Midsize = Cherokee -- Where "Grand" is just a package again. Make it the best off-road vehicle you can, while keeping it SIMPLE.
Large = Wagoneer -- Where "Grand" is just a package again. You CAN tweak the current Commander and get it to sell [LINK]; granted my version, the nose isn't perfect yet. This would be the top-end vehicle with the top interior anemnities.
Small = STi/Evolution fighter with 4wd CAR, not "Crossover/ute" Something out of the Mitsu deal perhaps?
I remember when I was younger thinking that the Eagle was actually an awesome car heh heh.
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Quote: Originally Posted by al2683
One of the most realistic parts of this video is that it shows two guys riding together in the Subaru, they are in love, I think it is a touching and realistic portrayal of Subaru owners and I applaud them for it.
Yes, but given the current state of the economy and the company, not surprising. Still very sad. I know it is criminal, but that's almost worth pulling them over at gunpoint and stealing hahaha.
Yes, but given the current state of the economy and the company, not surprising. Still very sad. I know it is criminal, but that's almost worth pulling them over at gunpoint and stealing hahaha.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — In his office at Chrysler’s world headquarters, Robert L. Nardelli, the chairman, works standing at an elevated desk. He thinks better on his feet, he said, even when he uses his computer.
Nardelli, who has served as Chrysler’s chief for 19 months, says that he fears a government-managed bankruptcy and that the company needs an additional $5 billion to avert it. But with the automaker Chrysler on the brink of insolvency, his legs must be getting sore. Just two weeks remain before a presidential task force is scheduled to decide whether to save Chrysler and endorse its viability plan, and Mr. Nardelli has been putting in long hours to help save the company.
He prefers to wave off any discussion about his role as a central player in those efforts. “It’s not about Bob,” he said Monday in an interview. “If we’re able to do this, it’s because these people here have put together a plan we believe in.” But, as the executive in charge, it inevitably is about Mr. Nardelli and his reputation. After his abrupt departure as chairman of the retailer Home Depot, Mr. Nardelli was viewed by many in the auto industry as a short-term chief executive when he was installed by Cerberus Capital Management after the private equity firm bought Chrysler in August 2007. Industry observers expected him to streamline Chrysler so Cerberus could sell it.
But in the 19 months since, Mr. Nardelli has become a passionate leader of Chrysler. Like Lee Iacocca in the 1980s, Mr. Nardelli, 60, is trying to make the case that the American auto industry is better off with Chrysler than without it. “Quite honestly, we are in a survival mode,” he said. The company needs an additional $5 billion in government loans to survive, on top of the $4 billion it has received. Chrysler’s updated restructuring plan, filed Feb. 17 with the Treasury Department, asserts that, if it receives an additional loan, it can stabilize its finances and grow beyond its core North American market. President Obama’s task force is now weighing that argument.
No major automaker suffered more last year than Chrysler when a weak economy and tight credit slashed industry sales in the United States. While industry sales fell 18 percent, Chrysler’s sales plummeted 30 percent. The company also lost $8 billion and nearly ran out of money before receiving its first infusion of government loans.
Mr. Nardelli has already stripped down Chrysler’s operations, cutting 32,000 jobs and shedding 1.2 million units of annual production capacity since 2007. He also vigorously sought partners to help Chrysler to expand its product lineup and its tiny presence in international markets. He cut deals on product sharing with foreign manufacturers like Nissan and Volkswagen. Last fall, Chrysler entered merger talks with General Motors, only to have G.M. pull out because of its own financial problems. With Chrysler’s finances in a free fall, it seemed unlikely that Mr. Nardelli could find another car company willing to join forces. But in January, he reached an agreement in principle for a global alliance with the Italian automaker Fiat. The deal would give Fiat a 35 percent stake in Chrysler in exchange for providing it with small cars, engines, and technology.
Fiat’s chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, said at the time that Chrysler could benefit greatly from sharing products, technology and parts with his company.
“I think Chrysler has all the prerequisites to survive,” he said in an interview last month. Mr. Nardelli said Monday that Chrysler could make it on its own with more federal loans.
