Archive for the ‘Fiat’ Category
Thursday, June 14th, 2012
A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation into Jeep vehicles with a high rate of fires after a rear impact accident, has been expanded to include three models of Jeep vehicles. Originally the investigation focused on 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees, but data collected shows that certain Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Liberty models of the same years, may also experience the same problems.
In an earlier letter to Fiat, CEO Sergio Marchionne referred to the Jeep Grand Cherokee as a modern day Pinto for soccer moms. The Pinto, which had the fuel tank located behind the rear axle, was also found to experience fires after rear impact accidents. According to the Center for Auto Safety, there have been 184 fatal fire crashes in model year 1993 to 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles and that 269 people have died as a result.
The Center for Auto Safety has been petitioning for a recall of the vehicles and said recently in an open letter to the NHTSA that “in NHTSA’s history of defect investigations and recalls, there has never been one where 4-year-old children in child restraints have burned to death in fire crashes until now. The letter continues to detail two instances where Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles were rear-ended and burst into flames, killing two children.
If the investigation leads to a recall, approximately 5.1 million vehicles could be involved. According to Bloomberg News, the recall could be one of the largest recalls in history and could be a significant expense for hrysler and Fiat, who have depended on these models for profitable in recent years.
Tags: automobile investigation, Chrysler, Fiat, gas tank fires, Jeep, Jeep Cherokee, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Liberty, lemon law, rear impact accident fires
Posted in Auto Industry, Automobile Investigations, Automobile Safety, Chrysler, Fiat, Jeep, Manufacturer defect, Safety Investigation | No Comments »
Thursday, November 24th, 2011
Chrysler is recalling a small number of 2012 Dodge Journey crossover and 2012 Fiat 500 subcompact cars for a possible contamination of the vehicles’ brake system. A report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that approximately 350 vehicles built between October 24 to October 26, may have power steering fluid in their brake systems. The improper fluid could degrade seals throughout the system, eventually causing the system to fail. Owners wanting more information on the contamination problem can contact Chrysler at 1-800-853-1403.
Tags: auto safety, Brake Problems, brake system contamination, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, lemon, loss of power brakes, Safety
Posted in Auto Problems, Automobile Safety, Brake Problems, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Safety Recalls | No Comments »
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
It’s been a slow recovery, but on Thursday, Chrysler announced that they expect to pay back the $7.5 billion in Government loans by the end of next month. Although the details are still being negotiated, Chrysler hopes to sell new bonds to investors and use that money to help pay back the loans. This will allow Chrysler to strengthen its alliance with Fiat and revamp its operations to gain market shares.
According to Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with the research firm IHS Global Insight, “Tuning up their balance sheet and reducing debt will help Chrysler direct more money towards product development.” First on the list is to add more fuel efficient cars to its truck heavy lineup. The integration of Fiat and Chrysler will speed up the arrival of new Fiat based models to be sold to the American market. Without the psychological and financial drag of the loans Chrysler can start to slowly rebuild its company.
Tags: auto industry, Chrysler, Chrysler Bankruptcy, Fiat
Posted in Auto Industry, Chrysler, Fiat, U. S. Government | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
On Monday, Fiat announced they will be increasing ownership of Chrysler by 16% for a total 46% of the company. Once the auto manufacturers government loans have been paid, Fiat hopes to take a 51% majority stake in Chrysler as early as by the end of this year.
Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of both auto makers, says that this is an important step towards the integration of Fiat and Chrysler, started under two years ago. The result will be the creation of a global auto maker. They have chosen to speed up the pace to bring about the birth of a single group capable of international activities. Fiat outlined its plans after reaching an agreement with Chrysler’s shareholders, which include the U.S. Treasury Department, the United Auto Workers’ health trust fund and the Canadian government. The move shows that there is confidence in Chrysler turning around and becoming a profitable auto manufacturer. It does not mean Chrysler is fixed, it does show that Marchionne believes it is on track.
Tags: auto industry, Automobile industry in California, Chrysler, Fiat
Posted in Auto Industry, Chrysler, Fiat, U. S. Government | No Comments »
Thursday, January 27th, 2011
Ralph Nader is encouraging Fiat to Recall their recently acquired 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee line because of a vulnerable fuel tank design. The Center for Auto Safety encouraged an investigation in October saying that the fuel tank on these vehicles are not only poorly designed, but are installed behind the rear axle below the bumper which puts them at an increased impact risk. It was also found that the routing of the fuel filler hose increases the possibility of it being pulled out of the tank in a crash. Nader went as far as calling the Grand Cherokee “a modern day Pinto for the soccer mom.”
According to Chrysler, the fuel tanks are not defective. They say that according to their internal studies, the tanks on the Grand Cherokee are no more susceptible to fires in rear impact crashes than any other similar models from other companies.
Tags: California Lemon Law, Chrysler, Fiat, Fuel problem, Jeep, Jeep Cherokee, NHTSA
Posted in Auto Problems, Automobile Investigations, Automobile Safety, Chrysler, Fiat, Jeep, NHTSA | No Comments »
Friday, January 8th, 2010
Earlier I talked about Fords new hands free infotainment service, ‘Sync’, and how it is going to make our roads a little safer by giving drivers less distractions. Next week, Kia Motors Corp. will introduce ‘UVO’, a North American competitor to Ford Motor’s Sync. Ford’s exclusive contract with Microsoft expired at the end of 2008 and in May of that year, Microsoft announced that Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group would develop a voice-controlled infotainment system for the North American market. Fiat Auto Group also uses Microsoft technology to power its infotainment service, called Blue&Me.
