Chrysler cars

Are these patent drawings of the Chrysler 200C?

Do auto execs run around town with their briefcases hanging open or is it just luck that leaked patent drawings randomly show up on the ’net at the perfect time? After Chrysler’s announcement of the Sebring’s eventual demise, Noticias Automotivas reports that this images is one of the leaked patent drawings of the future 200C.

The Chrysler 200C EV concept appeared at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show quite unexpectedly and seemed to be set to compete against Chevrolet’s Volt. The concept has a 40 mile range purely on battery power with some added mileage provided by the vehicle’s small gasoline engine. Total power for the concept was said to be about 270hp.

The patent drawings are very similar to the concept car shown to us at the Detroit Auto Show. The drawings feature the same rounded front fascia and distinct grille. The elongated headlamps and fog lamps are still there as is the puckered up back end. In fact, it literally looks exactly the same as the concept vehicle and if the similarity on the exterior extends throughout the entire vehicle, then we can expect the same power and interior as found in the concept as well. However, we might see Chrysler’s new Pentastar V6 get dropped in there.

We’ll let you know as soon as we received more information on the Chrysler 200C.

Top Ten Midsize Sedans For Under $30k

Midsize sedans are the bread and butter cars of most companies. Yet, even if typical bread and butter may seem like a bland food, that doesn’t stop these cars from being stylish, sporty, and fun to drive.

The best selling cars in the country are midsize sedans and the best selling cars for most automakers are their sedan offerings. The midsize sedan offers practicality without the reputation crushing style of a minivan.

At least, that’s what they want you to think.

The Toyota Camry was once the most popular car in the world and a year ago, the Camry’s annual American sales typically exceeded the total annual new car sales in the average European country.

There are many choices for car buyers and that allows people to demand many different things from these four door cars. Some people buy them as family cars, opting for more room over a compact sedan, without sacrificing small car handling and fuel economy. Other people like a bigger car over a smaller one and then there’s people who prefer the Honda Accord to the Civic because it has a bigger presence on the road. The larger car makes you feel safer and more secure during highway travel.

These are our top ten midsize cars under $30,000.

Hit the jump to read on.

Fiat opens massive dealership in Paris; Jeep vehicles to be sold in it

The Fiat and Chrysler partnership is kicking things off in Paris with a brand spanking new retail store that will feature both Fiat and Jeep models at the Motor Village dealership along Champs-Elysees in Paris. In addition to having Fiat and Jeep vehicles in the super duper dealership, Fiat will also be showcasing a slew of their other brands, including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, and Maserati.

The store’s opening earmarked the first occasion wherein the Fiat-Chrysler collaboration was publicly displayed in any of Fiat’s worldwide chain of dealerships.

It also doesn’t come as any surprise to us that Fiat is aggressively pushing Jeep into the European market because of its strong desire to see the off-road brand become the largest selling American marquee in Europe. As for the other brands under the Chrysler umbrella, Fiat – who, by the way, owns 20% of Chrysler – is rebadging Chryslers into Lancias while keeping the Dodge brand as a niche market across the Atlantic.

The new Motor Village dealership is located at Champs-Elysee near Rond-Point at the junction of Avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Avenue Matignon-Montaigne.

Chrysler PT Cruiser Is Gone, We Remember It In Song

The slightly awkward Chrysler PT Cruiser is now dead and we really aren’t that sad about it. It was retro and looked fairly decent, but it was the forgotten child of the Detroit automaker.

Despite decent sales, the company never gave the PT the massive overhaul it needed to compete with today’s market. That is a massive disappointment because the PT Cruiser was a huge success when it was first launched. It went on sale in the middle of our SUV craze and it sold well beyond anything Chrysler could have imagined.

"For a while, it was the best-selling Chrysler-brand vehicle," said Jim Hall, managing director of 2953 Analytics, a Birmingham consultancy.

With over 1.3 million PT Cruisers sold, the company will close the doors. While the Mini and Volkswagen Beetle live on, this retro machine is bound for the history books.

Yet, it wasn’t going to go quietly. The band Sha Na Na composed a song called, “The Cat in the PT Cruiser” to celebrate the car.

Hit the jump to see the video.

A Sweet Goodbye to the Chrysler PT Cruiser

The car that seemed to be the center of all jokes is finally reaching the end of its production run. The last Chrysler PT Cruiser will be rolling off the assembly line in less than two weeks.

When it was first launched, the PT Cruiser was a brilliant little car, unique in every sort of way. The car went on sale in 2000 during the American SUV craze. The retro design, like the New Beetle, made it a massive sales success. In fact, the car sold well beyond anything Chrysler could have imagined.

"For a while, it was the best-selling Chrysler-brand vehicle," said Jim Hall, managing director of 2953 Analytics, a Birmingham consultancy.

On July 9, the car’s last day, Chrysler will have sold over 1.3 million PT Cruisers. The PT was the first of many retro vehicles, including the Fiat 500 and Mini Cooper. The simply average base model eventually grew into a turbo GT version, a convertible and a dozen or so special editions.

Despite the poor build quality and the horrendous handling, the car continued to sell well, even though Chrysler never refreshed the look or the features.

"It’s plugged along and still has a loyal fan base," Hall said.

Though the car is in its final days we still have so many questions. If Chrysler had actually updated and made the PT better, what would have come of it?

