2002 Chrysler Sebring Lx Convertible 2-door 2.7l(2 For The Price Of 1) on 2040-cars

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US expands probe into ZF-TRW airbag failure-to-deploy to 12.3 million vehicles

DETROIT — U.S. auto safety regulators have expanded an investigation into malfunctioning airbag controls to include 12.3 million vehicles because the bags may not inflate in a crash. The problem could be responsible for as many as eight deaths. Vehicles made by Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Fiat Chrysler from the 2010 through 2019 model years are included in the probe, which was revealed Tuesday in documents posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It involves airbag control units made by ZF-TRW that were installed in the vehicles. The control units can fail in a crash, possibly because of unwanted electrical signals produced by the crash itself that can disable an air bag control circuit housed in the passenger compartment, according to NHTSA documents. The electrical signals can damage the control circuit, the documents say. ZF, a German auto parts maker which acquired TRW Automotive in 2015, said in a statement that it's committed to safety and is cooperating with NHTSA and automakers in the investigation. The case is another in a long list of problems with auto industry airbags, including faulty and potentially deadly Takata airbag inflators. At least 24 people have been killed worldwide and more than 200 injured by the inflators, which can explode with too much force and hurl dangerous shrapnel into the passenger cabin. The inflators touched off the largest series of automotive recalls in U.S. history involving with as many as 70 million inflators to be recalled by the end of next year. About 100 million inflators are to be recalled worldwide. On April 19, NHTSA upgraded the ZF-TRW probe from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis, which is a step closer toward seeking recalls. So far, only Hyundai and Kia and Fiat Chrysler have issued recalls in the case. Four deaths that may have been caused by the problem were reported in Hyundai-Kia vehicles and three in Fiat Chrysler automobiles. NHTSA opened an investigation in March of 2017 involving the TRW parts in Hyundais and Kias. The upgrade came after investigators found two recent serious crashes involving 2018 and 2019 Toyota Corollas in which the airbags did not inflate. One person was killed. Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a nonprofit consumer group, said the ZF-TRW case shows the auto industry thus far has learned very little from Takata.

Junkyard Gem: 1986 Plymouth Horizon

Chrysler imported quite a few Mitsubishis and sold them as Dodge and Plymouth Colts, but the Colts of the 1980s had to compete with the Plymouth Horizon and its Dodge Omni sibling. Based on a Chrysler Europe design, production of the Plymouth Horizon ran in virtually unchanged form from the 1979 through 1990 model years. A simple, cheap econobox, the Plymouth Horizon sold well enough, but was such a disposable car that very few remain today. Here's one that lasted long enough to end its days in a California wrecking yard at age 31. The genealogy of the Omnirizon gets a bit tangled when you go back far enough; the car is based on the chassis design of the 1975 Simca 1307, though by the time it got to Detroit it had evolved considerably. Chrysler was desperate for an American-built economy car during the late 1970s, and the Omnirizon got the job done. The 1978-1982 Horizons had 1.7-liter Volkswagen engines, while the 1983-1986 models came with a 1.6-liter Simca mill as the base engine. The Chrysler 2.2-liter four was an optional Horizon powerplant starting in 1981, and the only engine available from 1987 through the final Horizons built in 1990. This car has the 2.2, rated at 96 horses in 1986. The '86 Horizon weighed a mere 2,100 pounds (about the same as a 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage), and so 96 horsepower made it peppy enough by mid-1980s econo-commuter standards. The interior is right out of the Slippery Plastic With Fake Stitching™ playbook, but nobody bought an Omnirizon for the luxury. This car was basically identical to its Dodge Omni sibling, and both had MSRPs of $6,209 in 1986 (about $13,900 in inflation-adjusted 2017 bucks). You could get cheaper new cars in 1986— the $4,995 Hyundai Excel and $3,990 Yugo GV come to mind— but the Omnirizon five-doors were better-built and had the sales advantage of being known quantities. Even by 1986, the Omnirizon was showing its age (though not as much as the amusingly obsolete Chevrolet Chevette, which was sold through the 1987 model year). Still, it remained sufficiently relevant to sell in decent number for another four years. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The pride is back! Featured Gallery Junked 1986 Plymouth Horizon View 14 Photos Auto News Chrysler Hatchback Classics

Could Chrysler leave Michigan for Tennessee?

Detroit's Big Three could become the Big Two. According to an AP report in The Detroit News, state officials have been lobbying for Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne to select Tennessee as the location for Fiat's joint headquarters with Chrysler Group LLC.
This weekend, Marchionne met with Tennessee governor Bill Haslam at a ceremony celebrating the expansion of a Fiat subsidiary plant in the city of Pulaski. The AP report does not mention any serious talks about headquarters relocation, only that Tennessee officials have been "working me over pretty well," according to Marchionne.
Fiat hopes to complete its merger with the Auburn Hills-based automaker sometime next year, and earlier reports have stated that the company is seeking $10 billion in financing to buy the remaining bits of Chrysler. If the company were to relocate, it would join Nissan and Volkswagen in having major American automotive operations in Tennessee. Of course, that whole "Imported From Detroit" thing would need to go out the window, as well.