Shocker! Chrysler Bringing Home More Bacon than Fiat...

Two years ago, Chrysler was saved from oblivion when the federal government provided a $15 billion bailout and orchestrated a rescue plan that gave the Fiat Group the management control of the company.

Last week, the Italian automaker raised its share in Chrysler beyond 50% for the first time, to 53.5%.So Fiat saved Chrysler in 2009, right? Well, yes, but 2011 is another story altogether.

You see, Chrysler’s US sales increased by 21% in the first six months of the year, whereas Fiat’s European deliveries dropped 12.7% in the same period. But that's only half the story. With the exception of the Maserati and Ferrari brands, the Chrysler Group will contribute to the alliance €155 million for June alone, while Fiat €175 million for the past three months.

If you're looking for an explanation, the answer can be found not only in Chrysler’s rise and Fiat’s fall, but also in the nature of Fiat’s sales as the Italians are mostly active in small car categories where profits are slim compared to the larger and more expensive cars that comprise the bulk of Chrysler’s sales.

Sergio Marchionne, who is the CEO of both Chrysler and Fiat, recently admitted that he intends to unify the management teams into a single, smaller and more efficient entity.

"Chrysler will generate a lot more cash flow and growth than Fiat very soon," said Bruno Lapierre, an analyst with brokerage Cheuvreux.

A merger would be profitable for both automakers, due to economies of scale, and it looks inevitable, as Goldman Sachs stated this week: “With the business of Fiat and Chrysler irrevocably linked, we believe a merger is a logical next step”.

But the question remains: who will benefit from it most? Chrysler, as everyone originally thought, or the former knight in shining armor, Fiat?

Via Reuters

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Über Rare Porsche 911 GT1 Straßenversion up for Grabs

It might not be the prettiest Porsche to look at, but the 911 GT1 Straßenversion is without doubt one of the most rare and radical street legal 911s ever to leave the Stuttgart firm’s factory.

You see, the 911 GT1 Straßenversion is the fully road-legal version of Porsche’s 1997 GT1 race car, While based on the 993, it features many modifications including a bespoke carbon-fiber body made to improve aerodynamics and lower the car's weight, and a detuned version of the competition model’s turbocharged flat-six engine delivering some 540 horses.

And now, one of the very few examples that were built to homologate Porsche's 911 GT1 contender in the late 1990s (Porsche is said to have built around 20 cars) is up for sale on a German site with an asking price of €1.2 million or about US$1.7 million.

Notably, the seller says the car is located in Tokyo, Japan, but will deliver anywhere, and that the car’s engine is rated at 700-horses.

Seller: Mobile via Gtspirit

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Chrysler Surpasses Ford as Canada’s Biggest Seller of Light Trucks

Canada’s economy seems unaffected by most of the Western World’s woes, where markets are struggling and unemployment is booming. In fact, Canada’s economy is growing and as a result, unemployment is falling and people are getting jobs. Therefore, they have money to buy cars, or light trucks, pickups and SUVs.

“People who are getting jobs are opting for practical vehicles such as a crossover to get better mileage than a traditional SUV”, said Carlos Gomes, an economist at Scotia Capital. “You have the construction sector holding up very well, and that is positive for the pickup segment.”

This has worked very well for Chrysler, which in the first half of the year has overtaken Ford in light truck segment. That is because, with oil prices rising, new truck buyers are opting for more fuel-efficient models.

For instance, Chrysler’s Dodge Journey sales increased more than the SUVs of rivaling carmakers Ford and GM, the Escape and the Chevrolet Equinox respectively.

However, in total vehicles sales including cars, Ford still leads the market with a 17.4% share, having also beaten GM in 2010 for the first time in many decades. GM is second, with a 15.5% market share, but it can feel Chrysler breathing down its neck with 15.0% and only 4,000 vehicles difference in the first half of the year.

Via Bloomberg

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Update: Toyota Says RAV-4 EV Will Be Sold to the General Public

Toyota has just issued a statement disputing a recent report from Reuters by saying that the upcoming all-electric RAV-4 will be available for sale to the general public as well.

The Reuters story, which Coolpictures also reported on, said that the RAV-4 EV would only be sold to fleet customers and car sharing programs, citing Geri Yoza, the National Business Planning Manager of Advanced Vehicle Marketing, as the source.

Here’s Toyota’s official statement:

“Recent reports have incorrectly stated that the 2012 RAV4 EV will only be marketed to fleet and car sharing programs. We’d like to set the record straight. The 2012 RAV4 EV will definitely be sold to the general public. We anticipate robust public interest in the RAV4 EV and are keen to inform consumers that their future vehicle options include a battery electric Toyota

The Japanese company added that unlike the RAV-4 EV, the upcoming pure-electric version of the Scion iQ, will be marketed to fleet and car sharing programs only.

