.
Update weak lineup
The automaker is going to invest 23 billion dollars to update its weak product lineup by eliminating some underperforming models, introducing new ones - including Fiat's popular 500 minicar - and refreshing 75% of its US vehicle lineup by 2010.
Chrysler has ambitious plans for regaining lost market share in its home market and also plans to work with Fiat to expand aggressively overseas.
It hopes to more than double its sales from 1.3 million vehicles in 2009 to 2.8 million vehicles in 2014.
Marchionne refuted recent reports that Chrysler is burning through the four-billion-dollar cash endowment it received upon exiting bankruptcy protection in June.
"The new Chrysler is being extremely parsimonious, i.e. cheap," Marchionne said, adding that Chrysler has substantially reduced its fixed costs and increased its cash position to roughly 5.7 billion dollars at the end of September.
Marchionne has taken the helm of a company wracked by years of turmoil and he acknowledged that its product offerings has suffered from neglect.
Chrysler underwent a painful divorce from Germany's Daimler in 2007 and its new owners - private equity group Cerberus - took the helm as auto sales were beginning to tumble.
Keeping afloat
The company shuttered plants and shed tens of thousands of workers, but the painful restructuring was insufficient to keep the company afloat during one of the worst economic downturns in decades.
Chrysler sought billions in government loans to keep the lights on while it restructured ahead of an April 30 bankruptcy filing, after losing 8.9 billion dollars last year.
Its US sales - which were down 30% in October even as its rivals posted gains - remain down 39% for the year to date. And with US auto sales expected to remain at historically low levels for at least another year, competition will be fierce.
But the cost-cutting moves and the trauma of bankruptcy have provided Chrysler with the instinct and a low cost structure to survive just about anything, Marchionne said.
"Survivors are a different breed of people," he told reporters.
"People who have lived through traumatic experiences where death may have been an option end up living their life differently."
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Porsche Boxster Spyder Revealed
http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=991
Porsche has released the first images and details about the 2010 Boxster Spyder.
Described as the "...purist form of the Porsche sports car - light, powerful, consistently open, and very efficient", the Spyder is powered by a 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine that produces 235kW (7kW more than the Boxster S). Backed up by the optional PDK (Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe) transmission, the Spyder accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 4.8 seconds before topping out at 267 km/h - with the roof down. If that isn't impressive enough, the roadster consumes just 9.3L/100km in the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC).
To further maximize the Spyder's sporting prowess, Porsche put the car on a diet (it only weighs 1,275 kg which makes it the lightest model in the Porsche lineup), lowered the center of gravity, and added an all-new sports suspension.
In terms of styling, the car features a unique soft top, extra-low side windows, and two rear deck lid bulges which are meant to resemble the ones used on the Carrera GT. Other design touches include modified front and rear bumpers, 10-spoke alloy wheels, and revised air intakes. Inside, the roadster boasts an exclusive interior with sport seats, 'Boxster Spyder' branded scuff plates, and a body-color center console.
Set to debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show, the Boxster Spyder will go on sale in February 2010.
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Chrysler Outlines 5 Year Fiat Based Product Plan
http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=992
Chrysler has outlined their five-year product plan during a lengthy press conference at the automaker's Technology Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
The plan has multiple phases and the first results will be seen in 2010, when a number of underperforming vehicles are given an emergency facelift. Key recipients include the Chrysler Sebring sedan, the Jeep Patriot, the Jeep Compass, the Jeep Wrangler, the Dodge Avenger and the Dodge Journey.
While facelifts will be huge in 2010, the company will also launch new versions of the Chrysler 300, the Jeep Grand Cherokee (which arrives in May), the Dodge Charger, and a new full-size Dodge SUV (likely a Durango replacement, based on the redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee).
During 2011, the Wrangler will receive a new interior and various other upgrades.
In 2012, the Dodge Caliber will be put out to pasture. It will be replaced by new compact sedan given to Chrysler and Dodge.
For 2013, Chrysler gets a Fiat B platform-based small car, a Sebring replacement, and a new mid-sized crossover. Jeep will launch a small SUV based on the Fiat Panda, while the Patriot and Liberty will be replaced by Fiat-based SUVs. Dodge gets a Fiat-based small car and an Avenger replacement.
In 2014, Chrysler and Dodge will launch new versions of the Town & Country and Grand Caravan minivans.
The newly created Ram brand (aka Dodge Trucks), will kill the Dakota pickup in 2011 (could be replaced by a car-based vehicle) and launch new Fiat-based commercial vans in 2012.
According to the Fiat overlords, Chrysler will have projected $5 billion operating profit (by 2014) thanks to the sale of 2 million vehicles per year (up from 950,000). While it sounds like everything Chrysler designed will be killed, only 56 percent of Chrysler's vehicles will be based on Fiat platforms by 2014.
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AVUS Performance Audi A4 Avant Black Arrow
http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=993
AVUS Performance has unveiled a new tuning program for the Audi A4 Avant.
This particular model, dubbed the Black Arrow, features gloss black 21-inch wheels and a coilover suspension. The company also offers 19- and 20-inch wheels, LED taillights, and several matt wraps (black, white, etc).
Power comes from a 2.7-liter TDI engine, which is outfitted with a stage 1 performance ECU. Thanks to the electronic wizardry, the engine produces 172kW and 485Nm of torque instead of 142kW and 400Nm of torque.
If you don't have an A4 2.7 TDI, AVUS also offers performance upgrades for the 3.0 TDI and all other turbocharged engines.
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Autodelta 159 J4 3.2 C and Brera S 3.2 Compressore
http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=994
The leading bespoke design and tuning house for Alfa Romeo, Autodelta, continues a tradition of new model presentations at this year's MPH - the Prestige and Performance Show hosted by BBC's Top Gear's infamous threesome - with the launch of two new 'ground-breaking' products.
The first, a new package that aims to push the oft-touted Italian notion of 'gran turismo' to a performance-upgraded 159 saloon, this time to the 3.2-litre V6 version a year after the 2.2-litre model was first re-worked. The second, an Autodelta Brera, responds to customer demand following Prodrive's recent power output upgrade and weight loss program on the Brera S and completes the package with more wide-ranging performance modifications.
Autodelta's 'flamboyant' 159 - the J4 3.2 C - has been re-tuned for optimal driver orientation but also for the very greatest in coseted comfort and bespoke Autodelta luxury. The J4 3.2 C packs a 259kW 3.2 V6 engine and is combined with upgrades to the chassis, electronics, brakes, and suspension - all adjusted after intensive R&D for the V6 version from the sporting but smooth-riding 2.2 C.
Building on Prodrive efforts to reduce weight by 100 kilos and now boasting Autodelta's established supercharged and intercooled 259kW V6, the Brera S 3.2 'Compressore' places greater focus on the driver, turning the Brera S into a true high-performance sportscar. A bespoke Limited Slip Differential improves traction in addition to in-gear acceleration gains from Prodrive's switch from four-wheel to front-wheel-drive. At the request of clients, Autodelta have swapped Prodrive's more track-suitable suspension for a custom Autodelta Sportline suspension, optimised to balance track capability with everyday comfort.
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