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Daily News Summary from Chrysler Group Dec. 21, 2011 The Daily News Summary is a digest of significant news about Chrysler Group LLC from print, electronic and online media. Today’s summary includes these reports: - Jeep Compass: Finally on course
- Chrysler offers lease deal on 2012 Fiat 500
- 2012 Dodge Charger R/T - a big car can still be a fun car
- The most unforgettable ad campaigns of 2011
Jeep® Compass: Finally on course, Kewanee (Ill.) Star Courier, Dec. 18
o The Compass is no longer an unlovable Jeep® wannabe, the Kewanee (Ill.) Star Courier said. Improvements continued for 2012, after the Compass got a face-lift from the Grand Cherokee, the paper said. Every Jeep should have some modicum of off-road chops, and the new-and-improved Compass got an upgrade here too, the paper said. The Compass can still be had with just front-wheel drive, but virtually everyone chooses among the two levels of four-wheel-drive capability and an array of options, the article said. The Compass is now a better-than-decent all-weather commuter and road car, the Star Courier said. In a segment crowded with excellent mid-size soft-roaders from Japan and Korea, the Compass holds its own in comfort, capability, equipment and price/value, the paper said.
Chrysler offers lease deal on 2012 Fiat 500, Edmunds Inside Line, Dec. 20
o Chrysler is offering a new $199-a-month lease deal for the 2012 Fiat 500 Pop manual, Edmunds Inside Line said. The 42-month lease allows for 12,000 miles a year; lessees must take retail delivery by Jan. 3, the website said. It's the latest tactic in the automaker's attempt to get buyers into its minicar, the article said.
2012 Dodge Charger R/T - a big car can still be a fun car, Autoguide.com, Dec. 20
o Dodge carried on an American tradition in the rear-drive full-size sedan segment, defying trends by offering a big car that refused to be a boring car, Autoguide.com said. All-new for 2011, Dodge reaffirmed its commitment with a second generation of the modern Charger with updated styling, a vastly improved interior and an all-new base V6 engine, the website said. For those with a performance bent, there’s the R/T with a proper engine for a proper rear-drive large car, the article said. The interior is a massive step forward - our R/T Max test car had all the accoutrements of a true luxury sedan, the article said. A pleasant yet commanding highway cruiser, the Dodge Charger is agile enough too, the article said. Power is impressive, the article said. The most unforgettable ad campaigns of 2011, Forbes magazine, Dec. 20
o Grabbing people’s fragmented attention is an increasingly elusive goal, yet some ads manage to break through, to lodge themselves in consumers’ collective consciousness, Forbes magazine said. Take Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” - this two-minute Super Bowl 2011 spot is less about the product and more about the brand, the industry and the city of Detroit, the magazine said. “‘Imported from Detroit’ brought the swagger back to the American car industry and the city of Detroit in particular,” Susan Credle, chief creative officer at ad agency Leo Burnett, told the magazine. “It is a great example of what we can do on our best day in this industry: build a brand, sell a product and start a conversation that perhaps pushes our world to a better place.” “This ad gets my vote as the most memorable of 2011 by a landslide,” says Josh Feldmeth, chief executive of Interbrand New York, Forbes reported. William Gelner, executive creative director at 180 LA, says the Chrysler spot transcends advertising and becomes part of culture, Forbes said. “Minutes after airing, ‘Imported from Detroit’ set the social web ablaze. It gave the brand, the city and many Americans a renewed sense of pride and hope. It actually made me want to be from Detroit. That says a lot considering I’m from Texas,” he said, according to Forbes. 
Detroit auto makers spent most of 2010 promoting electric cars, hybrids and cute mini-cars like the Fiat 500. But what really pumped up profits was the rebound in sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.
The American SUV is no longer the bulky and cumbersome vehicle it once was. WSJ's Joseph B. White says the new 2011 Dodge Durango illustrates the evolution with changes in structure, upscale touches and greater fuel efficiency that make it feel more like a city car.
Now, with gas prices rising again, Detroit auto makers' strategy for keeping some of their best-selling sport utility vehicles relevant could be tested.
A fleet of Detroit-brand SUVs have morphed into more efficient, more car-like vehicles—following a strategy pioneered by Japanese and European auto makers during the past decade. The new Ford Explorer was reborn in 2010 as a car-like crossover wagon after nearly two decades riding on a pickup truck frame. General Motors Co.'s new lineup of crossovers, which includes the Chevrolet Traverse, has already established a solid position in the market.
To appreciate what auto makers are doing, consider the transformation of the 2011 Dodge Durango.
Chrysler
1999: Older Durangos had a front end with prominent fenders that copped the look of the mean-looking Dodge Ram pickup;
Mileage? The best available was 14 miles per gallon in the city, 19 on the highway in a six-cylinder version, or the two-wheel drive version of the truck equipped with a 4.7 liter V-8. Most V-8 powered, four-wheel drive versions of the Durango were rated at 13 city, 18 highway.
