The folks at Chrysler Canada are a pretty excited bunch this week, after watching the first 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 make it’s way out of the Brampton, Ontario plant on Thursday. The Canadian plant also manufactures the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can get our hands on one here in The Garage.

Press release after the break
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The delicate interdependency between automakers and suppliers took center stage again yesterday when Chrysler saw five of its plants shut down when one of its suppliers, Plastech, filed bankruptcy last week.

Plastech has long worn the moniker of “troubled supplier” requiring bailouts three times in the last 12 months, and apparently the Dearborn, Michigan-based supplier’s latest request for help finally sent the new regime at Chrysler over the edge. Chrysler agreed in principle to a plan — along with Ford and GM — on the evening of Jan. 31, then went to court on Feb. 1 asking to get the tooling used to make a variety of components back as well as sending Plastech a “Dear John” letter informing the company that Chrysler was terminating $200 million worth of contracts: immediately.

It’s akin to breaking up with a girlfriend and demanding all your “stuff” back: now.
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Global Electric Motorcars, a Chrysler company, that manufacturers NEV’s, or Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, might just have a hot property on their hands.

A GEM Electric Vehicle burnt to the ground yesterday on the University of California Riverside campus. UCR media relations were unaware of the fire and the campus Police Department said it could have been a test burn. Test burn?
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I was on the initial Sebring press revel in San Diego back in 2006 and enjoyed the couple of days I was at the helm of the car. I gave the car a decent review inside and out but was pummeled by fellow journalists for my lack of taste in not blasting what was considered a dreadful cheap looking interior.

Well it appears that the irate angry mobs that descended upon the gates of Chrysler in Auburn Hills, with torches in hand to protest bad taste are getting their way.
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What a difference a day makes! Just yesterday Bob Nardelli was ringing his hands ready to sell the family farm for fear that the bank would be looking to take his deed. (See the “Who’s going to save the Savior” post) Today, rose colored glasses were handed out at Chrysler as a statement came out late this afternoon saying all is well despite Nardelli’s grim recent assessments.

The only thing that might have been grim was the way Nardelli was probably spoken to off the record concerning his announced strategy of land for cash. The PR hacks had to burn the midnight oil to churn this spinning top out.

I guess the new strategy is to blame journalists for the company’s ills and lead us to believe that Bob Nardelli had a body double responding to a journalist questions. At a meeting earlier this month, chief executive Bob Nardelli told employees the company is headed for a substantial loss this year and is trying to sell assets to raise cash.
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I think many at Chrysler were getting a little delusional. Cerberus seemed to be a fairy godmother that would arrive on a white horse, wave a wand, and produce gold specks gently falling from the sky, bathed in bright light, that would help to alleviate all woes and woeful products.

Reality has come to Fairyland as Chrysler has slipped into a major financial funk just a few months into Cerberus Capital being crowned King of the ailing automaker.

At a meeting earlier this month, chief executive Bob Nardelli told employees the company is headed for a substantial loss this year and is trying to sell assets to raise cash.
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In keeping with the Chrysler theme of reviews for the past few weeks, we just picked up a brand spanking new 2008 Chrysler 300 Touring. This is quite the change from the trucks we’ve been sampling. The heart of the 300 is a 3.5 liter V6 that puts 250 horsepower through a 5 speed automatic transmission on it’s way to all 4 wheels. With another 5 cm of snow in the forecast for tonight, the AWD will be welcome tomorrow morning. So far the 300 is quiet and comfortable, with just enough road feel to be aware of what’s going on beneath it to stay connected.

With all the recent movements in new car pricing, Chrysler has done more than many manufacturers with regards to pricing parity. The pricing pages online can be a little confusing, but with sales incentives the Canadian price is certainly closer to that of the American market. With incentives, the Canadian sticker has dropped from $36,095 to $32,095 for the 300 Touring with All Wheel Drive.

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Chrysler has just announced that VP of Communications, Jason Vines has resigned from his post. Movements within the auto industry have long been the norm and usually aren’t really all that earth shattering though. In his most recent post at Chrysler, Vines has been a champion of new media. Under his hand, the manufacturer has used blogging formats to reach out to web 2 point oh style journalists to promote the brand. As one of those little guys, we here at The Garage have been more than happy that we can always contact the man at the top, who responds almost immediately to our requests.

While no announcement has been made regarding his future plans, Vines has agreed to stay on with Chrysler till the end of the year to ease the transition. The vacant position will be filled by existing senior VP of HR, Nancy Rae. We wish both Vines and Rae success in the coming months.

Read the full press release after the break
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I reported on Motor Trend Radio this weekend that Volkswagen has the lofty ambition of putting together an arsenal of vehicles that will place it in the position to be a formidable competitor to Toyota. If that’s the case they better start cracking. Their ultimate goal is to triple sales in the U.S. over the next ten years.

VW has believed in partnerships in the past. The German automaker has previously teamed up with Porsche to develop the Touareg SUV, which shares a platform with the Porsche Cayenne.

VW Touareg

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Some unscrupulous people will go to any means to own a ”classic” car.

A customer changed her mind about buying a new car. The sales manager said her trade-in was already sold. The case ended up in front of a jury.

Cleveland’s Fox News affiliate reports that a jury convicted the former sales manager at a local Chrysler dealership on theft charges after he refused to return a customer’s trade-in after she backed out of a deal.
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