Archive for the ‘Manufacturing’ Category

After a year of financial and political turmoil, and a shotgun marriage to Italy's Fiat Group, the new Chrysler is unveiling a five-year plan today that takes on a fast-paced, ambitious overhaul of the company's cars and trucks.

The joint management of the Fiat/Chrysler group has confirmed already today that the current Viper will disappear next summer, to be replaced in 2012 by a Fiat-derived model. Over the course of the rest of the day, Chrysler and Fiat will announce the production dates for a range of new vehicles, and the cancellation of many more current cars and trucks, for the six different brands that will be sold in the U.S. by ...

Yesterday's headlines may have centered on Ford's new-found profitability, but Chrysler and GM are working toward the black ink, too. General Motors in particular has high hopes for the future, but the federal government is slightly concerned that GM may be rushing its game plan and setting itself up for disaster (again). This could be read as an example of burdensome oversight, or it could be a matter of the government simply looking out for its investment, since there may be legitimate cause for alarm.

The concerns were expressed by the Government Accountability Office in response to talk of an IPO for General Motors in 2010. The GAO sees...

Volkswagen of America president Stefan Jacoby has confirmed to High Gear Media that the new sedan to be built in Tennessee will effectively replace the VW Passat in North America--and that the former Phaeton sedan will return to the U.S. market.

Speaking to journalists gathered to drive the new VW Golf, Jacoby admitted that today's Passat is too small for the duties pressed on it by American drivers. The Passat is "not the right size...for the distances Americans drive."

The Passat's replacement will be a new four-door code-named "NMS." Set for a new Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the new sedan arrives in about two years'...