2014 Dodge Durango Limited on 2040-cars

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FCA CEO Mike Manley will run Americas for Stellantis after PSA merger

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley will run operations in the Americas when his company merges with FranceÂ’s PSA Peugeot early next year. FCA Chairman John Elkann announced ManleyÂ’s new post on Friday in a letter to employees. ManleyÂ’s role in the merged company had been a mystery. PSA CEO Carlos Tavares will run the overall company, to be named Stellantis. Shareholders of both companies will vote on the merger Jan. 4 to seal the deal creating the worldÂ’s fourth-largest automaker. The merger is expected to be completed by the end of March. PSA will get six seats on the new companyÂ’s 11-member board, which will be chaired by Elkann. The Americas, especially the U.S., are key to the new companyÂ’s success. Fiat ChryslerÂ’s Jeep and Ram brands are highly profitable, and Tavares has long wanted to sell PSA vehicles in the U.S. Manley has been the Italian-American automakerÂ’s CEO for 2 1/2 years, taking over when Sergio Marchionne died in 2018. Stellantis will have the capacity to produce 8.7 million cars a year, just behind Volkswagen, the Renault-Nissan alliance and Toyota. Related Video: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Citroen Peugeot Mike Manley Stellantis

2020 Ford Police Interceptor Utility dominates Michigan State Police testing

The Michigan State Police has released its preliminary findings from testing the 2019 crop of police vehicles, and the results are a bit surprising. The consistent top performer of the bunch was the 2020 Ford Police Interceptor Utility, better known to civilians as the Ford Explorer. Specifically, the top performer was the model with the new turbocharged 3.0-liter V6. The Michigan State Police conducts acceleration, top speed, braking and lap time tests of all the available police vehicles. The 3.0-liter Police Interceptor Utility was the fastest to 60 mph at 5.77 seconds, had the highest top speed of 150 mph, and the best average lap time of 1:36.47. The lap time was particularly impressive as it was just over half a second faster than the next quickest car, the all-wheel-drive V8 Charger. View 13 Photos Still, the 2019 Dodge Charger gave the Explorer a serious run for its money. The all-wheel-drive V8 Charger was only 0.1 seconds behind the Explorer to 60 mph with a time of 5.87 seconds, and the rear-drive version was third quickest at 6.15 seconds. Both V8 Chargers were only 1 mph off of the Explorer's top speed, and the V6 example was third fastest at 141 mph. We already mentioned the all-wheel-drive V8 Charger was half a second off the Explorer's lap time, and the rear-drive variant was just over 1 second behind, giving it the third fastest average time. Dodge also took home braking bragging rights. The V6 Charger won out with a distance of 126.9 feet, followed by the rear-drive V8 Charger with 128 feet, and the V6 Durango Pursuit stopping at 128.8 feet. Now of course where there are winners, there are also losers. The slowest accelerating police car was the Ford Police Responder Hybrid Sedan, better known as the Fusion Hybrid, with a time of 9.24 seconds. At 8.59 seconds was the V6 Dodge Durango, and the V8 Chevy Tahoe with four-wheel-drive was third slowest at 7.98 seconds. Lowest top speed was 106 mph with the Ford F-150 Police Responder with the 3.5-liter turbocharged V6, followed by the V6 and V8 Durangos with 117- and 118-mph top speeds respectively. In braking, the Chevy Tahoes performed the worst with the rear-drive version stopping at 145.7 feet and the four-wheel-drive version stopping at 142.5 feet. The F-150 followed with 141.9 feet. When it came to lap times, the Fusion Hybrid lapped the slowest with a time of 1:46.31. The V6 Durango was about a second faster with a time of 1:45.45.

Dodge Hellcats getting price hike

Dodge plans twice as many Hellcats on the road for the 2016 model year, they are going to be a bit more expensive when buyers sign on the dotted line. According to CarsDirect and confirmed to Autoblog by Dodge, 2016 Challenger SRT Hellcat costs $65,190, an increase of $4,200 over 2015. That figure includes $995 for destination and $1,700 for the Gas Guzzler charge. The latest Charger SRT Hellcat retails for $68,640, a $3,650 increase. Other SRT trims of the muscle cars also see a price hike. The 2016 Challenger SRT 392 is $51,190, after destination and a $1,000 guzzler charger – a $3,500 increase. The Charger SRT 392 also jumps $3,000, to $51,990. Even at 2015's prices, Dodge was having problems keeping up with demand for the Hellcat, and the higher price isn't likely to change that. And before you think the company is going plum crazy, the 2016 models of all four muscle cars come standard with Laguna leather seats and navigation. According to company spokesperson Dan Reid to Autoblog, both items had a "very high customer take rate," and the previously optional features are valued at $2,490. Dodge previously announced a discount for those who had a sold 2015 Hellcat order canceled in the switch to 2016. Those amount to $5,000 on the Challenger and $4,000 Charger, which seems like a sweet deal for those customers. Related Video: