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Chrysler to reveal next minivan at 2016 Detroit Auto Show

All eyes in the industry are presently fixed on this year's Detroit Auto Show, but over at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, they're already looking towards next year's show. That's when the Italian-American automaker says it'll unveil the next Chrysler minivan. The announcement, made on the FCA Corporate Twitter feed, promises that the next Pentastar minivan will debut in January 2016, which (along with the hashtag NAIAS) suggests the next-generation family hauler will debut at the Detroit show next year. Auburn Hills is expected to replace the current Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan with two all-new models: one keeping the minivan form, and the other shifting into more of a crossover. Just which nameplate gets the new form factor, and which will debut at Cobo next year, we don't know. Odds are good that it'll be the minivan not the CUV, though. Chrysler's minivan has been a winning business for the Detroit automaker, pioneering the segment, outselling the competition and marketing around the world under more brands and nameplates than just about anything else in the industry. The vehicle has been sold as the Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country, Chrysler Voyager, Plymouth Voyager, Lancia Voyager, Ram Cargo Van and Volkswagen Routan, to say nothing of long-wheelbase Grand versions of many of the aforementioned nameplates. News Source: FCA via Twitter Detroit Auto Show Chrysler Dodge Minivan/Van Detroit 2016 Detroit Auto Show chrysler town and country dodge grand caravan dodge caravan

Stellantis wants to trim 3,500 hourly U.S. jobs, UAW says

WASHINGTON — Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV wants to cut approximately 3,500 hourly U.S. jobs and is offering voluntary exit packages, according to a United Auto Workers union letter made public Tuesday. The automaker is looking to reduce its hourly workforce offering incentive packages that include $50,000 payments for workers hired before 2007, UAW Local 1264 said in a letter dated Monday posted on its Facebook page. Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson declined to comment. A person briefed on the matter said the figure might be lower than the figure cited in the UAW letter. In late February, Stellantis indefinitely halted operations at an assembly plant in Illinois, citing rising costs of electric vehicle production. The action impacted about 1,350 workers at the Belvidere, Illinois, plant that built the Jeep Cherokee SUV and resulted in indefinite layoffs. The automaker has warned it may not resume operations as it considers other options. The UAW letter said openings created by workers leaving would be filled by workers on indefinite layoff. Stellantis said in February that about 40,000 U.S. hourly workers were eligible for profit sharing. Last week, UAW President Shawn Fain said Stellantis' decision to idle the Illinois plant was "a flat-out violation" of the union's contract with the UAW and is unacceptable. The UAW will enter talks with the Detroit Three before labor contracts expire in mid-September. Earlier this month, General Motors said about 5,000 salaried workers accepted buyouts to leave the automaker. GM CEO Mary Barra said February job cuts of a few hundred jobs and the 5,000 buyouts "provided approximately $1 billion towards" a $2 billion cost cutting target. Ford Motor Co recently announced significant job cuts in Spain, Germany and other parts of Europe and in August said it would cut a total of 3,000 salaried and contract jobs, mostly in North America and India. Hirings/Firings/Layoffs UAW/Unions Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep Maserati RAM Stellantis

Autonomous Chrysler Pacficas join Lyft test fleet

Lyft has another year of building out its autonomous driving program under its belt, and the ride-hailing company has been expanding its testing steadily throughout 2019. The company says that it's now driving four times more miles on a quarterly basis than it was just six months ago, and has roughly 400 people worldwide dedicated to autonomous vehicle technology development. Going into next year, it's also expanding the program by adding a new type of self-driving test car to its fleet: Chrysler's Pacifica hybrid minivan, which is also the platform of choice for Waymo's current generation of self-driving car. The Pacifica makes a lot of sense as a ridesharing vehicle, since it's a perfect passenger car with easy access via the big sliding door and plenty of creature comforts inside. Indeed, Lyft says that it was chosen specifically because of its "size and functionality" and what those offer to the Lyft AV team when it comes to "experiment[ing] with the self-driving rideshare experience. Lyft says it's currently working on building these test vehicles out in order to get them on the road. Lyft's choice of vehicle is likely informed by its existing experience with the Pacificas, which it encountered when it partnered with Waymo starting back in May, with that company's autonomous vehicle pilot program in Phoenix, Arizona. That ongoing partnership, in which Waymo rides are offered on Lyft's ride-hailing network, is providing Lyft with plenty of information about how riders experience self-driving ride-hailing, Lyft says. In addition to Waymo, Lyft is also currently partnering with Aptiv on providing self-driving services commercially to the public through that company's Vegas AV deployment. In addition to adding Pacificas to its fleet alongside the current Ford Fusion test vehicles it has in operation, Lyft is opening a second facility in addition to its Level 5 Engineering Center, the current central hub of its global AV development program. Like the Level 5 Engineering Center, its new dedicated testing facility will be located in Palo Alto, and having the two close together will help "increase the number of tests we run," according to Lyft. The new test site is designed to host intersections, traffic lights, roadway merges, pedestrian pathways and other features of public roads, all reconfigurable to simulate a wide range of real-world driving scenarios.