Is this the End of Dodge Ram?

The Dodge logo is coming off!

The shakeup of the world’s auto brands continues!

GM has dumped or is dumping Opel, Hummer, Saturn and Pontiac. Volkswagen has added Porsche and is considering buying part of Suzuki. Now comes this news:

Chrysler appears ready to turn the Ram nameplate into its own brand.

According to the well-informed folks over at Edmunds, Ram will be developed into a brand that sells pickup trucks, vans, SUVs and commercial vehicles. That in turn would leave Dodge open to evolve into an affordable performance brand.

A year ago I might have scoffed at such an idea. Now though it kind of makes sense, for these reasons: Chrysler is owned by Fiat. Fiat owns Alfa Romeo. Alfa Romeo makes great cars. And Alfa Romeos could become Dodges, thanks to the Italian ownership of Chrysler.

Separating the line of trucks from the line of sports cars seems like a good move, and Ram is a name that’s been around long enough to be able to stand on its own.

If this is a glimpse into the future of what Chrysler will become, I’m excited about it. How long have us Americans been asking for some European flair in our cars? A long time. And now it’s coming in the form of Fiat and Alfa Romeo.

I’m not a Dodge guy, and never have been, but put the Dodge logo on an Alfa MiTo, 159, Brera or 8C Spider and I’m all over it like hot butter on a dinner roll.

Is making Ram its own brand a good idea?

-tgriffith

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Fiat to Sell Four Versions of the 500 in U.S.

Fiat 500 Abarth

It’ll be a crazy day when there are more Fiats on the road in America than Chryslers.

It could happen, too, because the Chrysler/Fiat merger isn’t just bringing one Fiat 500 to the States - it’s bringing at least four: hatchback, convertible, station wagon, and sporty hatchback.

Perhaps the best news for Fiat fanatics is the “sporty hatchback,” which will be the famous Abarth version that won Europe’s 2008 Car of the Year Award.

Alfa Romeo Kamal concept

The station wagon could be based on the sexy Alfa Romeo Kamal concept, which should help Americans shed the wagon stigma of the ’70s. I don’t care what logo ends up on the front of this baby - I’d drive it all day long.

Come 2011, get ready to see fleets of Fiats cruising your city. I’m going to predict right now that these cars will hardly get to know dealers’ lots before flying off them and into garages across the country. The other side of that, unfortunately, is sure to be premium prices without a lot of negotiation room, which is something Chrysler salesmen aren’t used to. I think they’ll adapt pretty quickly, though!

In addition to the four Fiat 500 versions already slated to arrive, there could be a fifth: a micro SUV. Hey, if MINI can do it, why not?

I’m genuinely excited to see Chrysler shack up with Fiat; these are products much more relevant to the U.S. market than losers like the Sebring. In early 2011, you can count on me stepping foot inside a Chrysler dealership for the first time in years and taking a test drive.

Will you try out a new Fiat when they arrive at Chrysler dealerships in 2011?

-tgriffith

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Name the American Truck: Chevy Silverado or Mazda B-Series

Silverado - it sure looks American!

Not long ago, we asked if Ford was a foreign car company.

We asked because so many American cars are built in Mexico, while Japanese cars are built in America, so we wondered what really constitutes a “domestic” automobile. The location of final assembly is only a piece of the puzzle - there’s also the whole question of where a car’s parts come from.

It sounds like a philosophical conundrum: If a car’s engine is built in Germany, its transmission comes from France, final assembly happens in the United States, and the corporate headquarters is in Japan, where is the car from?

Considering all this, I’m surprised to see the results of a poll in our original blog asking if car owners know where their car was built. With nearly 2,500 people answering, an overwhelming 81 percent said they do know where their cars were built.

I have to wonder, though, if some people just assume their Fusions or Silverados (or Escalades or Avalanches or HHRs or Sierras…the list goes on)  were built in America just because they believe all those American Heartland “Like a Rock” TV ads.

Heck, the Honda Odyssey is more “American” than the Dodge Grand Caravan, with its engine, transmission, and assembly all sourced from the United States.

That’s why I get infuriated when a staunchly anti-foreign Midwestern truck guy judges me for buying a Japanese SUV when he (unknowingly) owns a Chevy Silverado that was made in Mexico. I imagine that guy would be pretty peeved to hear that little nugget of information.

With pieces of cars literally coming from all over the world, I was excited to see this brilliant feature, put together by the New York Times, that lists every car that’s made in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

I’d be curious for the people who took our original survey to check out the Times’ feature and then answer our survey again.

Which do you think is more American: a Mazda built in America or a Silverado built in Mexico? If you want, go ahead and tell me what car you own, including the year, and I’ll tell you where it was built.

-tgriffith

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Baby Rolls: A Rolls-Royce for the masses?

2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost: coming soon to your neighbor's garage?

Sometimes people like to point out to me that Rolls-Royce doesn’t advertise.

While it may be true that they don’t buy space in Cosmo, Rolls certainly does advertise, even though it’s normally through their PR department.

RR has been teasing auto fans for quite some time now with the prospect of a lower-priced “Baby Rolls.” Their flacks have generated all kinds of buzz… could it be true that our friends and neighbors might afford to park a legendary symbol of luxury and status in their garages?  

