2012 Jeep Liberty Sport on 2040-cars

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Chrysler to accelerate production of 2013 Ram and V6 engines

Chrysler is adding a third shift at its Warren Truck plant to meet demand for the new 2013 Ram pickup. And with tight supplies of its Pentastar V6, the company is also boosting output at its Mack Engine plant.
The expansions will add 1,250 jobs and are part of a $238 million investment by Chrysler in the Detroit area. Warren's third shift will begin work sometime in the spring, a Chrysler rep told Automotive News. Mack's increased Pentastar production a could include both 3.6 and 3.2-liter engines.
The company says it also plans to invest $40 million in its Trenton Engine plant to allow for production of a 3.2-liter V6 as well as the Tigershark inline-four for the upcoming Jeep Liberty replacement.

Stellantis won't race to split electric vehicles from fossil fuel cars

MILAN - Stellantis is not considering splitting its electric vehicle (EV) business from its legacy combustion engine operation, its finance chief said on Thursday, as the carmaker presented above-expectation revenue data for the first quarter. Chief Financial Officer Richard Palmer told analysts he did not see huge benefits in the kind of separations pursued by rivals such as France's Renault and U.S. Ford. "We need to manage the company and the assets we have through this transition," he said. "There are benefits to having the cash flow being generated by the internal combustion business for the investments we need to make." Palmer said the group, formed by a merger last year of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA, was not averse to considering adjusting its structure "but we aren't anticipating any big changes." Palmer's comments came after the world's fourth largest carmaker said its net revenue rose 12% to 41.5 billion euros ($44.1 billion) in the January-March period, as strong pricing and the type of vehicles sold helped offset the impact of the semiconductor shortage on volumes. That topped analyst expectations of 36.9 billion euros, according to a Reuters poll. Milan-listed shares were up 0.5% by 1415 GMT, in line with Italy's blue-chip index. The impact of the chip crunch was evident in the decline in shipment figures which fell 12% in the quarter to 1.374 million vehicles. It was a similar story for Germany's BMW which posted higher revenues on Thursday and a decline in car sales. Riding the Recovery Stellantis, whose brands also include Citroen, Jeep and Maserati, confirmed its 2022 forecasts for a double-digit adjusted operating income margin, after 11.8% last year, and a positive cash-flow despite supply and inflationary headwinds. Morgan Stanley analysts said after the results that Stellantis had better management than many peers and benefited from its significant exposure to a stronger U.S. economy and a European recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. They also said it was less affected by a slowing Chinese economy. Palmer said it was important for the group to maintain double-digit margins and keep delivering positive cash flows. "A 12% increase in revenue with a 12% decrease in volumes indicates a very strong performance on price and mix, which augurs well for our margin performance," he said. He said semiconductor supply problems were expected to ease this year with continued improvements in 2023.

2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee TrackHawk shows off its hellish supercharged V8

We've seen the spy shots of this thing, the 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee TrackHawk, before. But only from the outside. The external changes are plenty telling, but there was always the slight chance we were looking only at an extra-hot SRT version, not a full-blown (pun intended) TrackHawk with a Hellcat motor. Until the hood goes up, there's no telling what we're really looking at. Well, seeing is believing. We have been looking at TrackHawks all along. And Mike Manley, Jeep's CEO, wasn't selling the world a bill of goods when he said to expect the thing "by the end of 2017". As you can clearly see in the slightly noisy engine shot, that's a supercharger parked on top of FCA's 6.2-liter V8, just like in the Charger and Challenger Hell-twins. Chances are it'll make the same power as it does in those two – 707 hp, in case you're just waking up from cryo-stasis and aren't aware of the most famous power output figure on the planet. There are some differences between this Grand Cherokee and ones we've previously pegged as TrackHawks. The fog lights in the lower grille vents are gone, and the rear fascia gets a bit more aggressive. Perhaps these will be the external details that separate the TrailHawk from the lowly non-supercharged SRT versions. We've also been hearing about quad exhaust tips, but haven't seen them on a prototype yet. If Jeep wants to get this thing out on the road by the end of the year, we're likely to see it coming to an auto show soon. Keep your eyes peeled. Related Video: