2015 Chrysler 200 S on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Fiat Chrysler's dealers and mechanics to reopen on Monday in Italy

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler said on Thursday its Italian network of approved dealers and mechanic workshops would reopen on May 4, when the country is set to start lifting a national lockdown put in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus. A package of health and safety measures for workers and clients will be put in place across the entire network to comply with the rules set by Rome to prepare for a staged restart of economic activities after weeks of national lockdown triggered by the virus outbreak. A vast majority of FCA's dealers and workshops in Italy are run by private operators, while the automaker directly operates some large ones in big cities. FCA this week resumed van production at its Atessa plant in central Italy and some operations in other Italian plants, including preparatory works at its Melfi facility for the final development of Jeep's new hybrid cars, and at Turin's Mirafiori plant for its new electric 500 small car. Related Video:

Jeep Cherokee faces on-sale delay

A report in The Wall Street Journal looks at some of the obstacles to the 2014 Jeep Cherokee that go beyond its mootable yet "very contemporary" looks, almost all of them based on Fiat's financial position. Starting with that sheetmetal, in defense of it SRT president Ralph Gilles and Jeep design head Mark Allen said they wanted to "make sure the design still looks modern five years from now."
The WSJ piece doesn't cite longevity as a factor, instead saying that its features originated in a design for an Alfa Romeo, the transformation into a Jeep design meant allowing Chrysler get it to market more quickly and save "hundreds of millions of dollars" in engineering.
The need for Fiat to save money while it weathers the European situation has cut budgets for development, engineering and the pace of retooling the Toledo, Ohio plant to build the Cherokee. In a familiar case of snowballing at work, among the effects will be pushing back the Cherokee's volume sales date and delaying updates to some of Chrysler's other products.

Six arrested from chop shop linked to Dream Cruise thefts

The spirit of this year's Woodward Dream Cruise was dampened after a rash of car thefts were reported. The vehicles included a 1966 Chrysler 300 Deluxe, a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette, and a replica of the 1971 Chevrolet Camaro owned by the founder of Papa John's Pizza. While these thefts outraged the collector car community, that same tight-knit group is now breathing a sigh of relief, as those responsible are behind bars. Detroit Police arrested six people – three adults and three teens – on Thursday, September 17, in connection with a chop shop operation linked to the collector car thefts. According to The Detroit News, one suspect is still at large. There's concern among Dearborn police that the same group responsible for the Dream Cruise thefts boosted some vehicles from a Ford factory. While the Camaro was recovered mostly whole and found in a giant bush on Detroit's west side, the fate of the Corvette or Chrysler has not been made known. Here's hoping these classic cars make it back into their rightful owner's garages soon. News Source: The Detroit NewsImage Credit: Jerry S. Mendoza / AP Government/Legal Chrysler Classics