Like Sync, UVO is based on the Microsoft Auto software platform, known as the Windows Embedded Auto Software Platform. Spokesmen for Kia and Microsoft say the Kia version will have features unique to the South Korean automaker. UVO will debut on an unnamed Kia vehicle sometime in 2010. The automaker will not release specifics until it formally introduces UVO at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Tags: Automobile Safety, Fiat, Ford, hands free, Kia, sync navigation system, uvo navigation system
Posted in Automobile Safety, Driving Safety, Fiat, Ford, Kia | No Comments »
Monday, January 4th, 2010
The electric car has been around for a long time. In the late 1930’s Robert Anderson (A Scottish inventor) built the first crude electric carriage. Over the years the car has been improved to a point where it could be a practical mode of transportation for many people. One of the main reasons we don’t see many on the roads is because charging a large number of electric cars will require huge upgrades to the nation’s infrastructure
SolarCity and Tesla Motors hope to change the amount of electric cars on the road by installing solar-powered car charging stations in Rabobank locations along California Route 101. These quick charging “gas stations” delivers up to 70 amps (240 volts) of electricity which would charge a Telsa Roadster in about 3.5 hours. SolarCity has also installed over 100 in home-charging stations throughout the state.
The Beautiful Earth Group, a solar and wind farms company started last year, has paired up with BMW and the mini, to build solar charging stations in the Red Hook, Brooklyn area. These stations are truly “green”. Built out of recycled shipping containers the station can provide enough energy to charge the Mini E in three hours. Lex Heslin, chief executive of Beautiful Earth, claims two firsts: He got the keys to the first electric version of the Mini Cooper in New York and his company is operating the city’s first solar E.V. charging station.
Silicon Valley based company, Coulomb Technologies, have been building charging stations around the world since 2007. Their recent partnership with Envision Solar has allowed them to integrate their ChargePoint technology into a “solar grove” at Dell headquarters in Round Rock, Tex. This system provided 131,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually, and doubles as shade for 56 parking spaces.
With the environmental issues we face today, solar charging could become big business. Ideally, solar charging stations will be connected to the grid so they can feed electricity back when the power is not needed for car-charging. When the sun isn’t shining, cars can be charged on grid power.
Tags: Automobile industry in California, BMW, charging stations in california, Electric Cars, Fiat, Mini, solar charging, Tesla Motors
Posted in Auto Industry, Automobile Emissions, BMW, Battery Electric Cars, California, Electric Cars, Fiat, Fuel Economy, Tesla Motors | No Comments »
Friday, December 18th, 2009
Complaints made to Congress from GM and Chrysler dealerships has led to a House approved $1.1 trillion spending bill. This bill will give dealerships a chance to dispute their closure depending on their past success. G.M. and Chrysler proposed their own review processes last week in an effort to keep Congress from getting involved, but their proposal was rejected.
Today, Chrysler came back challenging the decision, calling it ‘unconstitutional legislation’. Sergio Marchionne (CEO of the Fiat and Chrysler Group LLC and Chairman of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association) said that restoring large numbers of dealerships could cause havoc within Chrysler. “We are in a completely different position than G.M.” he said. G.M. has about $42 billion in cash in September, paying back $6.7 is easier than it would be for us.” Mr.. Marchionne also said G.M. was more focused on repaying the loans because the government owns 60% as opposed to 10% of Chrysler. Chrysler’s majority shareholder is the United Automobile Workers union’s retiree health care trust.
Chrysler is planning to make investments that would provide jobs and other economic benefits. Building a fuel-efficient engine with Fiat technology in the United States is one of three goals that each allow Fiat to gain an additional 5 percent of Chrysler.
Tags: Chrysler, dealership closures, Fiat, General Motors, GM
Posted in Chrysler, Fiat, GM, General Motors | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
After receiving nearly $13 billion in federal loans and filing for bankruptcy Chrysler is struggling with products that trail the competition in quality, styling and fuel economy. Sales have been down most of the year, while last month was the highest drop of any major car company. Its market share has gone from nearly 11 percent in the months before its May 1 bankruptcy filing to about 8 percent after it.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Fiat and Chrysler will enter an alliance in which Fiat will take an initial 35 percent stake in the troubled Detroit automaker, with an option to raise its ownership stake to 55 percent at a later date. The terms of the deal do not require Fiat to pay any cash to Chrysler. Instead, Fiat will receive equity in Chrysler for investments it will make in revamping a Chrysler plant to produce Fiat models for the US market.
Some of the Fiat models Chrysler would build in the United States, would likely include:
-Fiat Grande Punto and Linea
-A new compact SUV based on the Fiat C-Evo platform
-A four-door sedan possibly replacing the Sebring and Avenger
-Alfa Romeo version of the Grand Cherokee
Tags: Chrysler, Chrysler Bankruptcy, Fiat
Posted in Auto Industry, Chrysler, Fiat | No Comments »
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
Chrysler and Nissan said they were not going to continue with plans to build vehicles together. Nissan was going to help Chrysler with smaller vehicles and Chrysler was going to help Nissan with larger vehicles.
Chrysler now has Fiat to help them with smaller vehicles and now plans to sell Fiat models through its U.S. dealerships. The models being discussed are the Fiat 500 minicar, which is scheduled to be assembled in Mexico and a larger compact the might be built at a Chrysler factory in the Midwest.
A different agreement between Chrysler and Nissan, since 2004, where an affiliate of Nissan builds transmissions for Chrysler will continue.
Do you think the Nissan or Chrysler you are driving is a lemon? Call the Law Offices of Delsack and Associates for a Free consultation. Call toll free 888-395-3666 (888-Ex-Lemon).
Tags: Chrysler, Chrysler and Nissan agreement ends, Fiat, Nissan
Posted in California Lemon Law, Chrysler, Fiat, Nissan | No Comments »
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