2011 Chrysler 300 Limited on 2040-cars

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Detroit automakers observing 8:46 of silence to mark Juneteenth

GM Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing Gerald Johnson, right, talks with employees at the Fairfax Assembly & Stamping Plant in Kansas City, Kansas. (file photo - GM)     All three Detroit automakers are observing Juneteenth, a day commemorating the end of slavery, on Friday by observing 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence, among other companywide efforts to advance the causes of social and racial justice and equality. Juneteenth marks the date, June 19, in 1865 when Union soldiers, led by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, arrived at Galveston, Texas, and announced the Civil War had ended and enslaved African Americans were to be freed. President Abraham Lincoln had officially ended slavery more than two years prior via the Emancipation Proclamation, but Union forces didn't reach Texas until that time, so there was virtually no enforcement. The 8:46 timestamp is significant because it was the length of time that a police officer in Minneapolis knelt on the neck of George Floyd during an arrest, ultimately killing him and sparking waves of protests across the U.S. and overseas. Autoblog asked automakers about their plans to mark Juneteenth, what they were doing to advance the cause of social justice for Black people, and how many African Americans they employ in both blue- and white-collar jobs. We heard back from GM, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Honda but not from Nissan and Toyota. General Motors GM’s U.S. workforce is 17.2% Black and 69.2% white, according to its most recent corporate Diversity and Inclusion Report. GM's total global employment is 173,000, and it says women and minorities represent 40% of its team of corporate officers. For reference, the Census Bureau says African Americans make up 13.4% of the U.S. population of roughly 328 million people. White people constitute 76.5%. As previously reported, GM planned to pause production at its factories on each shift today and observe silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. The company will also have a digital countdown clock atop the GM's headquarters in Detroit for the moment of silence. Additionally, Chairman and CEO Mary Barra has said she will lead a new Inclusion Advisory Board made up of people from within and outside GM to suggest areas for change and hold the company to its commitments to fight injustice and racial inequality.

Junkyard Gem: 2001 Chrysler Voyager

When a car brand gets the axe from its owners, it's not as easy as flipping a switch. Sometimes models of that brand still sell enough to be worth carrying on under the original name. That was the difficulty presented by the deletion of the Plymouth marque by Chrysler after the 2001 model year; sales of the Plymouth Neon could continue here (for a few more years) with Dodge badges, as had been the case all along, but what about the still-popular Plymouth Voyager minivan? As the most proletarian of the Town & Country/Caravan/Voyager minivan triumvirate, the Voyager name had been on Plymouth minivans since 1984 and on full-sized Plymouth siblings of the Dodge Tradesman/Sportsman since 1974. So, when an updated Chrysler minivan arrived for the 2001 model year, the Voyager name lived on — briefly — as the lowest trim level of Chrysler-badged minivans. Here's one of those rare machines, found in a Denver boneyard recently. For the 2001 through 2003 model years, the Dodge Caravan lived in the middle of the Chrysler Corporation minivan prestige pyramid, flanked by the Chrysler Voyager below and the Chrysler Town & Country above.  In the European market, of course, Chrysler Voyagers (and Chrysler Neons) were sold for decades. Trivia fans might also recall the Lancia Voyager and Chrysler Grand Caravan, both available for a while in the European market. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. In fact, the idea of a Lancia Voyager seems sufficiently amusing that we should watch a Dutch-language advertisement for it right now. This is the pushrod 3.3-liter V6 engine, originally developed as a more powerful alternative to the Mitsubishi V6s that went into so many Chrysler vehicles during the 1980s and 1990s. This one was rated at a respectable 180 horsepower. You could get a manual transmission in US-market Voyagers and Caravans through the 1995 model year, but the days of three-pedal Chrysler minivans were long gone for American car shoppers by the dawn of our current century. So, it's a gem from a historical standpoint but not exactly the sort of vehicle that inspires the howls of outrage from enthusiasts over, say, a discarded Lotus Esprit or Jensen Interceptor. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

FCA updates 700k-vehicle recall to replace ignition switches

FCA US is revising a previously announced recall of 702,578 minivans and SUVs; now specifying that owners replace their ignition switches, rather than just a component. The campaign affects the 2008-2010 Chrysler Town & Country, 2008-2010 Dodge Grand Caravan and 2009-2010 Dodge Journey. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initially opened an investigation last summer following complaints about the ignition switches in these models. FCA US (then Chrysler Group) responded with a recall of 695,957 examples of these vehicles because the key could appear to be in the "Run" position but not be fully engaged. If it slipped out, and there was an accident, then the airbags might not deploy. The company had initially planned to install a new detent ring to fix the problem. According to the timeline in a NHTSA document (available here as a PDF), the government agency and FCA US continued their research into the problem. The automaker found that the time needed to create a new ring design and updated software would be longer than replacing the whole ignition switch. The company worked with the supplier Marquardt to negotiate an accelerated schedule to manufacture the extra replacement parts. According to NHTSA, the investigation has now been closed because of FCA's recall. Company spokesperson Eric Mayne confirms to Autoblog via email, "No additional vehicles are affected and all affected customers have already been made aware their vehicles are subject to recall." FCA US sent out an initial notification advising owners of the problem in September 2014. The company will now send out a second letter in April and will replace the parts in two phases. Repairs for affected models from the 2008 and 2009 model years will begin in April, and 2010 examples will start being fixed in August. RECALL Subject : Ignition Switch may Turn Off , 1 INVESTIGATION(S) Report Receipt Date: JUN 26, 2014 NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V373000 Component(s): AIR BAGS , ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Potential Number of Units Affected: 702,578 All Products Associated with this Recall Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY 2008-2010 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN 2008-2010 DODGE JOURNEY 2009-2010 Details Manufacturer: Chrysler Group LLC SUMMARY: This defect can affect the safe operation of the airbag system. Until this recall is performed, customers should remove all items from their key rings, leaving only the ignition key.