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Dodge Charger and Challenger will live on, but a new Viper is unlikely

BALOCCO, Italy — As FCA's latest five-year plan was presented last week, most of the day was focused on four brands — Jeep, Ram, Maserati and Alfa Romeo. That left a lot of people wondering about the future of the Chrysler, Fiat and Dodge nameplates. At the last five-year event, Dodge was one of the main features. We heard plans for an expanded lineup that included refreshed versions of the Viper, Challenger and Charger, the last two riding on the Alfa Romeo Giorgio platform. Times sure have changed. Dodge isn't going away, but the brand will be narrowed and focused. Performance is the name of the game, but don't look for a new Viper anytime soon. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne simply said it's "not in the plan." Marchionne thought it was a great idea but that it couldn't live on as a standalone product. If it does eventually return, expect it to share parts with other FCA products, possibly with one of the upcoming Maseratis. On the other hand, Marchionne confirmed that both the Dodge Challenger and Charger will continue to live on. In the last five-year plan, FCA said that the pair would share underpinnings with future Alfa Romeos. That was promising news for those hoping for smaller, lighter versions of each model that would be better suited to fight models like the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro. It seems the Alfa Romeo platform is off the table. Marchionne said the current LX platform would indeed live on, though it would be "unrecognizable" compared to what we have today. The LX architecture is ancient, and, although it's been continuously updated, its basic bones date back to the DaimlerChrysler days. Marchionne said that the Alfa platform just doesn't have the character American shoppers are looking for in those vehicles. It's unclear when the next iteration of the Charger and Challenger will arrive, but expect another refresh sometime before 2022. Look for an updated version of the tried-and-true Hemi V8. Rumors continue to swirl about a larger and more powerful 7.0-liter variant dubbed the Banshee, but we'll have to wait and see how that pans out. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Detroit 3 small cars lay an egg in latest Consumer Reports reliability study

Consumer Reports has released its Annual Auto Reliability Survey and the results are, in a word, interesting. While we already covered the score-damaging effects of infotainment systems, there's another big angle to the data that's getting some attention - the utterly dismal scores of the Detroit Three's small car offerings.
The turbocharged Dodge Dart and Chevrolet Cruze, as well as the Ford Fiesta were their respective brands' lowest-scoring models, a stat that's made worse by the fact that the American automakers finished 25th, 21st and 23rd, respectively.
That's not acceptable for The Detroit Free Press' auto critic, Mark Phelan, who has penned a scathing critique of the D3's small car reliability scores, arguing that GM, Ford and Chrysler are "out of excuses."

FCA's U.S. sales chief sues company for wrongful retaliation

Some fresh controversy is brewing at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as The Detroit News reports that the head of U.S. sales has filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against the company.. Reid Bigland, who's also in charge of the Ram truck brand, alleges that FCA made him a scapegoat for wrongful sales inflation practices and fixing vehicle sales statistics, which are currently under investigation by federal agents. Bigland claims that FCA executives punished him for cooperating with the federal investigators in the case by cutting his pay by more than 90 percent, according to the lawsuit he filed. The plan apparently was to use the money saved to pay for fines following any settlements made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. So far, the lawsuit alleges that FCA cost Bigland over $1.8 million in income. "They had the largest growth in retail sales in 17 years last year and refuses to pay him," Deborah Gordon, Bigland's lawyer in the case, said to The Detroit News. "Why is that? Because he participated in the SEC investigation and they don't like what he said." Bigland claims he just cooperated with the SEC investigation by testifying about FCA's sales reporting, from the time he took the position to the period prior to being appointed the company's U.S. sales chief. "In late 2018, presumably as a way to wrap up their investigation with some result, the SEC suggested to plaintiff that he admit to some wrongdoing as to defendants' monthly sales reporting," Gordon further said in a statement as part of the lawsuit. "The SEC also suggested a resolution involving some penalty to FCA. Because (Bigland) had not engaged in any wrongdoing, and there was no wrongdoing, he declined to do so." However, exacerbating the issue is the fact that Bigland reportedly sold his shares in the company last year, prompting FCA to act against him even more. FCA came under fire recently by federal agents in at least two separate investigations, potentially exposing conspiracy and corruption between company executives and private entities. The investigations are being led independently by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI. So far, eight convictions were reportedly secured, with one including former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Vice President Alphons Iacobelli, as one of the defendants. Iacobelli was one of the former top labor-relations executives for the automaker.