2007 Dodge Sprinter 2500 - 170 Wb / High Cone on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Stellantis reports surprising 2020 results, is 'off to a flying start'

MILAN — Low global car inventories and cost cuts should boost Stellantis's profit margins this year, though a shortage of semiconductors and investments in electric vehicles could weigh on results, the newly-formed automaker said on Wednesday. The forecast came as Stellantis, created by the January merger of Peugeot-maker PSA and Fiat Chrysler (FCA), reported better-than-expected results for 2020 that sent its shares up around 3% in morning trading. "Stellantis gets off to a flying start and is fully focused on achieving the full promised synergies (from the merger)," Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said in a statement. Stellantis is the world's fourth largest carmaker, with 14 brands including Fiat, Peugeot, Opel, Jeep, Ram and Maserati. It said 2021 results should be helped by three new high-margin Jeep vehicles in North America and a strong pricing environment there. The U.S. market has driven profits for years at FCA and starts off as the strongest part of Stellantis. The group's guidance assumes no more significant lockdowns caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered auto plants around the world last spring. Stellantis should also get a lift as its starts to implement a plan aimed at delivering over 5 billion euros a year in savings, without closing any plants. Tavares has also pledged not to cut jobs. But a pandemic-related global shortage of semiconductors, used for everything from maximizing engine fuel economy to driver-assistance features, could hurt business. Auto industry executives have said the shortage should ease by the second half of 2021. Stellantis said its "electrification offensive" could also weigh on results this year. Automakers are racing to develop electric vehicles to meet tighter CO2 emissions targets in Europe and this week Volvo joined a growing number of carmakers aiming for a fully-electric line-up by 2030. Stellantis plans to have fully-electric or hybrid versions of all of its vehicles available in Europe by 2025, broadly in line with plans at top rivals such as Volkswagen and Renault-Nissan, although Stellantis has further to go to meet that goal. The carmaker is targeting an adjusted operating profit margin of 5.5%-7.5% this year. That compares with a 5.3% aggregated margin last year: 4.3% at FCA and 7.1% at PSA excluding a controlling stake in parts maker Faurecia, which is set to be spun-off from Stellantis shortly.

2024 Chrysler Pacifica celebrates 40 years of the modern minivan

While its nameplate is relatively new, the Chrysler Pacifica traces its roots to the model that defined the minivan as we know it today: the Plymouth Voyager. Chrysler is celebrating 40 years of building family haulers by making a handful of small updates to the Pacifica for 2024. Don't expect to find a "40 Years Edition" trim the next time you visit a Chrysler dealer. Changes for the 2024 model year are largely limited to new paint and interior colors. Red Hot and Baltic Gray join the palette, and buyers who order the range-topping Pacifica Pinnacle model can select a new interior color called Sepia. Chrysler has also pared down the Plug-In Hybrid range to two models called Select and Pinnacle, respectively. Customers can add the optional S Appearance, Premium S Appearance, and Road Tripper packages to the base Select trim. The final update for 2024 is minor but important. The Uconnect 5 infotainment system gains an Emergency Vehicle Alert System (EVAS) that warns the driver if it detects an active fire truck, an active ambulance, or "other nearby roadway hazards," according to Chrysler. Chrysler dealers across the nation will begin receiving the 2024 Pacifica in the coming weeks. Moving your family and your stuff for 40 years Plymouth, which Chrysler closed in 2001, built the first Voyager at the Windsor plant in Canada on November 2, 1983. The van went on sale as a 1984 model and became what most historians consider the first modern minivan. The idea of designing a box on wheels tailor-made for families wasn't new: the 1930s Stout Scarab, the original Volkswagen Bus released in 1950, the Fiat 600 Multipla launched in 1956, and the Renault Espace unveiled shortly after the Voyager filled the same void, but it's the Chrysler Corporation's definition of a minivan that stuck. The original Voyager was also sold as the Dodge Caravan (1984) and the Chrysler Town & Country (1990). The three models leveraged a unique set of attributes to stand out from other vans on the market, including car-derived underpinnings (many existing models were related to bulky commercial vehicles), front-wheel-drive, and a sliding door that made the cabin easy to get in and out of. Stow 'N Go seats didn't appear until the 2004 model year, but Chrysler's early vans featured removable rear seats for weekend trips to the hardware store. SUVs and crossovers often get blamed for killing the station wagon, but the minivan arguably started the war.

Junkyard Gem: 2001 Dodge Stratus R/T Coupe

The Chrysler "Cloud Cars" of the 1990s were the Chrysler Cirrus, Plymouth Breeze, and Dodge Stratus; by the turn of our current century, only the Stratus name remained standing. For 2001, the Stratus sedan remained on a Chrysler platform, while the unrelated-other-than-name Stratus coupe became a sibling to the Mitsubishi Eclipse. The Stratus R/T was the hot-rod version; here's a 2001 Stratus R/T coupe languishing in a California self-service wrecking yard. This car has the 5-speed manual transmission, which was becoming a rarity even for performance-minded American car shoppers by the early 21st century. The engine is a DOHC version of the Mitsubishi 6G72, a V6 engine that went into dozens of different vehicles from the mid-1980s through just a few years ago. The Mitsubishi Debonair AMG ran the 6G72, as did the early Hyundai Sonata as well as the Proton Perdana. This one was rated at 200 horsepower, which was enough to be real fun with a manual transmission. This car endured some exciting driving from its last owner, looks like. The Stratus Coupe was built through the 2005 model year, after which its Dodge Avenger successor continued in sedan-only form. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. "We red your mind."