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☆ Whatever happened to the two-door car?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

There are still two-door cars today, of course, but they’re almost all high-performance sports cars not intended for comfortable cruising. For car designers, two-door models can offer more striking proportions to play with, long hoods that evoke power and tapered, aerodynamic back ends. Today, it’s rare to see a two-door car that isn’t a performance model like the Mustang or Corvette. Today, if you have a two-door car and you have kids, you also have a backache. While some two-door cars used to be bargain items – the cheapest entry-level cars were almost always two-door hatchbacks – today two-door models are seen mostly in European luxury car showrooms.

Persons: Ricardo Montalbán, Brian Rabold, Bob D'Olivo, ”, Kevin Kirbitz, who’s, “, Rabold, ” Rabold, Scott Krugger, Kia Rio, You’ve, Gorden Wagener Organizations: CNN, Chrysler, Network, Riviera, GM, Ford Thunderbird, Chevrolet Corvette, Thunderbird, Ford, Stellantis’s Dodge, Nissan, Cox Automotive, BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Benz, American Mercedes Locations: Chrysler Cordoba, Cordoba, United States, American

☆ Stellantis recalling 338,000 Jeeps for suspension problem
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler vehicles, is recalling 338,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees in the United States because parts of the front suspension could become loose. The recall includes both Jeep Grand Cherokee and the longer Grand Cherokee L, which has three rows of seats. As of late January, Stellantis was not aware of any crashes or injuries resulting from the issue, according to official documents. Some of these vehicles could have bolts in the front suspension that were damaged during assembly. Owners who want to check if their vehicle is involved in the recall can go to NHTSA’s Safercar.gov website.

Persons: CNN — Stellantis, Stellantis, NHTSA’s Organizations: CNN, Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, Grand Cherokees, National, Traffic Safety Administration, Cherokee, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Stellantis’s, FCA, Owners, Cherokees Locations: United States

☆ 4 reasons why the Tesla Cybertruck already lost its advantage
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The first production Tesla Cybertruck is expected to be delivered today – finally – four years after it was first unveiled. Stellantis’s Ram 1500 Rev electric truck will also go into production in late 2024. The Cybertruck is less than 19 feet long, according to Tesla, which is slightly shorter than other full-size trucks. Ample functional front space has been a big selling point for the Ford truck, in particular. That truck is claimed to provide up to 14,000 pounds of towing, the same figure Tesla originally claimed at the Cybertruck’s unveiling.

Persons: Elon Musk, Tesla, Ford, Stellantis’s Ram, ” Musk, Stellantis Organizations: CNN, General Motors, Chevrolet Silverado EV, Ford Maverick, Ford, GM, Pickup

☆ Fiat, maker of Italian cars, is opening an apartment building in New Jersey
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Fiat, the Italian car brand best known in the United States for its tiny, retro-styled cars, is putting its name on an apartment building across the river from Manhattan. The Fiat House residences will be in a far more pragmatic location, near the western approaches to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Fiat House residents will have access to a car-sharing fleet of Fiat 500e electric cars, according to an announcement from Fiat and UNLMTD Real Estate. The building will include more than 300 apartment units ranging from studios to 2-bedrooms, some furnished, according to the announcement. While Fiat’s cars cost far less than those of ultra-luxury brands like Bentley and Aston Martin its sales have been similarly small in number.

Persons: CNN —, Aston Martin, George Washington, Fiat’s Organizations: CNN, CNN — Fiat, Fiat, Porsche, Bentley, Honda Locations: United States, Manhattan, South Florida, Fort Lee , New Jersey, New Jersey, New York City, UNLMTD

☆ Jeep Maker Stellantis Bets on a Chinese EV Startup, but Is It the Right One?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Stephen Wilmot | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Chinese companies can produce EVs 30% more cheaply than Western ones, according to Stellantis’s research. Photo: Leonhard Simon/Getty ImagesBuying into a Chinese automaker sounds like a great answer to the challenge of making cheaper electric vehicles. If only it were easier to pick winners. Chrysler owner Stellantis said Thursday that it was spending the equivalent of about $1.6 billion to buy a roughly 20% stake in Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology . It will get two board seats and become Leapmotor’s exclusive export partner via a Europe-based joint venture in which Stellantis will own 51%.

