Just when you thought Chrysler was on the verge of flat-lining; a pulse.
Chrysler used its annual summertime product pow-wow at its Chelsea, Michigan, proving grounds to exhibit signs of life that have nothing to do with corporate restructuring, layoff fears, the FTC, or three-headed monsters.
Rather, this pulse is driven by a $3 billion powertrain investment. It may not be as sexy as the 600-hp Dodge Viper or as tantalizingly producible as the Dodge Demon concept—but it involves something more important to customers and key to ultimately saving Chrysler: fuel economy.
Certainly, this is swell both in terms of the environment as well as the reduction of our dependence on foreign oil. But before we submit Chrysler for canonization by the Pope, we recognize it is a financial imperative for an automaker still hamstrung by a thirsty, truck-heavy portfolio.
Frank Klegon, executive vice president of product development, read a list of powertrain initiatives and green intentions from boosting the car-to-truck ratio to expanding its use of diesels and mild and full hybrids, as well as updating its gasoline engine lineup.
Better still, much of the efficiency-minded tech Chrysler's talking about doesn't pull the plug on driving pleasure, with things like direct-injection, multi-displacement systems (MDS), a dual-clutch gearbox, various friction-reduction devices, and more.
