Chrysler News

A hectic 2007 proved to be lucrative for the car industry with a plethora of new cars launched and more than a million sales throughout the year. And there's no indication that it will be slowing down in 2008.AUDI The new A4, to rival the 3 Series and C-Class is expected here about April, while July will see the hot sports wagon, the RS6 Avant and the A3 Cabrio. Extra A5 variants will follow. BMWBMW has a busy year ahead, starting with the 320d and 335i touring this month. The 1 Series Coupe will go on sale around April, followed by the convertible in May-June. But its big one for the year will be the new X6 Sports Activity Coupe, arriving between July and September. It comes with three engine variants, all twin-turbo, an in-line six, a 3.0-litre diesel and a 300kW 4.4-litre V8. Pricing is expected to start at just under $100,000. And the X5 scores a new engine in February, with the first variable twin turbo diesel offered in the range. CHRYSLER/JEEPJanuary will be a busy month for Chrysler, with the Sebring Cabrio and Grand Voyager people mover both arriving in Australia. The Jeep Cherokee will also get a total makeover. CITROENBased on the C4 Picasso, but bigger and better equipped, Citroen will introduce the Berlingo van between July and September, with a mainly diesel range. This will make room in the line-up for the new Nemo small van mid-year. The C5 will also get a new V6 diesel engine.FERRARIDeliveries of the exquisite F430 Scuderia, priced at about $550,000, will start mid year. Only about 40 will come to Australia and New Zealand. FIAT The reincarnation of the 1960s Bambino will arrive in March, but Fiat has already sold the first four months' supply. The new Fiat 500 will have three engine choices, a 1.2-litre petrol, a 75kW 1.4-litre petrol engine or a 56kW 1.3-litre turbo diesel. Pricing is expected to start from $22,000. The new Ritmo will join the Fiat 500 in March with pricing from $30,000. FORD One of the biggest launches for the year will be the new Falcon. Ford will release details of the new model in February and it's expected to be followed by an unveiling at the Melbourne motor show in the same month, with the official launch around May.FPV FPV will start the year with a new model, the hot turbo Territory, known as the F6 X model. It's the first non-Falcon model from FPV, with 270kW and 550Nm. The FPV Falcon range will also arrive this year. HOLDEN/CADILLACWith Ford's big year planned, you can't expect Holden to keep quiet. But so far, Holden has only announced it is expecting the VE Sportwagon, due in the first half of the year. GM-Holden is also introducing Cadillac with the first model due late in 2008. HONDA Honda will start the year with the new Accord model, due to be launched in February. The small Jazz is also getting an update after the middle of the year. Details on the new generation will be released closer to the launch. The Accord Euro is also expected to arrive later this year. HYUNDAI No big launches just yet, although an upgraded Sonata is expected mid year. JAGUARJaguar's major release for the year will be the new XF in June, with pricing expected to start from $105,000. It will be available in a V6 diesel, as well as a V6 and V8 petrol. KIAPreviewed at the Sydney motor show last year, Kia will launch its new seven-seater Rondo crossover in February. It is expected to start from as low as the mid-$20,000 mark. LEXUSNew for Lexus will be the LX570 around April or May, followed by the IS-F towards the end of the year. Details still to come. MAZDAThe second-generation Mazda6 will go on sale at the end of February with pricing from less than $30,000. It will be powered by a 2.5-litre, four cylinder engine, with 125kW and 226Nm.MERCEDES-BENZThe first arrival for Mercedes-Benz is expected to be the C 63 AMG in mid March. It will be followed by the S 320CDI, priced at $189,874 and the C-Class wagon, which will carry a $3000 premium over the sedan, coming in just under $60,000. MINIAnother new version of a 1960s cult car is also headed our way, with the Mini Clubman launched