Persons: Leonhard Simon, Stellantis Organizations: Chrysler, Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Locations: Zhejiang Leapmotor, Europe

☆ UAW Strike Expands to Stellantis’s Largest U.S. Factory
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Ryan Felton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

UAW union members have been striking over job security and pay as automakers push forward in developing EV’s, which require fewer workers and cost more in raw materials. So what does that mean for the future of auto workers and the union? Illustration: George Downs/The Wall Street JournalThe United Auto Workers on Monday expanded its continuing strike against Detroit’s car companies by shutting down a pickup-truck plant, a surprise action that hit Chrysler-parent Stellantis ’s largest U.S. factory. The 6,800-worker plant, located in Sterling Heights, Mich., in suburban Detroit, makes the Ram 1500 pickup truck, among the automaker’s most profitable vehicles. The walkout brings the total number of UAW-represented on strike at the Detroit automakers, including Ford Motor and General Motors , to more than 40,000, the UAW said.

Persons: George Downs Organizations: Street, United Auto Workers, Chrysler, U.S ., UAW, Detroit, Ford Motor, General Motors Locations: Sterling Heights, Mich, Detroit

New York CNN —The United Auto Workers union is expanding its strike against GM and Stellantis but said that progress in negotiations with Ford means it won’t expand the number of Ford workers on the picket lines. “At noon Eastern today, all parts distributions centers at General Motors and Stellantis will be on strike,” he said. Still the announcement of progress at Ford raised hopes that the strike, at least at there, could be brought to a relatively quick end. But the UAW’s expanded strike is now targeting the parts distribution centers for GM and Stellantis. As of 10:30 am ET, Stellantis (STLA) is up 0.98%; Ford (F) is up 3.57%; and GM (GM) is up 0.7%.

Persons: Shawn Fain, ”, “, Fain, “ Ford, ” Ford, Ford, Bill Pugliano, ” Shawn Fain, Tesla Organizations: New, New York CNN, United Auto Workers, GM, Ford, UAW, General Motors, Ford Michigan Assembly Plant, Stellantis, Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, Big, Facebook, UAW International Union Locations: New York, Wayne , Michigan, Wentzville , Missouri, Toledo –, North America, Virginia, California, America, Auburn Hills , Michigan

☆ Buying a car? What the UAW strike means – and doesn’t mean – for auto sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Now that the United Auto Workers union has started a strike, the US auto market is about to be thrown into turmoil all over again. Auto sales hadn’t entirely recovered from the pandemic, but car shopping in the United States could change once more. The auto manufacturing crises of recent years have left auto dealers better prepared to deal with disruptions, said Scott Kunes, chief operating officer of Kunes Auto and RV Group, which owns more than 40 dealerships in the Midwest. It pays to be flexibleBefore the strikes started, auto dealerships had reasonably healthy inventories of new vehicles, according to Michelle Krebs, an analyst with AutoTrader. That means they’ll still have vehicles to sell for a few weeks, but, as the strike wears on, the choices available will start to dwindle.

Persons: They’re, Jonathan Smoke, Scott Kunes, ” Kunes, “, Kunes, Tyson Jominy, JD Power, Thomas Goldsby, Jominy, Michelle Krebs Organizations: New, New York CNN, United Auto Workers, Auto, Ford, GM, Cox Automotive, Kunes, RV Group, Toyota, BMW, Hyundai, Nissan, Volvo, Subaru, South Korean, JD, University of Tennessee, Trailblazer, Dodge, AutoTrader Locations: New York, United States, Michigan, Canada, Mexico, South Korea

☆ An auto strike looks likely. Should I buy a car now?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —If you’re thinking about buying a new car, you might be warily watching news about a possible United Auto Workers strike. It depends on the vehicle you’re shopping for and on your own level of flexibility in that choice. New vehicle inventories are leaner than they’ve been before past strikes, said Pat Ryan, CEO of the car shopping site CoPilot, which closely tracks dealership inventories. So vehicle production at Mexican and Canadian factories could well shut down at some point if a strike drags on. In some ways, you might find this all somewhat similar to car shopping during the era of post-covid vehicle shortages, said Ryan.

Persons: Pat Ryan, —, “ They’ve, ” Ryan, Stellantis, Ryan, that’s, ”, Ivan Drury, Michelle Krebs, Thomas Goldsby, Stellantis’s, GM’s, “, you’re Organizations: CNN, United Auto Workers, Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Chevrolet, GM, Dodge, GMC, Edmunds.com, AutoTrader, Ford Bronco, UAW, University of Tennessee, Factories, Chevrolet Trailblazer, Trax, Auto Locations: American, Mexico, Canada, United States, North America, South Korea, Italy, China

☆ JD Power quality survey: Alfa Romeo takes top spot
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

This time it was Alfa Romeo, an Italian car with a reputation for excitement – but not necessarily trouble-free ownership. Alfa Romeo leaped 24 places in the rankings to third overall, with 143 problems per 100 vehicles. Not every Stellantis brand ranked near the top, though, or even close. Last year, four Stellantis brands, including Ram and Alfa Romeo, were below average. Even if Alfa Romeo has improved enormously, it will be a long while before those scores changes much.

