Meet the New Chrysler Delta…but it's not for U.S., it's for the U.K.

Do you remember the Chrysler-badged Delta hatchback that made a surprise appearance at the Detroit motor show in 2010?

Well, the Chrysler Group has presented the final production version but it is not for U.S. consumption. Instead, the Delta will be offered in the United Kingdom where all Lancia products will be marketed under the Chrysler brand.

The only changes made to the original Lancia model, which was recently updated with a new front grille, concern the Chrysler badges inside and out.

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Rumors: Chrysler to Kill Dodge Caliber in Late November

It’s been a bumpy road for the Chrysler Group's Dodge Caliber compact crossover that was introduced in 2006 as a replacement to the Neon, under the supervision of Mercedes-Benz's parent company Daimler, which then controlled the U.S. automaker.

But the end appears to be near as the usually well informed on Chrysler Group matters Allpar site is reporting that production of the Caliber will end on November 23, 2011, according to "documentation recently sent to dealers".

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Will the Jeep-based SUV Turn Maserati into the New Porsche?

[The above photo is an independent rendering, not the actual Maserati SUV Concept]

Most Italian sports car lovers believe a Jeep-based Maserati SUV will be a disgrace to the company's history, while pragmatists and analysts alike that it is a possible way to revitalize the brand. And those who remember our recent story concerning the soon to be launched Maserati SUV can strike the word “rumor” from the title.

Sources from within the company confirmed today that the Italian company will indeed launch a Jeep Grand Cherokee-based SUV concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. What’s more, the same insiders said that the luxury SUV will be manufactured not at Modena, like all other sports cars bearing the trident badge, but at Chrysler’s Jefferson North plant in Detroit.

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Fiat May Miss 500’s North America Sales Target in 2011 Due to Delays in Store Openings

Fiat’s 500 sales in North America will likely fall short of the initial target of 50,000 units in 2011, because of the delays in opening new stores. Currently, the brand has opened 100 out of the 130 stores planned for the US this year.

The Italian company chose to open new stores instead of using the existing Chrysler dealer network, in order to differentiate its niche product. However, the original plan, which called for most delaers to be operational by February, failed since at that time only about a dozen were ready.

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Made in the USA: Weak Dollar Boosts Local Production

The US dollar has been dropping relative to other currencies including the Euro and the Yen, hitting a historically low level compared to the last 30 years. This means that imported goods of all kinds, including automobiles, are now more expensive in the States. However, on the other hand, the weak dollar has made US exports cheaper and therefore more competitive in the rest of the world.

This is especially good news for US car manufactures notes Edmunds.com analyst Michelle Krebs: “The weak dollar is good for manufacturers in the US, whether they're the Big Three of German or whatever, because they can export at an advantage”.

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WTF Edition: Corvette ZR1 Showoff Hits Chrysler 300 SRT8 [NSFW]

You're enjoying a day on the track when all of a sudden someone bangs your pride and joy: what's your first reaction?

Well, our guess is you may use a different choice of words, but more or less, it'll be in the same tone as the driver of this Chrysler 300 SRT8 that was hit by a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 that lost traction after a bit of a showoff.

Watch the video after the break, but be advised, there's foul language to be heard so turn off your speakers if you happen to be at a workplace.

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U Spy: Lancia Grand Voyager CRD Snagged on Michigan Highway

Remember the rebadged Chrysler Town & Country minivan that debuted at the Geneva auto show in March this year as the Lancia Grand Voyager? How can we forget, we hear some of you cry out loud.

Well, the…Italian Grand Voyager may have yet to appear on the firm's official webpage and Fiat's press division may still have that single image showing a Town & Country photoshoped with Lancia badges (no, really, 6 months after we reported it, the Italians continue to display the same digitally manipulated picture…), but the minivan has made its appearance on the road.

But not where you'd expect. The Lancia Grand Voyager was spotted by Carscoop reader Molly S. travelling alongside a light-blue Chrysler minivan on the M-14 highway in eastern Michigan.

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AAA Survey Reveals 25% of Americans Couldn’t Afford a US$2,000 Car Repair Bill

The former American Automobile Association, now known by its acronym AAA, is probably the most recognisable organisation of its type in the world.

And with some 52 million members, it’s also one of the world’s largest if not the largest automobile associations in the world.

Suffice to say, when the AAA speaks, the world listens. In a recent telephone survey of 1,009 adults in the continental United States, the AAA found that 12.5% couldn’t cover a US$1,000 (€701) car repair bill and 25% couldn’t cover US$2,000 (€1,402) car repair bill.

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Nearly 300,000 Chrysler and Dodge Minivans Recalled Over Airbag Issue

The Chrysler Group has issued a recall on 299,718 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans from the 2008 model year to fix a problem that could cause the airbags to deploy unexpectedly.

The automaker said that the issue is related to the Occupant Restraint Control (ORC) modules that controls the airbags. According to Chrysler, the OCR module may have been exposed to moisture. If this happens, it could lead to the airbag warning light going on while in some cases, the airbag could deploy for no reason.

