2012 Chrysler 200 Convertible to bow at New York Auto Show

The Chrysler Sebring Convertible’s days may be numbered, but it won’t be long before we get a glimpse at its successor. According to Olivier Francois, president and chief executive officer of the Chrysler brand, the company will show off the droptop version of the 200 at the 2011 New York Auto Show. 

Details are minimal so far, but we fully expect to see the car boast either the 2.4-liter four-cylinder or an optional 3.6-liter V6 (or both). In its most powerful configuration, the 200 Convertible could boast as much as 283 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, and given the timing, the car is likely to be a 2012 model.

Francois also revealed that Chrysler could begin implementing a new two-tone paint system for the 200 sometime soon. The trick would be similar to what is currently seen in the Lancia line, with the roof dipped in black paint and the lower realms slathered in white. The treatment certainly classes up vehicles like theLancia Delta, but it also adds about 6 additional hours to the paint process. Momma never said looking good was easy.

The 2011 New York Auto Show kicks off on April 22.

Pricing announced for 2011 Chrysler 200, Town & Country

Not long after Chrysler announced pricing for the full host of updated 2011 Dodge products, the automaker has priced its own reworked Pentastar-badged products – the Sebring 200 sedan and Town & Countryminivan. Both vehicles feature vastly better interiors than the models they replace, as well as the automaker’s smooth new 3.6-liter V6 under the hood.

The 200 indeed has its work cut out for it, since the Sebring it replaces was one of the most poorly received vehicles in Chrysler’s lineup. Four trim levels are available – LX, Touring, Limited and S – with pricing starting at $19,995 for the base model, $21,995 for the Touring and $24,495 for the Limited. Chrysler tells us that the S trim will arrive shortly after the rest of the 200 lineup, and official pricing for that top-rung trim has not been released at this time.

Chrysler’s bread-and-butter Town & Country now enters its 21st year of production, preparing to do battle with the newly reworked Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey. Pricing starts at $30,995 for the base Touring model, and rises to $33,995 for the Touring L and $39,495 for the decked-out Limited. We’re eager to get some seat time in the refreshed minivan to see if it can once again regain its place as the family-hauler sales leader.

2011 Chrysler 200

Chrysler isn’t into mincing words about the company’s recent past. After years of corporate and product neglect, those at the helm of the smallest of the Big Three know that the company has a long way to go to regain buyer confidence. 

While a rash of new and revised models are hitting Jeep and Dodge show rooms over the next few months, it’s clear that the company is beginning to gain momentum under the guidance ofFiat. But the models under the Silver Wing seem to be staring down the barrel of a more uncertain future. 

With plenty of product overlap with Dodge and a lack of any real brand cohesiveness, Chrysler has yet to yield any clear indication of progress away from the dark days of the company’s past. As a result, buyers are having a hard time knowing what to make of the company or where it’s headed.

Still, after Chrysler emerged from Chapter 11, it was clear that wherever the carmaker was going, the Sebringwasn’t coming along for the ride. After a long, degrading life of rental car service and all out neglect from designers and engineers alike, the Sebring had mutated into a car that was a few leagues behind the competition, even when the third-generation bowed in 2007. To that end, Chrysler sent the Sebring name to the burn pile by revealing the 200 – a small sedan that rides on the same bones as its ill-fated predecessor but wears new sheet metal and a revised interior along with a slew of significantly reworked mechanical components. 

The result is the vehicle that Chrysler should have built in the first place – a competent economy cruiser with plenty of content even at lower trim levels. Is it enough to banish thoughts of the Sebring from our minds? We hopped behind the wheel to find out.

Report: Chrysler considering new name for Ram trucks

Chrysler is apparently still trying to iron out some of the kinks in its new pickup naming structure. The company recently decided to separate its popular line of pickups from the rest of the Dodge fleet by putting them under the Ram banner. The only problem is not every vehicle in the Pentastar pickup family has a history of boasting a billy goat on the hood. Example? Look no further than the successor to the Dakotathrone. According to PickupTrucks.com, Chrysler is currently struggling to find a suitable nomenclature for the mid-size pickup.

