Chrysler

Merger Between Popular Car Companies Possibly On The Horizon

With the race to perfect new types of cars heating up more everyday with the dream of autonomous driving and a fully connected vehicle, it is no wonder that rival companies may start to work together to get ahead of other companies.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) (FCHA.MI) boss Sergio Marchionne said on Sunday that seeking a tie-up with General Motors (GM.N) was a “high priority” and such a deal would also be the best strategic option for its U.S. rival.

GM’s board rebuffed a merger proposal from the Italian-American carmaker earlier this year. That has not stopped Marchionne from wooing his bigger competitor as he seeks to reduce the number of players in the industry and share the prohibitive costs of building greener and more intelligent cars.

“That discussion remains a high priority for FCA,” he told journalists on the sidelines of the Formula One Italian Grand Prix in Monza, northern Italy.

He did not want to discuss the next steps FCA might take or their timing, but said a merger with GM would “be the best possible strategic alternative for us and for them. General Motors does remain the ideal partner for us and we represent a not easily replaceable alternative for them.”

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New Chrysler Engine Due in 2016

Can’t wait to hear this baby purrrr…..

Chrysler Group has planned a hurricane for 2016, and like a parched Texas ranch, frankly, it could use the rain.

The Hurricane coming three years from now is actually a rework of the company’s base 2.0-liter I-4 engine, or, more specifically, the 2.0-liter engine’s cylinder head, code-named Hurricane.

The new head, according to Chrysler documents, “is an engineering challenge which uses many new technologies to achieve excellent fuel economy.”

What those technologies are we don’t know yet, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Chrysler aiming for big boosts in power and torque above the current 2.0-liter’s 160 hp and 148 pounds-feet of peak torque.

A company spokesman declined comment.

The Hurricane engine will apparently continue to use its existing aluminum block, which it shares with the re-engineered 2.4-liter “Tigershark” engine launching in the 2014 Jeep Cherokee.

Both the 2.0- and 2.4-liter engines were extensively re-engineered between 2010 and 2012 to improve fuel efficiency and performance. In the overhaul, the 2.4-liter was outfitted with Fiat’s latest electrohydraulic variable valve lift technology, called MultiAir 2, while the smaller-displacement 2.0-liter was not.

Both I-4 engines are evolutions of the World Gas Engine project, a partnership between Mitsubishi Motors, Hyundai Motor Co. and then-DaimlerChrysler in the early 2000s to jointly develop four-cylinder engines for North America.

I’ve now driven the reworked 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter engines in their current forms — the smaller engine in a Dodge Dart and the larger in the Cherokee.

I think there’s plenty of room to further refine and improve both these engines, and Chrysler is wise to spend money to do so.

By Larry P. Vellequette at www.autonews.com