Persons: CNN —, Romeo, it’s, Alfa Romeo, Stellantis’s Dodge, Ram, Romeo Giulia Stellantis JD Power’s, doesn’t, Kristin Kolodge, Power, David McDonald, Larry Dominique, ” Organizations: CNN, Lexus, Alfa, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, France’s PSA, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, Consumer Locations: Italian, Stellantis, North America

☆ Stellantis SPAC deal has suitably decent airbags
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Carmakers are in a race to lock in battery metals like lithium. For shareholders, the risk is that they tie up capital in expensive supply deals, or mines in far-flung locations with poor governance. Stellantis’s (STLAM.MI) investment in a London-based special purpose acquisition company deal looks like a neat fix to those challenges. In a complex deal, halfway between an IPO and a SPAC takeover, it will buy the Serrote and Santa Rita mines in east Brazil for $1.1 billion. Besides the original SPAC investors, the bulk of that will likely come from a public offering, and new anchor investors like Stellantis.

Persons: Nat Rothschild’s Vallar, Artem Volynets, Neil Unmack, Xavier Niel, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Twitter, Brookfield, Thomson Locations: London, Santa, Brazil, Teck, China

☆ Maserati's going electric while simultaneously reconnecting to its gas-powered past
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Next year, Maserati will reveal a fully electric sedan for which they will be no gas-powered version at all. So does Ferrari, Maserati’s sister brand until a few years ago when it was spun off under its own stock symbol. The Maserati Grecale SUV has an aggressive driving feel. Now that the spinoff of Ferrari has left Maserati the company’s only ultra-luxury brand, Grasso feels more is expected, he said. “We can only be at ease when Maserati’s profitability is above Stellantis’s profitability,” he said.

☆ Last Dodge Challenger makes 1,010 hp, has optional parachute
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The unveiling of the 1,025 horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 has been long anticipated, and long delayed. Dodge had originally expected to just modify the Dodge Challenger Demon engine, which is capable of producing up to 840 horsepower. The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 can reach 60 miles per hour in under two seconds. StellantisIntroduced in 2008, the modern Dodge Challenger shares much of its engineering with the four-door Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans. Options for the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 include a Direct Connection Parachute Mounting System.

☆ Wondering Whether to Buy GM or Ford Stock? Try Stellantis.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Stephen Wilmot | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Stellantis’s brands at the Chicago Auto Show earlier this month. The largest U.S. auto maker by profit is the one that investors often treat as Detroit’s third wheel: Chrysler. The North American arm of automotive group Stellantis , which is roughly equivalent to the old Chrysler business with brands such as RAM, Jeep and Dodge, generated adjusted operating income of roughly 14 billion euros last year, equivalent to $14.9 billion at today’s exchange rate. The comparable numbers for General Motors and Ford were $13 billion and $9.2 billion, respectively. Tesla doesn’t split its business geographically, but made $13.7 billion in operating profit globally.

☆ Ram unveils electric truck concept with seats in the bed
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The Ram 1500 Revolution concept truck, unveiled Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, provides an early look at several features Ram’s future electric truck could have, including a rear passenger cabin wall that folds away, leaving the truck cab fully open into the cargo bed. Designers plan to use the "tuning fork" light design seen inside and outside the Ram Revolution concept in production versions of the truck. The concept truck has doors that open outward from the center with no pillar in the middle. The Ram 1500 Revolution concept has two electric motors, one powering the back wheels and one for the front, giving it all-wheel-drive. The electric Ram truck won’t go on sale until some time in 2024.

☆ Jeep Owner Stellantis’s China Joint Venture to File for Bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Selina Cheng | P.R. Venkat | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG— Stellantis NV said its unprofitable joint venture that made and distributed the Jeep brand in China will file for bankruptcy, a move that follows the European auto giant’s failure to reverse its dwindling sales in the country. Stellantis said it would continue to provide services to existing and future Jeep brand customers in China. It had impaired the value of its investment in the joint venture and other related assets in its first-half financial results, the company said.

☆ Stellantis's good-bye special edition Chysler 300 could have had 707 horse
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —As the big Chrysler 300 sedan, with its trademark large square grille, approaches the end of an 18-year production run, the brand unveiled a special edition model in Detroit last Tuesday night. This special edition will be the most powerful 300 offered by a wide margin. The bigger, more powerful 6.2-liter engine used in the limited edition 300C is used in the sportier Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack, which is not a limited edition model. But the Dodge Charger and the closely related Challenger are offered with those far more powerful supercharged engines. Those models are using all the supercharged engines the Mexican factory can make, said Elshoff.

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