in February. The modern successor of the Morris Mini Traveller, the Austin Mini Countryman and the Mini Clubman Estate won't get into showrooms until March or April. Pricing will start in the mid-$30,000 area. MITSUBISHIMitsubishi will release two turbocharged Lancers this year. The top-level Lancer Evo X GSR will be here in April and sell for about $58,000. The 2.0-litre four cylinder turbo engine pumps out 200kW and 422Nm. Joining it will be the detuned version in the Ralliart all-wheel drive, at about $40,000. NISSANNissan's first addition for the year will be the all-wheel-drive wagon, the Dualis. Starting at $28,990 and stretching to $35,990, it's powered by a 102kW, 2.0-litre engine. PEUGEOTThe big launch for Peugeot will be the 308 replacing the 307 range, which will start with the 308 hatch in February in both petrol and diesel guises. The touring will follow in June or July, with the 308cc model a prospect for late 2008 or early 2009. PROTONProton has announced the Persona, based on the Gen2 hatch platform, will make its debut at the Melbourne motor show in late February, going on sale in March. It will be priced around the mid-teens. The Gen2 will also get engine updates and minor styling changes. RENAULTThe all-new Laguna will go on sale mid-year with a 2.0-litre diesel engine. SAABJune sees the arrival of the Turbo X AWD. SSANGYONGThe South Korean company will go completely diesel in 2008, with no more petrol engines on offer in Australia. SMARTThe new Fortwo arrives in Australia in February. The one-model brand will get both the 52kW and 62kW models, in hatch and cabrio, being bigger than the current models. SUBARUThe star WRX STi comes in February with a 2.5-litre turbocharged engine, although pricing is still to come. The third generation Forester arrives in March. SUZUKIFebruary's proving to be a busy month, with Suzuki also launching its Grand Vitara diesel. TOYOTAAfter a big year in 2007, Toyota is expecting a quiet year, with only the TRD Hilux due to be launched in April-June. VOLKSWAGENVolkswagen will kick off the year with the SUV, the Touareg R50, to be released in April. It's powered by a 258kW V10 TDI engine. The Tiguan also arrives about October.  VOLVOThe recently launched XC70 arrives in showrooms this month, joined by the C30 diesel also in January. It's priced at $43,950. A base model C30 will also enter the line-up, at $34,450. A 3.0-litre six-cylinder engined V70 will arrive in March. 

The Dodge Challenger SRT8 will be unveiled as a production car at the Chicago motor show in February, with a full arsenal of Camaro-busting weapons. It will be in US showrooms by June, giving it a 12-month advantage over the Camaro, which is into final prototype testing by GM Holden engineers in Melbourne.“We are a year ahead,” Chrysler chief designer Trevor Creed says. The British-born stylist has led the design-driven success of a range of Chrysler cars and he has high hopes for the Challenger. It was first shown nearly two years ago as a concept car at the Detroit motor show and will be production-ready on February 6. Challenger order books opened on December 3 and 4300 cars were sold that day.Chrysler plans to sell 120,000 cars over the life of the Challenger program, starting with the hot-rod SRT8 automatic. “It's 120,000 over the lifespan of four years,” Creed says.“The first 4000 or so are the SRT8s, and we are building a batch of SRT8s that will have a 6.1-litre V8. And then our next batch is regular Challenger and Challenger RT, which is 3.5-litre V6 and 5.7-litre Hemi. The next year is a regular build of those again, plus SRT8 with a six-speed manual transmission.”Creed says the Challenger has been built from the same mechanical package as the top-selling 300C sedan, but there are no plans for a right-hand-drive model for Australia.“Challenger is a short-wheelbase version of the 300C. It's the same front, the same rear, shorter in the middle by four inches with a new body style on,” he says.The Challenger is coming as US baby boomers snap up retro-style muscle cars, led by the Ford Mustang.

