2002 Chrysler Town & Country Lxi 3.8l V 6 Gasoline on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Almost 70 percent of FCA-PSA Groupe models to ride on two PSA platforms

With the merger between PSA Groupe and Fiat Chrysler having been officially announced this week, we still don't know where everything will settle once the process concludes. We covered the catalog of models herded by the combined company's 12 brands, all of which will remain for now. Profound changes must be afoot somewhere, though, else there'd be no reason for the tie-up. Automotive News has a report on one of the big moves, writing that "more than two-thirds of [PSA-FCA] production would be concentrated on just two platforms." Around 2.6 million cars built by the combined company would sit on PSA's Common Modular Platform, also known as the EMP1, for B-segment city cars, entry-level and mid-range C-segment sedans, and compact crossovers. Three million vehicles would ride on the EMP2 architecture intended for C- and D-segment cars and higher-end crossovers. Those figures account for around 5.6 of the 8.7 million vehicles the combined company expects to sell annually. AN didn't mention the Giorgio platform that's already spread throughout the FCA kingdom to support numerous current and future offerings like the next-gen Jeep Grand Cherokee, but did write that "larger Jeep models will continue to use FCA underpinnings." The body-on-frame chassis' under Ram trucks and the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator should hold pat. We'll wait for word on the fate of the Compact U.S. Wide platform carrying the Chrysler Voyager and Pacifica and Jeep Cherokee. Dodge products with questionable futures are anyone's guess; we've heard the Dodge Durango, still built on a Mercedes-derived platform it shares with the current Grand Cherokee, could go body-on-frame for the next generation, or die and have the Giorgio-based, three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee take its place. More mystery comes with the long-lived LA and LD platforms in the big sedan and coupe trio Chrysler and Dodge still milk quite successfully. And if there were ever a time for the Dodge Journey – last reported as a Giorgio recipient – to modernize or die, we don't know when that time is. Although FCA platforms have been designed with alternative powertrains in mind, AN says the PSA Groupe architectures "are more modern than FCA's equivalent platforms." After PSA acquired GM's Opel/Vauxhall division, the French company didn't waste time moving the Anglo-German products to in-house platforms, helping to put the formerly money-losing operations into the black in just 18 months.

The best Super Bowl car commercials from the last 5 years

If you've been dipping into the Autoblog feed over the past days and weeks, you wouldn't even have to be a sports fan to know the Super Bowl is coming up. Automakers have been teasing their spots for the big game, dropping them days early, fully-formed onto the Internet and otherwise trying to amp up the multi-million-dollar outlays that they've made for air time on the biggest advertising day of the year. And, we're into it. The lead up to the Super Bowl is almost akin to a mini auto show around these parts; with automakers being amongst the most prolific advertisers on these special Sundays. The crop of ads from 2015 looks as strong as ever, but we thought we'd take a quick look back at some of our favorite spots from the last five years. Take a look at our picks – created from a very informal polling of Autoblog editors and presented in no particular order – and then tell us about your recent faves, in Comments. Chrysler, Imported From Detroit Chrysler, Eminem and a lingering pan shot of "The Fist" – it doesn't get much more Motown than 2011's Imported From Detroit. With the weight of our staffers hailing from in and around The D, it's no wonder that our memories still favor this epic Super Bowl commercial (even though the car it was shilling was crap). Imported really set the tone for later Chrysler ads, too, repeated the formula: celebrity endorsement + dramatic copy + dash of jingoism = pulled car-guy heartstrings. Mercedes-Benz, Soul teaser with Kate Upton One of our favorite Super Bowl commercials (and yours, based on the insane number of views you logged) didn't even technically air during the game. Mercedes-Benz teased its eventual spot Soul with 90-seconds worth of Kate Upton threatening to do her best Joy Harmon impression. (Teaser indeed.) It doesn't win points for cleverness, use of music, acting, or any compelling carness, but it proved that Mercedes' advertisers knew how to make a splash in the Internet Age. And, hey, it's still classier than every GoDaddy commercial. Kia, A Dream Car. For Real Life Like the Mercedes video above, the initial draw here is a pretty lady; in this case the always stunning Adriana Lima. But this Kia commercial really delivers the extra effort we expect while scarfing crabby snacks and homemades, too. First of all, Motley Crue. Second, a cowboy on a bucking rhino. Enjoy yet again.

Hellcat no help to Fiat-Chrysler's bottom-of-the-pile mpg average

What, you expected the "fastest muscle car ever" to help fleetwide fuel economy? Nope, don't think that's going to happen. That means Fiat Chrysler will likely to continue to languish at the bottom of the heap when it comes to fleetwide fuel economy among the largest automakers serving the US, especially as the automaker starts to sell its Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. A few hundred Fiat 500E electric vehicles aren't going to turn the trend around. See, Chrysler has once again finished at the bottom of the list when it came to fleetwide fuel economy among automakers for 2014 model-year vehicles, according to a preliminary study by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Chrysler and Fiat had an average of 21.1 miles per gallon. That substantially lagged the overall 24.2 mpg average, but it was an increase from the company's 20.9 mpg average last year and the 20.1 mpg average two years prior. For 2014, General Motors had the second-worst fleetwide fuel economy at an even 22 mpg. Fiat Chrysler does say it's working on improving its fuel economy, according to Automotive News. The company plans on making its inline-four-cylinder and V6 engines smaller, and will sell more vehicles with eight- and nine-speed transmissions. Heck, there's even a plug-in hybrid version of the Chrysler Town & Country minivan in the works for late 2015, and the company can tout fuel-efficiency gains with the Chrysler 200 and Jeep Cherokee. We would be remiss if we didn't note that, compared to its muscle-car forefathers, the Hellcat actually performs pretty well at the pump. Last month, word got out that the 2015 Challenger Hellcat, equipped either with a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic transmission, got a combined fuel economy of 16 mpg. Heck, the automatic-tranny version got 22 mpg on the highway. And that's for a car with 707 horsepower and a 10-second quarter-mile time. Still, with the pedal floored, the car can burn a gallon and a half of fuel per minute. Ouch.