1995 Jeep Cherokee Se Sport Utility 2-door 4.0l 4x4 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

‘Star Trek’ actor's family settles with Fiat Chrysler over his death

LOS ANGELES — The family of late "Star Trek" actor Anton Yelchin has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV over the rollaway crash of a Jeep Grand Cherokee that killed the up-and-coming actor almost two years ago. Terms of the settlement, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, were not disclosed. The lawsuit filed by Yelchin's parents, celebrated Russian figure skaters Victor and Irina Yelchin, is believed to be the first wrongful death complaint filed over Fiat Chrysler's April 2016 recall of more than 1.1 million vehicles due to a rollaway risk. Yelchin, 27, best known for playing navigator Pavel Chekov in the "Star Trek" movie reboot, died in June 2016 when his 2015 Grand Cherokee rolled backward in the steep driveway of his Los Angeles home, pinning the actor against a brick wall and fence. Yelchin's final role was in the indie film "Thoroughbreds," which was released this month. In a statement, Fiat Chrysler said on Thursday the company is "pleased that we've reached an amicable resolution in this matter. ... We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to the Yelchin family for their tragic loss." Messages left with Yelchin family attorney Gary Dordick seeking comment were not immediately returned. The lawsuit also accused Fiat Chrysler of negligence, product liability and breach of warranty. Dordick said when he filed the lawsuit that Fiat Chrysler had mailed a recall letter to Yelchin that was received seven days after his death. Final recall notices were sent during that time, but interim notices had been mailed at least 17 days before Yelchin's accident, Fiat Chrysler said. At the time of Yelchin's death, the rollaway problem had been tied to at least 68 injuries, 266 crashes and 308 reports of property damage. Drivers complained they would exit vehicles with the engine running falsely believing the vehicle was in park. Fiat Chrysler furnished a software upgrade to the affected 2014-2015 model year Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle as well as 2012-2014 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans.Reporting by Eric KelseyRelated Video:

Autoblog Podcast #380

Episode #380 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Chris Paukert and Seyth Miersma talk about the Fiat-Chrysler five-year plan, the seeming demise of the Nissan Cube, and proposed legislation to require speed limiters with a 68-mph maximum on America's tractor trailers. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #380: Topics: Fiat-Chrysler five-year plan Nissan Cube on the way out? Big rig speed limiters coming? In the Autoblog Garage: 2015 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG 2014 Chevrolet Sonic RS Sedan 2014 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Paukert, Seyth Miersma Runtime: 01:44:17 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 Fiat Chrysler Plan - 29:40 Nissan Cube - 01:07:33 Semi Speed Limiters - 01:17:33 Q&A - 01:27:35 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Auto News Earnings/Financials Plants/Manufacturing Podcasts Rumormill Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep Nissan nissan cube speed limiters

Ram, Jeep redesigns on hold, Alfa Romeo models may come sooner

Last summer, FCA outlined an ambitious five-year plan that sketched out the company's product intentions for each of its brands through the end of 2018. However, even the best strategies sometimes need tweaking. According to Reuters after speaking with unnamed people at auto suppliers, FCA is now possibly delaying at least a dozen projects in North America for a variety of reasons. From vehicle to vehicle, these postponements allegedly last anywhere from just a few months to over a year. The sources from the suppliers claim that in some cases these tweaks are for engineering and design changes. The next-gen Ram 1500 reportedly has among the shorter delays and is being pushed from mid-2017 to November 2017, according to Reuters. Also, the much-discussed future Jeep Wrangler is allegedly moving a little later to July 2017. Among the vehicles purportedly seeing longer delays, the next-gen Grand Cherokee could get pushed back about a year to 2018. That then forces the launch of the three-row, luxury Grand Wagoneer to be even further away. Jeep's upcoming C-segment CUV and the all-new Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Challenger might also see postponements. The one brand allegedly seeing an accelerated plan is Alfa Romeo. Without going into detail, the sources from these suppliers claim that the Italian automaker is getting even more vehicles for its lineup and could get them even faster than planned. "Those plans need to be flexible and fluid, with the potential to add some vehicles, pull some forward and extend the life cycle of others," FCA said to Reuters about all of these allegations. "We look at these programs on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis." Investment in the auto industry has been a major topic for FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne as of late. He believes consolidation is necessary so that companies aren't burning money on the same projects. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA fca us