Chrysler has promised three eco-friendly new concept cars for the first big motoring event of next year and likewise, Mitsubishi has also announced a fuel-efficient diesel concept car.Chrysler will open with a Dodge Zeo sports car, then roll through the family-focused ecoVoyager to the off-road Jeep Renegade.The cars are only sketches for now as finetuning continues. Detroit will be the first big event since the American company's divorce from Daimler-Benz, after an unsuccessful takeover that was always billed; badly; as a merger of equals.“It's a very important show. It's our coming-out party for the new Chrysler,” Chrysler Group Australia managing director Gerry Jenkins says. “Detroit is always big for us. It's where we really showcase all our products. It's our home base. Quite honestly, it kicks off the year too, so it has a big motivational angle for us."“We put our best foot forward.”DaimlerChrysler has already split in Australia.Jenkins says Chrysler wants to push its green message in Detroit. “We are definitely going green. That is part of our core strategy going forward. No doubt about that,” he says.The Zeo concept is aimed directly at Gen-Y buyers and Chrysler describes it as a 2+2 sports wagon. It also says that, unlike most sports coupes, the baby Dodge is seriously intended for four-passenger use.But the real news is an electric drive system that promises a range up to 400km using a special lithium-ion battery pack. It has been designed for easy plug-in use.The ecoVoyager shares its name with the company's top-selling people mover and has a boxy minivan body but is more smoothly shaped. As with the Zeo, it has a lithium-ion battery pack. But the ecoVoyager should run for close to 500km between recharges because it has a compact hydrogen fuel cell to generate on-board power.The Renegade is typically Jeep, designed for off-roading and dune surfing, with a minimalist body including a hose-out cabin. Its green signature includes minimal use of materials, with an emphasis on recycled parts. Its power pack is a small-capacity Bluetec diesel engine linked to a lithium-ion battery pack. Chrysler claims the hybrid drive in the Renegade means it can run for 70km on electric power and return better than 3.0 litres for 100km with the diesel.The three show cars are a definite pointer to the future, though Jenkins cannot comment on potential production plans.And he does not rule out extra concept cars, without a green colouring, at Detroit.Over at the Mitsubishi stand the Concept-RA will be making its debut in Detroit. Powered by a 2.2-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, the Concept-RA boasts both clean and dynamic driving, producing 150kW and 420Nm.The coupe concept uses the S-AWC vehicle dynamics control system driveline from the Lancer Evolution with added Active Steering and Active Suspension control improving traction, cornering and vehicle stability.It also features its Twin Clutch SST automated manual transmission.Mitsubishi has also aimed to improve crashworthiness and reduce weight. 

In the city of Wuhu, China, on the Yangtze River, more than 25,000 blue-uniformed workers are busy churning out cars for Chery Automobile. As they motor through double shifts using the latest imported technology, they're also helping to change the dynamics of the global car industry.Barely a decade after it was founded, state-owned Chery has emerged as China's largest independent vehicle maker; and one that is determined to compete against the world's automobile giants.“In the beginning, no one had confidence in us,” says Yin Tongyao, Chery's chairman and general manager, in a rare interview. Now, he says, “we are looking globally for markets.”The tale of Chery's improbable rise is in large part the story of China's ballooning domestic car market, which has roughly doubled in size since 2004. Its products; mostly inexpensive cars and SUVs, which are also gaining a following in developing countries hungry for low-cost vehicles.But rapid growth is already taking its toll, as executives strain to manage the company's expansion amid a shortage of experienced workers. “We are still fighting for our survival,” says Mr Yin. “We didn't get to learn from the books. We have to learn everything by doing it.”In July, the company signed a landmark deal with Chrysler to sell a series of small cars made by Chery under the American car maker's Dodge brand.The pact marks the first time that one of Detroit's Big Three has outsourced the production of entire vehicles to a Chinese company. The deal also sends a warning to high-cost workers in the US and Europe that even more of their jobs could be at risk.Chery's arrangement with Chrysler follows years of breakneck expansion. Sales of Chery cars have increased more than tenfold since 2001. This year, Chery expects to sell more than 400,000 compacts, sedans and sport utility vehicles. By 2010, the company says, it will be turning out a million vehicles annually, for markets both at home and abroad.Holding the reins of this galloping enterprise are Mr Yin and a handful of other men who've been with the company since it started as