“Chrysler is viable as a stand-alone business, but Fiat significantly enhances that viability,” he said. Not everyone agrees. Senator Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, has been an ardent foe of bailout money for Chrysler. “I have not seen a way that Chrysler makes it as a stand-alone entity,” Mr. Corker said in an interview Monday. Linking with Fiat, he said, does not appear to solve Chrysler’s problems. “It’s really a merger of two weaker entities, though I think it’s better than Chrysler being on its own,” Mr. Corker said.
Mr. Nardelli bristled at the notion that Fiat could not help Chrysler. He said Fiat’s small-car programs, engines and other expertise were worth $8 billion to $10 billion, and that the alliance would save 5,000 Chrysler manufacturing jobs in the United States. The alliance would also allow Chrysler to almost immediately begin exporting its Jeeps and other products to Fiat dealerships in Europe and South America. “They have what we don’t, and they are where we aren’t,” Mr. Nardelli said of Fiat.
Task force members, including the top advisers Steven Rattner and Ron Bloom, met with Mr. Nardelli last week, and toured a Chrysler truck plant in Warren, Mich. Mr. Bloom and Mr. Rattner asked “great questions,” Mr. Nardelli said. But he added that he had no sense of what the task force would decide.
“I would say it’s been a very good relationship, not a strained relationship,” he said. “But certainly you could say that all options are still on the table.” One option that Mr. Nardelli says he fears is a government-managed bankruptcy. In its restructuring plan, Chrysler said it would require up to $25 billion in debtor-in-possession financing from the government during a bankruptcy reorganization. However, Mr. Nardelli said he worried that consumers would shun Chrysler vehicles if the company filed for bankruptcy.
“I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t have a lot of confidence in today’s environment that we can emerge from bankruptcy,” he said. In an interview with The Detroit Free Press, Mr. Rattner was quoted Monday saying that bankruptcy “is not our goal” for G.M. or Chrysler. “It is never a good outcome for any company, and it’s never a first choice,” he added. Mr. Nardelli showed little patience for rehashing his departure from Home Depot, where he doubled sales but was criticized by investors for what they called his blunt management style and his high compensation.
He left in 2007 with a severance package estimated at more than $200 million — and landed at Chrysler, where he now takes a salary of $1 a year, though he is believed to have an undisclosed financial interest in the company. If Chrysler gets its loans, Mr. Nardelli will have a chance to become the savior of the 84-year-old American industrial giant. But without more federal aid, he will be remembered as its last chief executive.
Everything is riding on its restructuring plan. “If I didn’t believe in it,” Mr. Nardelli said, “I wouldn’t have put my name on it.”
I find Senator Corker's comments interesting, seems he's more at home courting a foreign company, Volkswagen, to build a plant in his home state of Tennessee (and VW is doing just that) than helping a domestic company stay on its feet. Pretty hypocritical.
I started re-reading this thread at page 1 because I saw a Jeep Compass with the Rallye package at a dealership and went "WTF?!", because I remember when there was a good-sized group of us anticipating a Jeep Compass Rallye-based SRT.
As a recap, take a look and see what we were hearing was in the pipe back when Hemi opened this thread. Now remember, as stated below this is not an "official" list, but one put together by insiders and industry experts at the time.
There are some very sad and noticible MIAs on this list today.
Quote: Originally Posted by hemidakota(11-29-2006)
MODEL YEAR - 2008
CHRYSLER SEBRING VERT - [Apr07] three dufferent engines option, hardtop/ragtop convertible
CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY - new design, new engine option. Expect it to be a hit. Will hold a real eight adults this time. No SWB
DODGE AVENGER - three dufferent engines option [Feb 07]
DODGE [JC49] - new designed entry level CUV [Sep 07]
DODGE CHALLENGER R/T - LC23 with two powertrain options [Apr 08]
DODGE DAKOTA - refresh design. New interior update. Expect a 3-vlave 4.7 option [290HP]
DODGE DURANGO HYBRID - two mode tranny hybrid, refresh design
DODGE VIPER GTS [ZB] - refresh, updated engine 8.4ltr 600hp/700tq. Possible a 18-month run [Jan 07].
DODGE VIPER Vert [ZB] - refresh, updated engine 8.4ltr 600hp/700tq. Possible a 18-month run [Jan 07].
