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Fiat Chrysler will invest up to $1.5 billion to build EVs in Windsor

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will invest between $1.35 billion and $1.5 billion in its Windsor assembly plant in Canada to build electric vehicles as part of a tentative deal with Canadian autoworkers, Unifor National President Jerry Dias said on Thursday. The auto union said FCA would invest in a state-of-the-art vehicle platform that will enable the assembly of plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles, with at least one new model in 2025. The announcement comes less than a month after Unifor said Ford would invest $1.46 billion in its Oakville and Windsor plants. "Not only is Fiat-Chrysler maintaining the current portfolio but they will be investing three derivatives to enhance the current portfolio," Dias said. Unifor also said it expects to extend the life of the Chrysler 300, a rear-wheel-drive luxury car and introduce multiple derivatives of the Dodge Charger and Challenger. The union said as many as 2,000 jobs would be added in 2024 at the Windsor plant. Market forecasting firm LMC Automotive on Thursday said it would take until 2024 for U.S. vehicle sales to recover from the coronavirus downturn and get close to the 17 million vehicles sold in 2019. Ratification meetings for the FCA deal will happen over the weekend, and members will vote on whether to accept the agreement on Sunday. The union is expected to begin negotiations with General Motors's Canadian unit next week. Related Video: Green Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Coupe Electric Sedan windsor

FCA registers 'Cuda' trademark, but we wouldn't get our hopes up

It seems Chrysler has submitted a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office for the name "Cuda," as first reported by Motor1. Fans of Mopar will instantly recognize this as the abbreviated name of Plymouth's classic Barracuda muscle car, which occasionally bared the shortened nomenclature. Though this might seem like a sign that FCA is considering a revival of the beloved machine, we wouldn't get our hopes up. See, rumors of a 'Cuda or Barracuda revival have circulated pretty much since the moment Dodge showed the modern Challenger and when it went on sale. And some of those rumors have involved the re-registering of the 'Cuda trademark, even as far back as 2010. Over the years, each rumor died a quiet death as time went on and no 'Cudas appeared on dealer lots. There is one rumor that's recent enough to still have a slim chance of realization, circa 2015 to be exact. It predicts a smaller Challenger-based car called Barracuda that could appear as a Dodge in both coupe and drop-top versions. However, we doubt it will come true, since FCA doesn't exactly have a large development budget, and we're not sure what the company would have to gain by making another sports car to sell below the Challenger. Odds are, it would cannibalize sales from the older, completely developed, and thus more profitable Challenger. Really, this trademark filing is probably just a defensive move for Chrysler. It will ensure that no one else can slip in and snag the name for their own vehicle. It should also help ensure that Chrysler has the rights to use the name on other products such as memorabilia. Sorry to crush your dreams. Related Video: News Source: US Patent and Trademark Office via Motor1Image Credit: Chrysler Rumormill Chrysler Dodge Coupe Performance hemi cuda

Junkyard Gem: 2001 Plymouth Neon

Chrysler's Plymouth brand was created in 1928 (and named after a brand of twine favored by farmers), in order to compete against Ford and Chevrolet for entry-level car shoppers. Plymouth stayed in third place in the US-market new-car sales hit parade for most of the years through the early 1950s and remained a strong (if gradually shrinking) player for decades after that. By the 1990s, though, it was tough to distinguish Plymouths from Dodges and DaimlerChrysler announced in late 1999 that the Plymouth Division would be getting the axe. 2001 was the last model year for Plymouth, with just one kind of vehicle sold for that year: the Neon. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those final Plymouths, found in a Denver self-service yard recently. In the years just before the DaimlerChrysler "merger of equals," Chrysler had attempted to make the Plymouth brand more interesting. An updated version of the old Plymouth ship emblem was created, a Plymouth-badged car on the Chrysler LH platform was planned, the PT Cruiser was going to be a Plymouth, and then there was the Prowler crypto-hot-rod. Those dreams of a revived Plymouth bit the dust once Herr Schrempp took over. The Prowler and Voyager became Chryslers, while the PT Cruiser never had even a single year of Plymouth badging. The only 2001 car sold as a Plymouth was the humble Neon. Since the very beginning of Neon production as a 1995 model, there never had been much difference between the Neons with Dodge badges and the ones with Plymouth badges, continuing the tradition of the Dodge/Plymouth Colt and Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon. Earlier generations of Plymouths (e.g., the Valiant) had been mechanically identical to their Dodge-badged siblings, but at least they looked different and had smaller price tags. In 2001, the MSRP of a base Dodge Neon was $12,715, or about $22,156 in 2023 dollars. The price of the base 2001 Plymouth Neon? $12,715. At least the Plymouth Division got two model years in which to sell the second-generation version of the Neon. The engine is the SOHC version of Chrysler's 2.0-liter straight-four, rated at 132 horsepower and 130 pound-feet. Sorry, 2001 Plymouth shoppers, your Neons didn't get the 150-horse version that Dodge Neon R/T and ACR models received that year. This car has some extra-cost goodies. There's this three-speed automatic transmission, which had a $600 cost ($1,036 in today's money). It has the $1,000 air conditioning option as well ($1,742 now).