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Chrysler Airflow being redesigned and renamed for production

The Chrysler Airflow concept is dead in name and form. Motor Trend spoke to Stellantis design chief Ralph Gilles, who said brand CEO Chris Feuell "wanted a statement that had literally zero to do with anything that you have seen today, even the Airflow concept car. It is evolving in a new direction." When MT spoke to Feuell about the name, she said, "There is a group of people who love the Airflow name and just as many who beg us not to use it." The magazine believes a new-to-the-brand name will get the nod, Chrysler perhaps hoping to perform a hard reset on buyer perceptions. The redesign is far enough along to have been previewed in Los Angeles earlier this year, Feuell saying reactions tell them "we have a hit on our hands," Gilles saying "It blew the doors off." We won't see it until next year, and no one at the brand has offered a clue about how it's changed from the Airflow concept now a couple of years old. We know Feuell is plotting a remake of the entire the Chrysler experience, from shopping its products online and at dealers to after-sales care. She's said before she wants Chrysler to become Stellantis' "startup brand," offering "clean mobility, seamless technology," and affordable pricing. Affordable doesn't mean what it used to mean, so we don't know where product planners intend to slot the coming vehicles. Tesla buyers have been mentioned as one of Feuell's targets, but we're clearly still in the early days of transformation when marketing Venn diagrams encompass aspirations and projections that will be whittled out as production nears. Even for all that, the Airflow didn't scream "Chrysler transformed!" save for its battery-electric powertrain. Chrysler's tracking like Jaguar at the moment, with a lean range for dealers until the EV revolution begins in 2025. And as with Jaguar, considering how long Chrysler's plateaued, putting it kindly, it's not surprising the boss wants a more compelling wrapper. When the Pentastar's two-row crossover debuts, it will sit on the STLA Large platform, offer 400- and 800-volt electrical architectures, and pack batteries that power up to 400 miles of range. More important, it will establish the baseline for the product overhaul leading to an entirely new portfolio by 2028. We'd love to see Chrysler get it right. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Chrysler, Nissan looking into claim that their cars are industry's most hackable

A pair of cyber security experts have awarded the ignominious title of most hackable vehicles on American roads to the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, 2014 Infiniti Q50 and 2015 Cadillac Escalade.
Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek are set to release a report at the Black Hat hacking conference in Las Vegas, Automotive News reports. The two men found the Jeep, Caddy and Q50 were easiest to hack based not on actual tests with the vehicles, but a detailed analysis of systems like Bluetooth and wireless internet access - basically, anything that'd allow a hacker to remotely gain access to the vehicle's systems.
Considering this lack of hands-on testing, the pair acknowledge that "most hackable" could be a relative term - they point out that the vehicles may actually be quite secure.

Trump is pleased with FCA's investment in Michigan and Ohio, but it wasn't done for him

Fiat Chrysler announced yesterday that it would be spending $1 billion on vehicle production in both Michigan and Ohio. The company estimates that its investment will yield about 2,000 jobs between both states. In addition to attracting our attention, it caught the gaze of President-elect Donald Trump, who tweeted praise to both FCA and the Ford Motor Company. He praised the latter for the company's move to cancel a new factory in Mexico. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Trump's writing also seems to imply he deserves a certain amount of credit for these shifts to American production. However, as Sergio Marchionne, CEO of FCA, explained to the press in a conference today, Trump and his impending administration had nothing to do with the decision. He said the decision to invest in the plants in Michigan and Ohio were in place well before Trump was going to be the President of the United States. In addition, he said that FCA has not been in contact with Trump or any of his colleagues regarding the decision. Marchionne also stated that neither he nor the company was making any preemptive plans for manufacturing locations the light of the upcoming Trump presidency. Rather, he said that the company will change to address regulations that are actually passed, and the only way the company could change plans ahead of new laws or taxes would be with more information and clarity. We assume that a "big border tax" isn't specific enough. Still, the fact that automakers are going out of their way to make and clarify announcements about manufacturing illustrates the massive attention Trump brings with every Tweet. Related Video: Government/Legal Plants/Manufacturing Detroit Auto Show Chrysler Fiat Sergio Marchionne FCA 2017 Detroit Auto Show