DODGE Minivan - see the Chryser T&C
JEEP Compass SRT4 - [new] Same powertrain as the Caliber SRT4 and SRT tuning capabilities added
JEEP LIBERTY - the mini Commander look. Updated Desiel 3.0ltr and a new 4.0Ltr.
JEEP TRAILHAWK - [new] Based on the 4-door Wrangler platform but with a Cherokee design added.
DODGE CALIBER - new platform to share with Stratus. Drop CRV and new optional engine. Expect to see a coupe or a sedan version.
DODGE CHARGER - next gen redesign.
DODGE CHALLENGER SRT8 - HO model that will reveal new Hemi and Viper 6-speed transmission
DODGE DURANGO - next gen design [see concept]. Exterior and interior change out. Design cues from Rampage.
DODGE HORNET - new design [see concept]. Expect various offspring from this B-Segment and a Ralley model.
DODGE RAM 1500 - new design [Rampage look], new engine will be added.
DODGE RAZOR - Based on the B-Segment Hornet. Two seater roadster
JEEP GC- refresh design and enlarged w/seven passenger version to replace the Commander
ENGINES - Hemi 61.ltr moves down to the R/T level and luxury car, 6.9ltr [new HO engine]
MODEL YEAR - 2010
CHRYSLER 300 SRT8 - Using the new shortened platform will get the latest new HO Hemi. Design cues of Nassau
CHRYSLER CLEO - Hornet based platform lux compact. May reside on the MB A Class platform.
CHRYSLER CORSAIR - using the same platform as the Halo cars. Luxury super sport car. V12 quad-turbo designed MB engine.
CHRYSLER CHARGER SRT8 - Using the new shortened platform will get the latest new HO Hemi.
DODGE RAM 2500/3500/4500 - new design [Rampage look], new engine will be added. HD will get a bigger engine and updated 6.7ltr TD
DODGE [D100] TRUCK - Compact truck intro. No name as of yet been release.
DODGE VIPER Vert V-1 [ZC] - redesign, updated engine 8.Xltr. V10. Possible cancellation due to poor sales. Will reside on flexible 'HALO' platform that will be shared by both MB, Maybach, Dodge, and Chrysler. [Jan 2009] 700/700
DODGE VIPER GTS V-1 [ZC] - redesign, updated engine 8.Xltr. V10. Possible cancellation due to poor sales. Will reside on flexible 'HALO' platform that will be shared by both MB, Maybach, Dodge, and Chrysler. [July 2009] 700/700
JEEP TRUCK - compact version intro truck. No name as of yet.
MODEL YEAR - 2011
CHRYSLER NEW YORKER - Luxury sedan based on the MB S class.
MODEL YEAR - 2012
DODGE DAKOTA - next gen design [see concept]. Smaller and lighter. Expect a V8 Hemi option..maybe moved up two -years
AXED PROGRAMS: [*]2007 DODGE RAM SRT10/QC SRT10[*]2008 CHRYSLER PACIFICA[*]2008 CHRYSLER CROSSFIRE[*]2008 DODGE MAGNUM /SRT8[*]2009 CHRYSLER FIREPOWER GTS/ROADSTER V-1[*]2009 JEEP COMMANDER?[*]2011 CHRYSLER IMPERIAL[/list]* Note: this list is based on media, rumors, and insider information and not be contrude as official from DaimlerChrysler Corporation [AG]
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"This car is 100% sh*ts and giggles."A car can be a tool but it can also be so much more. It can be a heart-starter, it can be a drug, it can be a piece of art and it can stir your soul.
"Speed has never killed anyone. Suddenly becoming stationary... that's what gets you." Jeremy Clarkson
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[*]2007 DODGE RAM SRT10/QC SRT10[*]2008 CHRYSLER PACIFICA[*]2008 CHRYSLER CROSSFIRE[*]2008 DODGE MAGNUM /SRT8[*]2009 CHRYSLER FIREPOWER GTS/ROADSTER V-1[*]2009 JEEP COMMANDER?[*]2011 CHRYSLER IMPERIAL[/list]* Note: this list is based on media, rumors, and insider information and not be contrude as official from DaimlerChrysler Corporation [AG] 
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