the brainchild of local Communist Party officials in the poor eastern province of Anhui.The corporate culture they spawned is an odd hybrid of communist state enterprise and entrepreneurial start-up. Party propaganda posters hang on factory walls. “Know plain living and hard struggle,” one poster exhorts workers, “do not wallow in luxuries and pleasures.” In another part of the plant, bulletin boards display quality-survey data from JD Power & Associates comparing Chery's cars with those of its rivals.Inside the gates of Chery's sprawling production complex, where few foreign reporters have been allowed before, assembly lines run 16 hours a day. Much of the equipment is state-of-the-art, imported from Europe.Chery this year expects to export more than 110,000 cars, up from 50,000 in 2006, mainly to emerging markets such as Russia, the Middle East and Latin America, where its low prices are helping to win it business. The company is building a car-shipping port on the Yangtze near its plant to send vehicles to China's coast and overseas.Still, Chery remains far smaller than the world's big car makers. Volkswagen, General Motors, Toyota and Honda, which have each outsold Chery in the China market so far this year. World-wide, GM and Toyota both sell nearly 9 million vehicles a year.At Chery's research and development centre, engineers say they are now developing 40 to 50 new car models, at least 10 of which could be ready for production as soon as next year.Chery says it expects to benefit from Chrysler's technical expertise and established sales and service networks. Even though their cars will be sold under the Dodge brand, they expect consumers will know they are made in China by Chery.“People look down on our products. There are many doubts about our safety and quality,” says Mr Yin. Selling under the Dodge name initially will boost buyers' confidence, he says. “If we work together with Chrysler, we can go global faster.”Chery has combined low wages with massive capital investment and other government-backed support. This recipe is powering the latest phase of China's industrial revolution, helping firms in industries from cars to consumer electronics become significant global players.Junior engineers at Chery earn $US6000 ($6850) a year, and many sleep in bunk beds four to a room in company dormitories. Some don't have driver's licences and, like most Chinese people, didn't grow up riding around in a family car. Few workers can afford to buy cars they make.Assembly-line workers earn an average of slightly more than $US1 an hour — far less than their counterparts in Europe or North America but, in Anhui, a sought-after wage.Chery can “offer low-cost platforms with speed,” says Tom LaSorda, president and vice-chairman of Chrysler, which has said it will eliminate 25,000 jobs in North America. Visiting Chery's plants in 2006, he says, he found that “everything was very familiar,” with production processes and equipment very similar to those in top Western factories.Chery started building its first factories in March 1997. It hired a Taiwanese company to help it design its first model, a sedan known as the Fengyun, or Wind Cloud, which was cobbled together mostly using parts from components makers that supplied the China operations of VW and GM. The first cars rolled off the line in December 1999.But Chery wasn't allowed to sell them, since it didn't have a government licence to be in the car business. The red tape was eventually untangled when Chery briefly became part of the much larger Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, a large state-owned company with partnerships with GM and Volkswagen. The Fengyun hit the market in 2001 and 28,000 were sold.Chery also began work on a four-door hatchback mini-car, which would lead to accusations that the young company was knocking off the designs of its competitors. The car, which went on sale in 2003 and is known as the QQ, is similar to a GM model known as the Chevrolet Spark.GM sued Chery in a Chinese court in 2004, alleging that the company had illegally copied its design for the Spark. The companies settled the lawsuit in 2005 without disclosing the terms of their agreement.Amid the controversy over the QQ, a fundamental shift was happening. In 2003, executives and government planners decided that Chery should go beyond recycling outdated technologies for the local market. They envisaged the company as an international player.Encouraged by sales in Chery's first two years and by signs that China's car market was revving up, the company and its state owners decided to embark on a massive new investment program. Chery also stepped up its efforts to recruit Chinese nationals working for car companies abroad, as well as to bring foreign expertise to Wuhu.