Not so fast. The company has officially unveiled their new baby, the Rolls-Royce Ghost, at the Shanghai Auto Show in China. Based on the BMW 7 Series platform, this “entry level” Rolls still measures 212 inches long and will have a 6.6-liter turbocharged V12 under the hood. 

With the introduction of the Ghost, Rolls-Royce expects to increase their annual production output to 1,600 cars per year. With numbers like that, you can bet the term “entry level” still won’t translate to an affordable price. Estimates have ranged anywhere from the low-$200,000 to the low-$300,000 range. 

I don’t think any amount of advertising will sell more cars at that price!

If you had the money, would you buy a Rolls-Royce or “step down” to something like the BMW 7 Series?

-tgriffith

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Traveling Techno Style with the Little Darlings

While GM and Chrysler struggle to emerge from their nuclear winter, Ford springs ahead with a rolling playroom called the Transit Connect Family One Concept. (Why does it take five words to name one car?)

The fact that it looks like a paddy wagon or a bread van shouldn’t bother those utilitarian types who buy such vehicles. The Vanagon won no beauty contests either. This is the kind of car that tgriffith probably would have killed for on his recent California family trip.

Vomit-proof interior, a plexiglass bulkhead to absorb the sounds of whining and fighting, gas dispensers in the roof to put the little tykes to sleep (well, no, not the latter)—the TCFOC has these features and many others.

Jalopnik notes:

The most kid-pleasing aspect of the car was the very clever plexiglass kiddie bulkhead which separates the front seats from the rear and has a painted surface at the top which front shelf-mounted projectors beam images onto. Two sides can show off two sources, one of which may be the webcams stowed around the vehicle which kids took to making faces at. The rear cargo area has integrated Lego storage and the seat back can fold down to have a Lego base to work from.

But wait, there’s more. Per Ford’s press release, the car is “designed for the coolest mom” and features:

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to keep track of all the items the active family needs to stay organized. When the driver enters the vehicle with children, the in-dash computer will provide notification that Timmy’s hockey equipment is still in the front hall closet. Using predictive algorithms to “learn” based on past usage, the system will identify missing musical instruments or homework on the way to school and will remind parents if they haven’t packed clubs for a scheduled Saturday golf outing.

Will you all please stop laughing now? We’re not done yet. Add in:

• Twin folding scooters, mounted inside the rear cargo doors
• Built-in sunscreen and hand sanitizer dispensers
• Whiteboard rear side-door interior surfaces for erasable “water pen-friendly” creativity
• Rechargeable family radio walkie-talkies
• Backpack attachments and handy, integrated toy storage
• Protracting, roof-mounted awning over the rear opening
• Lava-lamp effect rear headliner graphics.

Debuting at the New York Auto Show in two weeks, the TCFOC will be powered by Ford’s 2-liter I4 engine, giving you 22/25 mpg, fully loaded with hand sanitizer, Legos and peanut butter. You can buy the Transit Connect business van this summer for $21,475 base price. Who knows what this thing will cost?

Why do parents and kids need all this techno-coddling when they travel? Are you for or against built-in hand sanitizer dispensers?

—jgoods

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World’s Fastest Production Car: Now in Electric?

I guess it’s not enough to build the fastest production car in the world.

Shelby SuperCars makes the 1,183-horsepower Ultimate Aero, the car that currently holds the title of World’s Fastest Production Car. How fast does it go? Well the speedometer on the 2008 model goes up to “only” 260, while the 2009 model should be capable of burying the needle at 270 mph. Holy smokes - sounds like it’s time to install a 300-mph speedometer!

To put this car in a little bit of perspective, the Ultimate Aero outperforms the Bugatti Veyron and every Ferrari and Lamborghini ever made. One would assume that SSC, a small company located in the small eastern Washington town of Richland, would be content with their record. But no, they want another record: World’s Fastest Production Electric Car.

Enter the Ultimate Aero EV, which is being built to showcase SSC’s new green powertrain. That’s exciting in itself, but here’s what really gets my blood boiling: The Ultimate Aero EV produces 1,000 horsepower, has 100% torque available at 0 RPM, rockets to 60 in an astonishing 2.5 seconds, and has a top speed of 208 mph.

SSC also claims 150-200 miles on a single charge, with a 10-minute recharge on a 110-volt outlet. That means you could plug your supercar into the same outlet that powers your toaster.

Now that the jaw-dropping specs are out of the way, I can get into the other cool part: The same powertrain that propels the Aero EV can be customized for different applications - a 200-hp version for a family sedan, a 500-hp version for an SUV, or up to 1,200 hp for commercial vehicle applications.

If the Ultimate Aero EV performs as advertised, the implications are huge. SSC could feasibly be producing electric vehicles that regular people might actually need. Affording them might be a different story, though, as the gas-powered Ultimate Aero can easily reach $650K.

According to SSC, deliveries of the Ultimate Aero EV should begin as early as the 4th quarter of this year, with automotive journalists set to witness its glory in the 2nd quarter. 

We’ll keep you posted!

Do you think it makes sense to build electric supercars? More importantly, would you want one?

-tgriffith

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