2008 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 Big Horn Edition on 2040-cars

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FCA plants skipping summer shutdown to keep up with demand

Hopefully, some FCA US factory employees don't have big plans for the usual summer shutdown, because the automaker is keeping several plants running this year. Demand is so high that the company wants to keep models rolling off the assembly lines. Four FCA US assembly plants, all the engine factories, and some locations that build transmissions are staying open throughout the summer, according to the Detroit Free Press. Usually, these sites would see a two-week shutdown for the company to retool and perform repairs. This year, factories are staying open for FCA to support its strong sales. The lines that remaining humming through the summer show an inclination toward the automaker's popular SUV's and crossovers. They include the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Michigan that builds the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango; Saltillo Van Assembly in Mexico that constructs the Ram ProMaster; Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio that produces the Cherokee and Wrangler; and Toluca Assembly in Mexico that makes the Dodge Journey and Fiat 500. Related Video: News Source: The Detroit Free PressImage Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM FCA dodge journey fca us ram promaster Jefferson North Assembly Plant

2024 Chrysler Pacifica celebrates 40 years of the modern minivan

While its nameplate is relatively new, the Chrysler Pacifica traces its roots to the model that defined the minivan as we know it today: the Plymouth Voyager. Chrysler is celebrating 40 years of building family haulers by making a handful of small updates to the Pacifica for 2024. Don't expect to find a "40 Years Edition" trim the next time you visit a Chrysler dealer. Changes for the 2024 model year are largely limited to new paint and interior colors. Red Hot and Baltic Gray join the palette, and buyers who order the range-topping Pacifica Pinnacle model can select a new interior color called Sepia. Chrysler has also pared down the Plug-In Hybrid range to two models called Select and Pinnacle, respectively. Customers can add the optional S Appearance, Premium S Appearance, and Road Tripper packages to the base Select trim. The final update for 2024 is minor but important. The Uconnect 5 infotainment system gains an Emergency Vehicle Alert System (EVAS) that warns the driver if it detects an active fire truck, an active ambulance, or "other nearby roadway hazards," according to Chrysler. Chrysler dealers across the nation will begin receiving the 2024 Pacifica in the coming weeks. Moving your family and your stuff for 40 years Plymouth, which Chrysler closed in 2001, built the first Voyager at the Windsor plant in Canada on November 2, 1983. The van went on sale as a 1984 model and became what most historians consider the first modern minivan. The idea of designing a box on wheels tailor-made for families wasn't new: the 1930s Stout Scarab, the original Volkswagen Bus released in 1950, the Fiat 600 Multipla launched in 1956, and the Renault Espace unveiled shortly after the Voyager filled the same void, but it's the Chrysler Corporation's definition of a minivan that stuck. The original Voyager was also sold as the Dodge Caravan (1984) and the Chrysler Town & Country (1990). The three models leveraged a unique set of attributes to stand out from other vans on the market, including car-derived underpinnings (many existing models were related to bulky commercial vehicles), front-wheel-drive, and a sliding door that made the cabin easy to get in and out of. Stow 'N Go seats didn't appear until the 2004 model year, but Chrysler's early vans featured removable rear seats for weekend trips to the hardware store. SUVs and crossovers often get blamed for killing the station wagon, but the minivan arguably started the war.

2015 Dodge Charger priced from $27,995, Hellcat from $63,995*

Ladies and gentlemen, let's get the most salient bit of information out of the way right off the bat: $63,995*. That's the amount of money Dodge dealers will be asking for (at the very least, naturally) for a 2015 Charger Hellcat (*plus $995 for destination on all pricing figures). That rather reasonable sum will bring home its buyer a 6.2-liter Hemi V8 engine boasting a supercharger to post such gaudy figures as 707 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque, leading to a top speed of 204 miles per hour to go along with an NHRA-certified quarter-mile time of 11.0 seconds.
With that out of the way, the rest of the 2015 Dodge Charger pricing information breaks down as follows: $27,995 will deliver a sedan with a 292-horsepower 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine, mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Moving up one step of the ladder nets the buyer an SXT model with the same engine, but a nicer chunk of technology and optional equipment for a $2,000 premium. All-wheel drive adds another $3,000. Hemi V8-powered R/T models now boast an eight-speed transmission bolted to the same well-loved 370-horsepower engine as before, for a base price of $32,995.
The SRT 392 model that had hitherto been the top-performing Charger brings with it an asking price of $47,385 while bargain hunters can equip a Charger R/T Scat Pack machine with that same 485-horsepower 6.4-liter Hemi, albeit with somewhat less posh interior bits and pieces, the removal of the 392's adjustable suspension and hi-po wheel and tire package for $39,995.