The Durango sold respectably—though it never achieved the success of the king of the SUV-era, the Ford Explorer. But in late 2008, when the combination of $4-a-gallon gasoline and economic chaos dried up demand for old-school Detroit SUVs, Chrysler shut down Durango production.
Fast forward to 2010. Chrysler, and its new controlling partner, Fiat S.p.A, launched a new generation of the company's iconic Jeep Grand Cherokee at the company's Jefferson North Plant in Detroit. The new Grand Cherokee is more luxurious and more car-like, borrowing some key design elements from former owner Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz crossovers. And a few months later, Chrysler unveiled a new Dodge Durango designed to ride on the same basic mechanical underpinnings as the redesigned Jeep.
Chrysler
2011: ; The new Durango is sleek and aerodynamic with a more car-like interior.
"People would say, 'When it turns a corner, it seems to fall over on itself,' " Mr. Gilles said.
The 2011 Durango looks like an SUV, but it isn't a truck the way the old Durango was a truck. The Durango doesn't ride on a rigid ladder frame. It has a "unitized" body like most cars. That means the new Durango rides about four inches lower to the ground, and can't tow an 8,700-lb. trailer, the way certain versions of the old model could.
But the new Durango can do things the old SUV couldn't. Perhaps the most critical feature of the new Durango is its mileage. Equipped with a 3.6 liter V-6 and a five-speed automatic, the red rear-wheel drive 2011 Durango I took for a brief test drive was rated at 16 miles per gallon in the city, 23 on the highway. That's a better than 20% improvement in highway mileage over the old truck.
Average that out over 10,000 miles of highway travel, and the potential gas savings amount to about 100 gallons, or about $300.
The new Durango can also execute what I call a "DC 180"—a U turn across three or four lanes of traffic common on Washington, D.C.,'s confusing streets—with crisp agility thanks to a turning circle that's 3 feet shorter than the old model. That means the Durango can maneuver more easily in packed suburban parking lots or narrow city streets.
The old solid rear axle—durable for rough off-roading—has been replaced with a new rear suspension that allows wheels to respond independently. That makes the truck much more civilized on pavement.
Gone is the old Durango's blocky styling. The new Durango is sleek and aerodynamic. The vehicle's interior design and on-board technology are also more car-like—there's even a push-to-start button.
My test model had a sticker price of $41,460. At those prices, Chrysler/Fiat would have to sell a flock of Fiat 500s to equal the profit potential of one Durango.
But with gas prices now coasting above $3 a gallon—high for the winter season—Detroit's new formula for SUV profits could get challenged sooner than many industry executives would have liked.
2011 Dodge Charger ready to perform
Car and Driver bluntly asks: "Is there an angrier car on the road than the Dodge Charger?"
There’s menace in the Charger’s "scowling headlights, the shield-like crosshair grille, and the shoebox-sized side win-dows," Car and Driver said, in a review of the all-new 2011 Dodge Charger four-door fastback coupe.
The Charger has been re-tuned to feel smaller, more agile, and sportier despite its full size, Car and Driver said. A big part of the Charger’s sportier feel is a new, quicker steering rack that now features electrohydraulic assistance to save fuel, the mag-azine added.
The all-new 2011 Dodge Charger has improved ride and handling character, thanks to changes in the shock absorbers
and springs, Road and Track reported.
In performance driving, the Charger is benign, requiring trail-braking techniques to reach the apex of corners, but never once did it miss step, Road and Track said. The publication called the steering "light but precise," mak-ing the large sedan feel smaller than it actually is.
According to Road and Track, hitting the keyless ignition brings to life one of two engines: a new 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 making 292 hp, or a carryover 5.7-liter HEMI® V-8 massaged to make 370 hp. Both powerplants have a throaty rumble totally in character for the car, Road and Track said.
The new Dodge Charger proves that the company is on the right track, Road and Track added.
New direction for 2011 Jeep® Compass
If you thought Chrysler Group was done unveiling its 2011 lineup, the automaker still has a few surprises left, includ-ing the 2011 Jeep® Compass, which looks more rugged and upscale, according to Cars.com’s KickingTires blog.
The Compass, which was originally marketed as the street-friendly variant of the Jeep Patriot, upgrades its off-road credentials throughout, KickingTires noted. Jeep’s Freedom Drive II full-time active four-wheel-drive system allows the Compass to be "Trail Rat-ed," which means the crossover is capable enough in moderate off-road situations, including rock or log climbing, Kicking-Tires added.
USA Today reported that the new Compass offers interior upgrades, improved ride and handling, more off-road capabil-ity, and front and rear styling that is richer looking.
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