Video: The reinvention of the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

To say that Chrysler has a lot invested in the success of the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is like saying that Ferrari is just another automaker. As one of the first releases of the recently-forged Chrysler-Fiat partnership, the Grand Cherokee is being pegged as an SUV that’s catered not only to Jeep’s rugged off-road market, but also towards those looking into making a luxury SUV purchase.

Recently, Jeep’s Bob Hegbloom took some time to talk with Pentastar Video to discuss the painstaking process behind the creation of the Grand Cherokee. Among the finer points of the interview include Hegbloom laying the groundwork for how Jeep can maintain its brand image as a rugged SUV that puts a premium on customer satisfaction. As such, Jeep decided to give the new Grand Cherokee a noticeable upheaval on its own, which includes increasing the SUVs legroom and adding a reclining rear seat, performing an exhaustive durability test that consisted of test driving the SUV a total of a staggering 2.5 million miles, and most of all, positioning the Grand Cherokee as a car that’s true to its roots yet has goals of infiltrating the luxury SUV market.

Chrysler’s new building wrap is all about the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

We don’t know what it is with Chrysler and their fascination for using building wraps on their headquarters whenever they feel the need to promote something, but it certainly is one good way to catch some attention.

A few months after doing the same thing to promote their "Motor Trend 2010 Truck of the Year" award, Chrysler is at it again with the whole ’covering the headquarters at Auburn Hills with a 103 feet long and 53 feet tall building wrap trick’.

This time, Chrysler’s new building wrap features the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which comes with the tagline the brand recently unveiled: "The things we make, make us".

According to Mike Manley, president and CEO of Jeep, the whole concept of building wraps is a way the company to show off the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee as a world-class vehicle to any and all who ends up passing by the Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, which includes up to 200,000 motorists passing along Interstate-75, a stones throw away from Chrysler’s HQ.

These guys aren’t exactly bastions of subtlety, are they?

Chrysler Sebring convertible to survive

Much to our surprise here at TopSpeed, Fiat has decided to keep the Sebring convertible alive. They are even giving it a major refresh early next year and boy, does it need it. The Sebring and the Dodge Avenger sedans are due for some updates before the end of the year and the Sebring could be getting a new name. There have also been reports that the new Sebring will be built in Italy.

Most of the changes that will take place on the two cars will include a reworked suspension and improved interiors. Chrysler’s new Pentastar V6 will be in the convertible next year.

Take a step back to the 1990’s and you will find Sebrings everywhere, as it was the best selling convertible in America. This was down to its low price and decent styling. The current model took all of that and threw it away. It combines the negative areas of the sedan, and there are many to choose from, plus poor styling.

So, why would any car company want to keep this convertible alive? Well, according to AllPar, it’s because they are a rental fleet favorite in warm weather climates. So, Chrysler can thank vacationers for driving the Sebring convertible because, chances are, nobody else will.

2010 Chrysler 300C by MaxPower

While the Chrysler 300C’s death is imminent, tuners want to give the car just one last chance. The British tuner MaxPower is offering a tuning package for the American sedan that includes exterior updates and a new exhaust system.

The exterior package includes a new front grille with five horizontal bars, a front bumper with additional air intakes and new front fenders incorporating air outlets. It will also sport new side skirts, a rear window spoiler, a discreet spoiler lip, and a sport exhaust system.

The entire package is finished by two-tone finish wheels with a black center and a aluminum polished outer wheel rim.

We wish we could say that this completely changed our minds on the vehicle, but that is simply not the case. MaxPower’s attempt to jazz up the Chrysler 300C left us wishing we had caught the poetry reading down the street instead. The add-ons provided to the vehicle were just not exciting enough to marvel over. We have to say it was a meager attempt in pimping the 300. Sorry, MaxPower, we are just not impressed.

Chrysler models to be re-badged Lancia in Europe

The new alliance between European giant, Fiat, and, struggling Detroit automaker, Chrysler will now mean that all Chrysler models will be re-badged. In Europe, the automakers products will now be called Lancia.

The new platform-sharing is part of a plan by Fiat to consolidate and shrink its Lancia and Chrysler dealer network in Europe. The plan is to shrink their current 1,200 dealerships by 300. As part of the new deal, Fiat owns all distribution rights of Chrysler products in Europe.

"Our plan is to have in place by May 2011 a Lancia/Chrysler integrated network comprising about 800 dealers and over 1,000 dealerships," said Olivier Francois, CEO for Chrysler and Lancia, in an e-mail interview with Automotive News Europe.

Currently, Lancia has around 595 dealers and 785 showrooms in continental Europe. The brand has stopped selling cars in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1991. Chrysler has 556 dealers and 750 showrooms.

Chrysler models that will be sold in Europe and re-badged as Lancia include a new compact sedan, a mid-sized sedan that will replace the disappointingly bad PT Cruiser, and Sebring models, the 300C, and a new Voyager van.

Fiat hopes to bring some life back to Lancia. The company has a five-year plan to sell 300,000 Lancia-Chrysler models per year in Europe by 2014. Lancia, a once great name in the automotive world, went down hill quickly after the Beta’s poor build quality. Poor might be the wrong word, as the cars just fell apart. Nonetheless, one bad egg in a basket of interesting cars isn’t too terrible.

Currently, Fiat sells around 132,500 Lancias in Europe and mostly to the Italians. The name change will take place by 2011.