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2012 Honda CR-V Concept: First Official Photo Leaked Onto the Web

Circulating around the internet today is an official photograph of the 2012 Honda CR-V Concept that previews the production model that is scheduled to follow by the end of the year.

In June, Honda had announced that it would present a new generation of its popular compact crossover model; however, the Japanese company had not disclosed any specific details on the vehicle other than it would sport a "new design inside and out, new features and new possibilities".

As with the recent Civic concepts, the CR-V show car seen here is very close to the actual production model. Just don't expect to see the concept's more dramatic elements such as the dark headlamp crystals, small exterior mirrors, large alloy wheels and the contrasting lower trim in a black finish.

The inner works of the fourth-generation CR-V remain a mystery for now though it's a pretty safe bet to assume that it will be offered with both front- and four-wheel drive configurations, as well as four-cylinder gasoline engine (in North America) linked to a six-speed automatic transmission.

We’ll have more comprehensive details on the 2012 Honda CR-V in the next few days.

Photo via Caranddriver

How Shocking: Electrical Issues Plague Modern Cars

With modern cars fitted with more and more electronic equipment, it is logical that electrical problems are popping up much more frequently than in past years. According to a Warranty Direct survey in the UK, electrical faults account for 27% of all car malfunctions every year.

That’s a 17% rise over just five years ago, with more than four out of 10 cars each year facing breakdowns due to electrical problems that are mostly rather complex, and expensive to fix.

Topping the list of the most problematic cars is the 2002-2009 MY Renault Megane, with a 34.66% chance of electrical failure, followed by another French car, the Peugeot 607, with 31.28%. But, as you can see from the list that follows, electrical gremlins plague not just the French models, but also the German and British.

However, there are no Japanese or Korean car in the Top 10.

So, next time you walk into a showroom to buy a new car and drool over the options list, bear in mind that all those wonderful gadgets, which are often unnecessary, might cause you quite a headache in the long run.

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It’s Official: Mercedes-Benz Unveils Hot C63 AMG Coupe Black Series

Well, it was no big secret (not after some tell-tales spilled the beans facing the Germans’ wrath) that Mercedes-Benz was planning to unveil the Black Series edition of its C63 AMG Coupe during the German Grand Prix at Nürburgring.

Now the company has gone ahead as planned and revealed the C63 AMG Coupe’s hardcore sibling, the C63 AMG Coupe Black Series. The most potent version of the C-Class Coupe does not stray away from the successful formula of the models that carried the Black Series tag before it.

The Black Series is powered by the "regular" C63 Coupe's naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 but thanks to AMG’s modifications that include forged pistons, conrods and crankshaft, a 50% bigger oil cooler and a new ECU, it churns out 517HP (60HP more than the standard model) and, more importantly, 620 Nm (457 lb-ft)of tarmac-tearing torque.

All this power is channeled to the 19-inch rear wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch AMG Speedshift transmission. The gearbox has four modes and its fastest gear change time, in Sport or Manual, is just 100 milliseconds. Performance is, of course, exceptional: the C63 AMG Black Series accelerates from a standstill to 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 4.2 seconds.

The C63 AMG Coupe Black Series has a standard limited-slip differential. The novelty is that it’s electronically controlled and linked to the ESP stability control system, which itself has three settings, and unusually for a Mercedes, in its sportiest one is completely deactivated.

AMG’s engineers widened the front and rear tracks by 40 mm and 70 mm respectively, and also fitted stiffer anti-roll bars along with an adjustable coil-over sports suspension. The braking system comprises of 390 mm front and 360 mm rear discs, with six and four-piston calipers respectively.

Visually, the newest member of the Black Series clan gains a different front bumper with huge air intakes, bloated wheel arches, chunkier side sills and a redesigned rear bumper with quad exhausts.

Inside, the C63 AMG Black Series comes with a two-seat configuration, though Mercedes does offers a four-seat layout as an option. The car also gets red seat belts, a sport steering wheel covered in nappa leather and high-gloss black piano inserts on the dashboard along with the Black Series logo.

Mercedes-Benz offers two optional packages with self-explanatory names: the Track package, which features special Dunlop tires and a differential cooler, and the Aerodynamic package with carbonfibre aerodynamic aids on the front bumper and a carbonfibre rear spoiler.

Sales of the new C6 AMG Coupe Black Series are expected to commence in January, with a starting price in Germany of €115,430 ($165,722).

On a side note, Mercedes-Benz also announced that former McLaren-Mercedes F1 driver David Coulthard is the AMG divisions new ambassador. The 40-year old Scot will aid the AMG development team in testing and also take part in customer and press events starting with the campaign for the new, 557HP V8 biturbo E63 AMG.

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