“There's no way you can move slowly and catch up,” says Xu Min, a former Chery engineer who is now dean of Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Institute of Automotive Engineering. “It took the Japanese two or three decades. We didn't have that kind of time.”The central goal to acquire and develop technology that would belong to Chery and help it compete even in the US and Europe, with their daunting regulatory hurdles and high customer expectations.In 2003, Chery recruited Mr Xu, the engineer who is now an academic. Mr Xu, who was at the time a specialist in combustion and fuel injection at Delphi Corp in the US, says he got the hard sell from executives seeking to bring him back to Anhui, where he was born.Mr Xu says a lot of his friends questioned his decision to leave a secure job in Detroit for a post at a then unknown Chinese company. But he says he felt he was hitting a wall in the US.“In Detroit, you could spend years on something and never see it commercialised,” he says. “The pace was so slow.”Chery, on the other hand, wanted Mr Xu to oversee a project that would develop three new families of engines within just a few years.The engines are now good enough that Italian car maker Fiat plans to use them in some of its cars as well, buying them directly from Chery.Earlier this year, Chrysler executives visiting Chery could see the rapid progress that occurred over 18 months.“I would say the 'aha' moment for us would be when we subsequently visited Chery (in June),” says Richard Chow-wah, a Chrysler senior vice-president.He adds that the “ability to make decisions quickly without a lot of bureaucracy was what was most impressive.”What are some of the rumours you have heard about Chinese cars? 

But one Detroit plant is producing hand-built performance vehicles.The Conner Avenue Assembly Plant will hand-build the 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 and new 8.4-litre SRT V10 engine using 26 work stations on a 214m assembly line.Chrysler Australia says the Viper is only available in left-hand drive and will not be coming here.Each vehicle will be hand assembled by 48 workers, remaining stationary for up to 49 minutes per work area while the workers make adjustments.The process is normally performed only on race cars and eliminates traditional repair stations as the workers verify all work on all parts.An alignment machine sets caster and camber at normal ride height and at the upward and downward travel of suspension; while most factories set caster and camber in the normal ride-height position only.The V10 engine is built next to the vehicle on a 24-station circular line by nine workers; who assemble and certify each engine before it is installed in the chassis.Each Dodge Viper is tested in place on the assembly line using special rollers.At this stage, the vehicle is a rolling chassis without its body panels.During this roll test, it is driven through all six speeds of the transmission, up to 145km/h to verify vehicle function.The Dodge Viper was introduced as a concept car at the 1989 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.Its V10 engine produces 450kW of power and 760 Nm of torque, propelling the car to 100km/h in less than four seconds.  

A plan is being discussed for Chrysler dealers to sell all the car maker's passenger vehicles under the Chrysler name.Dodge dealers would exclusively offer pickup and commercial trucks, while Jeep dealers would sell Jeep and sports utility vehicles, according to three dealers familiar with the discussions.Such a scenario would enable Chrysler to drop some of its overlapping products, which essentially compete with one another, such as the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring — both mid-size sedans but marketed under different names.Fewer products could mean a reduction in dealers, which would weed out poorly performing dealerships that have excess inventory and resort to incentives that hurt profitability.“This is one of the plans they are studying,” said a dealer who was informed of the idea. “At the end of this year, they expect to have a plan for the future.”Chrysler co-president Jim Press, speaking at a media briefing last month, suggested the car maker simplify its line-up.Mr Press, who until September was president of Toyota Motor's North American operations, questioned the need to divide Chrysler's resources to market both a Chrysler Town and Country minivan and a Dodge Caravan.Mr Press spent 37 years with Toyota, which in comparison has fewer, and more profitable, dealerships in the US.Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau said: “I would not interpret Jim Press's comments about product overlap as an indication we will segregate vehicle types by brand.”The broad scope of the plan underscores how fast and deep Cerberus Capital Management is willing to go to turn around Chrysler after buying an 80.1 per cent stake in August.Chrysler, which is facing sluggish US sales because of housing market weakness and high fuel prices, this month announced an expansion of a restructuring plan unveiled in February, saying it would cut its North American hourly workforce almost in half by 2010.Chrysler has made several high-profile executive appointments since Cerberus took over.Its executives have decided to kill the entire PT Cruiser line after the 2009 model year, according to a dealer who was told of the decision in the past week. The move is part of the car maker's push to eliminate slow-selling models.

