2005 White Limited! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Maserati's new North American CEO is Chrysler's dealer guru

There's been a bit of a shakeup among the executive ranks at Chrysler and Maserati, as the Italian sports car manufacturer has appointed Peter Grady as its new North American CEO. Grady, who we imagine is about to get a very nice upgrade to his company car, will retain his role as vice president of dealer network development for Chrysler and Chrysler Capital, and is replacing Bob Graczyk at Maserati.
"It is with pleasure and anticipation that I welcome Peter to Maserati. He brings to our company nearly 30 years of leadership and experience. His background and industry expertise will be a great basis for the continued expansion of Maserati in North America," said Maserati CEO Harald Wester in a statement.
Also joining the team at Maserati is Saad Chehab, who previously worked for the Chrysler and Lancia brands and will be the new head of marketing for the Italian brand. He'll be replaced by Al Gardner, the former boss of Chrysler's southeast business center, as the head of Chrysler brand, according to Automotive News.

Chrysler shows creative side with employee art exhibit

The United Auto Workers and Chrysler recently sponsored 92 works of art created by 50 of the automaker's unionized and salaried employees for the 2013-14 Artists at Work Exhibition, the ninth such show, which recognizes the creative process required to make art and manufacture vehicles. Chrysler says the event is "the country's only juried art show sponsored by a major corporation and a labor union." Unfortunately, the exhibit is not open to the public, but we have images to share of the winning pieces as well as other interesting exhibits in the gallery above.
"Art and manufacturing have more in common than you might think," says Keith Mickens, Chrysler-UAW National Training Center co-director from the UAW. "The creative process involved in producing a memorable image on a canvas can be used to help build quality vehicles on an assembly line."
A diverse range of art forms are showcased, from metal sculptures to ceramics to photography to paintings and more. Four Detroit-area professional artists narrowed down over 600 submissions to the 92 works of art that were shown at the exhibit, then awarded "Best of Show" prizes to three employees for their work (the first three images in our gallery) and selected 11 employees for honorable mentions. The overall winner is the sculpture above by Joseph Aiuto, titled "Childhood Anxiety."

Does the future of Fiat-Chrysler include Dodge?

Wards Auto reports the future of Dodge is looking uncertain. Fiat has more or less laid out it's game plan for the next few years, and while the Chrysler, Fiat and Jeep lines are set to receive plenty of love, Dodge isn't so lucky. Fiat has already hobbled Dodge significantly by splitting off the brand's trucks into a separate Ram line.
Wards says that after the Avenger rides off into the sunset early next year, Fiat-Chrysler won't replace the model, leaving a gaping midsize hole in the Dodge lineup. The report also cites unnamed sources as saying that at least two other current Dodge products will move to the Chrysler line.
One of those could very well be the Grand Caravan. Chrysler has already made it clear that it plans to trim redundancy between its minivan offerings, but it has yet to clarify which other vehicle could sail under the Chrysler banner moving forward. Either way, such changes to the product line would theoretically leave Dodge with just four models.