So far, an early front runner is the Ram 100, though going with that system may mean that the Ram trucks will undergo yet another name change. Chrysler may shift its pickups from the 1500, 2500 and 3500 system it now uses to a 100, 150, 250 and 350 structure. There is some precedent for this tack, as Dodge employed the triple-digit badges for its 1981-1993 trucks.

Name-calling aside, we do know a little about the Dakota successor. Pickuptrucks.com says that the vehicle may be a unibody creation based on the bones of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. With the death of the Ford Ranger on our shores, Chrysler may be hoping to position itself as the sole company with a genuinely new small-truck offering. Sounds good to us no matter what you call it.

Report: Chrysler seriously considering new Barracuda

Might a fishy new muscle car be bound for U.S. market consumption? According to USA Today, Ralph Gilles, the man who ably heads Chrysler’s Dodge brand, indicated to a crowd of Mopar-obsessed fans at the2010 SEMA Show that a resurrection of the classic Barracuda is indeed a possibility.

Keep in mind that Dodge has already re-released the Challenger, which was the Barracuda’s fellow pony car sibling from 1970 through 1974, so the car’s platform is seemingly already there. That raises an interesting conundrum, though: how would The Pentastar differentiate the two models if they shared a platform and featured similar styling?

Another question that would need answering is where the model would fall into the current Chrysler portfolio. Remember, the Barracuda wore a Plymouth badge way back when, and that brand got sent to the great scrapheap in the sky several years ago. As such, if it were ever to happen – which is a very, very big ‘if’ – we may be in store for a Chrysler Barracuda.

Chrysler announces pricing for refreshed 2011 Dodge vehicles

Chrysler has bombarded us recently with a huge onslaught of changes for the 2011 model year. In addition to the updated Sebring 200 and Town & Country that wear the Pentastar badge, nearly the entire Dodge model line has been reworked for 2011. To recap, the Avenger, Challenger, Charger, Durango, Grand Caravan andJourney are either all-new or refreshed for the new model year, and the automaker has just announced pricing for the full grip of improved vehicles.

Starting with the all-new products, the 2011 Charger will be priced from $25,170 for the base SE model, which features the automaker’s new 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and rear-wheel drive. If a fully loaded, Hemi-powered Charger R/T AWD is more your thing, expect to pay $37,320. In addition to the Charger, Dodge debuted the wholly revamped 2011 Durango, which shares its platform with the much-improved Jeep Grand Cherokee. A base, rear-wheel drive Durango Express will set you back $29,195, and pricing goes all the way up to $43,795 for the top-end Citadel AWD.

2011 Dodge Grand Caravan reports for family duty

Chrysler has just dropped details on the 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan. Along with packing the company’s newPentastar V6 under the hood, Dodge says that the minivan also sports a significantly revised suspension designed to make the vehicle a little more engaging to drive. So far we haven’t been told exactly what’s been changed underneath, but the press release says that “virtually every system” has received some sort of tweaking.

Behind the new 3.6-liter V6 sits a six-speed automatic transmission, and that duo effectively replaces all three of the previously offered drivetrains. Look for 283 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque when the van hits the road later this year.

But the biggest change looks to come from the styling department. Chrysler has heaped all of the company’s new found enthusiasm for excellent interiors onto the 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan, swaddling surfaces in top-notch materials, better seats and throwing in redesigned gauges, to boot. The Grand Caravan even wears a massaged front fascia to go along with all of the changes inside as well as a set of LED taillamps out back.Hit the jump to take a look at the full press release.

Supplier strike may lead to shutdown of Chrysler’s minivan line

Integram Seating is a parts supplier for Chrysler. The factory workers there produce seats, which are then sent to the Pentastar’s Windsor Assembly plant to be installed in the brand’s Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan people movers. 

The popular family vehicles are set to get an update for 2011, but according to CBS News, their assembly may be put on hold because 700 workers at Ingram Seating have overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike. If Integram’s employees walk and Chrysler doesn’t have seats to put into its vehicles, production will almost certainly be halted. the supplier’s union, Canadian Auto Workers Local 4-44, says the majority vote is intended to send a message to the company.

Workers at Integram Seating have not had a pay raise in four years and the average wage there is about $24.32 per hour. The strike will occur if no labor contract has been worked out by November 7, the expiration date for the current agreement.