Chrysler will axe four models next year in a global cost-cutting plan.The vehicles to go include the Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible, Chrysler Crossfire sportscar, Chrysler Pacifica SUV and the Dodge Magnum (a wagon version of the 300C sedan).Australia only imports the PT Cruiser convertible and Crossfire.DaimlerChrysler Australia/Pacific PR manager Jerry Stamoulis emphasised that the PT Cruiser sedan would remain and that the cabrio was “only low volume; about 10 a month”.However, he admitted the loss of the Crossfire would be a blow.“Crossfire is the biggest blow for us because it's a very attractive car, drives well and had a positive response from media and public,” he said. “But as yet we have received no date as such for these to be cut.”While cutting its cloth to fit a suspected worsening in the US economic climate, Chrysler will next year add four models.There will be two new Dodges — the Journey minivan and Challenger large-medium sedan — plus two new hybrid SUV models — the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango.Stamoulis said the Challenger was in left-hand drive only.“So that is not a plan at all at this stage,” he said.“It is early days for discussing the hybrids. They are developing the hybrids for the US, but there are no specific dates for us as yet.“The Dodge Journey we are working on bringing to Australia in 2008, but they have not officially said whether it will be released here.“At this stage it is looking likely for later in 2008.”Stamoulis said Chrysler's Australian portfolio would not suffer from the loss of two models.“It's not as if we don't have a decent portfolio,” he said.“We've had five new models this year — the Sebring, Avenger, Compass, Patriot and Nitro — and the sixth will be Sebring Cabrio in December, so essentially we've brought in six new cars this year and are losing two in the next 18 months.”Chrysler Australia will also re-introduce the new Voyager and launch the Jeep Cherokee in February.Global Chrysler chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli said the impending model cuts reflected an expected reduction in sales next year.The new round of cutbacks follows an earlier announcement that Chrysler planned to chop 85,000 units from its fourth-quarter production plans.“These actions reflect our new customer-driven philosophy and allow us to focus our resources on new, more profitable and appealing products,” he said.The cuts will lead to a loss of 12,000 jobs in American factories.Nardelli said their plans were in addition to cutting 13,000 jobs by the three-year Recovery and Transformation Plan announced in February.