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Marchionne Says 54.5 mpg “Doable”, Hints at Retirement, Drives a Charger

Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne gave a speech today at the 2011 CAR Management Briefing Seminars. He quoted philosopher Albert Camus, talked about the reason geese fly in a V formation (they create uplift for those that follow, thus extending their range by 70%) and even used an excerpt from Alice in Wonderland, specifically a dialogue between Alice and the Queen in “Through the Looking Glass”.

Marchionne did all this to convey the message that he feels vindicated. For effectively taking over Chrysler, for receiving the bailout money when most were skeptical or openly opposed it (and paying them back six years before schedule) and for wanting to merge the American group with Fiat.

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Detroit's Big 3 Post Higher Sales in July on Demand for Crossovers and Light Trucks

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have all announced higher sales in July compared to the same month of 2010. GM reported today that its sales increased by 8% compared to July 2010. Passenger car sales rose by 8% and deliveries of crossovers by 20%.

It’s the same story over at Ford, with car sales increasing by 3 percent and light trucks by 12% for a total increase of 6%, as well as for Chrysler, which saw its July sales rise by 20% thanks to a new range of models and a 46% increase in Jeep deliveries.

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Chrysler Group to Deliver 14 Plug-in Hybrid Rams to San Francisco

The Chrysler Group is taking its first baby steps in the plug-in hybrid arena with the launch of an evaluation program that will see around 140 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) being supplied to selected cities and states across the USA.

On Tuesday, August 2, Chrysler will deliver 14 Ram 1500 PHEV prototypes to the City of San Francisco as part of a three-year assessment program.

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Eminem is the Real Slim Shady in Legal Battle with Audi over “Lose Yourself” Ad

In February, during the Super Bowl, Chrysler aired its new advertising campaign for the 200 featuring the slogan “Imported from Detroit”. The commercial, which showed famous rapper Eminem driving around the Motor City under the sounds of his hit song “Lose Yourself”, won 5 awards at Cannes.

Three months later, Audi aired a TV ad in Germany about the 2012 A6 Avant. It featured a man driving around a German city -much like Eminem did- with a background music that sounded far too similar to the “Lose Yourself” hit.

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Marchionne Merges Fiat and Chrysler Group Management Teams

Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Fiat and Chrysler, has announced the unification of the two automakers’ management teams in one, smaller unit. As Fiat said in a statement, from September 1, the group will have four regional managers for both companies’ operations in Europe, Asia, North America and South America.

These regional chiefs, along with Marchionne himself, and other 17 managers will form a “group executive council". Not surprisingly, Fiat execs dominate the new consolidated management team, with 14 people sourced from the Italian-based carmaker and only five from Chrysler.

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U.S. Administration Reduces 2025 CAFE Target to 54.5MPG, Gains Support from 5 Automakers

The Obama administration has, according to White House sources who wish to remain anonymous, the support of no less than five big automakers in its bid to reduce Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and CO2 emissions in the US until 2025.

The five major manufactures that will support the new CAFE target are, according to the aforementioned sources, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Honda and Hyundai.

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Rumors: Maserati to Show Jeep-Based SUV Concept in Frankfurt, Preparing Chrysler-Based Sports Sedans

The Fiat Group is getting ready to take its alliance with Chrysler to the next level with the presentation of three new models including an SUV and two luxury sports sedans, all using key technology and components from the Chrysler Group's lineup, according to a report from Autonews.

First up is the long-rumored Maserati SUV model, which is said to be previewed by a concept study (not to be confused with the independent design rendering by Andrey Trofimchuk that is pictured in this article) at the upcoming 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show in September, before landing in showrooms in 2013.

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The Price of Saving Two of America’s Big Three? $14 Billion, but it Could have Been Worse

Here’s a fun little activity for our readership: check out the U.S. National Debt Clock website and take a gander at the figure under, “U.S. National Debt”.

That number is a little over US$14 trillion (€9.67 trillion), and is probably one of the reasons President Obama is having trouble sleeping at night. Around 0.1% of that is the loss the U.S. Treasury suffered by bailing out two of America’s big three automakers: General Motors and Chrysler.

At the height of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, the U.S. government spent $80 billion (€55.2 billion) to save the auto-industry. Of that amount, US$14.6 billion (€10.08 billion) has been lost, never to be reclaimed. It comes as sobering news given the current state of the U.S.’s ever-growing national debt.

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Michigan Representatives Say 56 mpg Target Will Lead to Unemployment, Urge President Obama to Reconsider

Two Democrat Senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, along with 14 House members from Michigan disputed President Obama’s informally proposed 56 mpg target for 2025 in a direct letter that predicts a loss of many American jobs if it comes into effect.

"We are deeply concerned that the administration's `starting' proposal of a five percent annual increase for cars and light trucks -- to reach a goal of 56.2 miles per gallon in 2025 -- is overly aggressive and not reasonable feasible," the 16 Michigan representatives said in their message to the President.

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Report: More American Car Buyers Opting for 4-Cylinder Over V6 and V8 Engines

Once upon a time, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, most consumers liked their cars with six- or eight-cylinder engines. Blame the rising costs of fuels or advances in technology, but now, American buyers are turning to smaller 4-cylinder units in increasing numbers.

According to a report from IHS Automotive, in the first half of the year, more than 43% of the light vehicles sold in the US were equipped with four-cylinder engines, compared to just 30% five years ago.

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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.

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