The year was 1999 and Dennis Ballard was begrudgingly looking through bridal magazines with his soon-to-be married daughter, doing the 'good dad thing.'Suddenly it jumped out at him; as his daughter asked his opinion on two dresses, Ballard's eyes wondered to a one-line advertisement sitting between the ladies in white; 1917 Dodge Coupe, for sale.Some would think 'what an oddly placed ad' and move on, but not Ballard, who describes himself as 'old-car mad.'Perhaps the 158 cars he has owned over the years explains his self-diagnosis. With what looked like an American phone number in the advertisement, Ballard didn't waste time, calling a friend who lived in the US to find out more.“He rang the number for me and said it was genuine, that it had been in storage from 1933 to 1998,” he says. “It turned out the publishers had the ad in the wrong book, it was meant to go in some sort of motor catalogue in the States, but that didn't happen.”Which worked out nicely for Ballard, who knew it was a special model and snapped it up on the advice of his friend, who took it for a test drive.Ballard handed over the $US4800 asking price for the car and then spent a further $2000 getting it to Australia, which took about two years, finally arriving here in 2001.Ballard's Dodge was the earliest American model on display at the 21st annual All Chrysler Day at Fairfield Showground.Even today, the 62-year-old is still thanking his lucky stars he helped out with the wedding plans.“If she hadn't been at me to look at them I wouldn't have seen it, it's just incredible luck, it's a very rare car and was in absolute top condition,” he says. Ballard has since discovered the car is the oldest known surviving Dodge Coupe, making it a very valuable piece of history.Adding to that, he is only the second owner of this very unique model. He even found the original registration slip from 1918 in the door pocket.It may look stunning from the outside, but Ballard says it's not the most pleasant vehicle to drive; “Two words, bloody hard,” he says.“It's heavy steering, very direct, there's a tendency to oversteer savagely. It's okay when you're used to it, but it's definitely a man's car.”Its driving manner wasn't something the original owner mastered either.“The original owner was a doctor and apparently had a lot of trouble handling the Dodge,” Ballard says, which he discovered from speaking to the doctor's grandson who told him he often “clobbered every pair of gate posts” and rarely used the car, preferring to get around in his horse and buggy instead.“It appears he died in 1933 and the family had no need for it so they put it in the barn and covered it up,” he says, adding that it has done less than 9000 miles (14,500km).After 68 years off the road, Ballard was surprised to discover the “wooden” coupe, with its A and B pillar made from timber, was still in reasonably good condition.The only things it needed were mudguards and a paint job. But since coming into his possession, Ballard says he's spent $15,000 getting it to its present state, with one job left; replacing the moth-eaten trim. While Ballard has a passion for old cars, he admits he has a particular soft spot for American DNA.“They do tend to stand up better to Australian conditions and they're powerful, they hold their own with today's traffic, not quite as fast but they'll stay out there,” he says. “Old Dodges in particular, they're very rugged.”Ballard's car obsession really began when his first car, a 1925 Dodge, was stolen before he was even old enough to drive it.From then on, he set out rescuing as many old cars as he could.“People were practically giving these old cars away back then, so I'd drag them home, patch them up and sell them on, it used to drive my parents mad,” the 62-year-old says.“I went mad and wanted to save them all.”While Ballard's car may be the oldest and most special car at the show, there will be variety of vehicles displaying the history of the Chrysler brand, which has included other makes over the years such as Dodge, Jeep, Hillman and Centura.A 1939 Chrysler and a 1977 Dodge Charger Imperial will be among the display of about 300 cars, with a particular focus on 50 years of 'fins.'One car fitting this theme is Frank D'agostino's 1953 Chrysler New Yorker sedan.D'agostino, who has also caught the American car bug, says he particularly loves the exaggerated shape and the size of the vehicles.“They're unique, their size, their character, the days of flamboyant looks,” he says. “But they weren't designed for economy.” 

The big, bold car grille is emerging as the styling feature of cars to come.

Trevor Creed admits the cabins, in particular, are nowhere near as good as they need to be to challenge the Japanese.He is happy with the way the latest arrivals look; from the compact Dodge Nitro to the brutal Chrysler 300C and the all-new Journey family crossover just displayed at the Frankfurt Motor Show but admits they are lacklustre inside.Creed made quality design a priority for Chrysler last year, but is still forced to defend the cars in showrooms today because of a system that was too slow and too outdated to deliver what shoppers expect in their cars.“Previously, everything sort of fell backwards. We're trying to recover from that,” he says.Creed has even formed a special design team to make the changes, though the group has been operating since the end of last year and even the Journey is not up to Japanese standards.“They have done their first interior for a next-generation product and been very, very successful,” Creed says.But he is still asking for patience on the improvements.“It will be two years before you see the full fruits, in terms of major products,” Creed says.So expect improvements, but not in a rush. And why?“The cost pressure in the US is just enormous (and) we don't charge the prices (there) that we charge in the rest of the world,” he says.That means cars built to a price point in America must face up to tougher rivals when they head overseas.That is tough to overcome, but Creed says it is happening.