Ford, Chrysler sales up 12 percent, other carmakers expect gains

Chrysler Group posted a 12 percent increase in August U.S. sales with robust retail volume and demand for cars and large pickups fueling the automaker’s 41st consecutive monthly gain.

Ford Motor Co. reported a 12 percent increase in August sales, with car and truck volume rising 18 percent, offsetting a slight dip in crossover deliveries. Small car sales climbed 30 percent and F series deliveries rose 22 percent to 71,115 units.

Sales rose 13 percent at the Ford division and 1 percent at Lincoln.

Ford said its retail sales were especially strong last month, advancing 20 percent, with retail deliveries of cars up 15 percent, utilities up 16 percent and trucks up 30 percent.

The company said today it planned to boost fourth quarter North American output 7 percent to 785,000 light vehicles.

The Ram brand, with sales up 29 percent, and Dodge, with a 12 percent increase in deliveries, led the gains for Chrysler.

Overall, Chrysler’s truck sales rose 12 percent last month, with Ram pickup demand surging 31 percent to 33,009 and Jeep volume rising 8 percent.

Chrysler said its car sales rose 11 percent, helped by the Dodge Chargerand Dart, and record monthly sales of nearly 4,200 at the Fiat brand.

“Last month we achieved our strongest retail sales in the past 60 months,” Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales for Chrysler Group, said in a statement. “All aspects of our business continue to improve.”

The average transaction price of a Chrysler Group vehicle sold in August was a record $30,317, reflecting strong retail sales of the Ram pickup and Jeep lineup, TrueCar estimated today.

Other automakers are scheduled to report August sales later today, with Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. forecast to post the biggest gains, analysts say.

Toyota Motor Corp. expects to report a 20 percent gain in U.S. retail sales at the Toyota division, led by the Prius family of hybrids and the Camry sedan, Bloomberg reported late Tuesday, citing a Toyota spokeswoman.

Dealers and automakers say sales were strong over the Labor Day holiday weekend, which this year covered the end of August. The activity was spurred by deals on remaining 2013 models and a few 2014 models.

Analysts project that August sales rose 14 percent from a year earlier to 1.47 million units, based on the average of 10 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate is forecast at 15.8 million, based on the average of 17 analysts’ estimates. That would match July’s SAAR and be up from 14.5 million a year earlier.

Chrysler Group today estimated the August SAAR at 16.1 million, including medium and heavy-duty trucks.

August sales results are expected to keep the auto industry on pace to post the highest annual volume in six years. The SAAR has topped 15 million units each month beginning with November 2012.

Brandon Debarros, general sales manager at Metro Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram in Johnston, R.I., described August as “excellent.”

“We have been pushing a zero-financing Labor Day sale to try to liquidate the stock that we have, and it seems to have worked,” Debarros said.

At East Tennessee Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep in Crossville, Tenn., Sales Manager Brandon Letner said corporate sales helped offset a drop in retail volume.

“The no sales tax weekend that we had really helped us to get some sales that we wouldn’t have had,” Letner said, referring to a promotion whereby the dealer paid state sales taxes on new-vehicle purchases.

U.S. light-vehicle sales continue to be driven by pent-up demand as consumers replace aging vehicles. Attractive finance and leasing offers, the steadily improving economy, rising housing and construction activity, and modest employment growth are also aiding demand.

“Historically low interest rates as well as very attractive lease specials fueled by high resale values are enabling consumers to buy more expensive vehicles while still keeping payments at affordable levels,” said Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for TrueCar. “It’s a good day at the office for the manufacturers when the sales continue to grow double digits while transaction prices reach record highs.”

TrueCar estimated the average transaction price of a new light-vehicle sold in August was a record $31,252, eclipsing the average transaction price of $31,228 set in December 2012.

Large pickup, compact crossover, and compact car sales are projected to set the pace in August, Kelley Blue Book estimates.

The steady rise in sales this year has left some automakers and dealers short of certain models, and curbed sales volume at some automakers.

Inventory shortages came to a head in August, traditionally a strong sales month driven by end-of-model-year clearance sales. In a survey by RBC Capital Markets, 19 percent of dealers said inventory was too low during the month of August. That compares with 9 percent in July and 4 percent in June.

Sales of the Ford Fusion, Chevy Impala, Honda Odyssey and CR-V, Range Rover, Dodge Charger, Jeep Wrangler, and Ford Explorer have been limited by especially tight supplies in certain regions of the country, dealers and automakers say.

Brands that started August with the lowest stockpile of new models were Subaru, Land Rover, Audi, Hyundai, Lexus, Kia, and BMW, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Brands with the largest supply of new vehicles were Lincoln, Fiat, Cadillac, Buick and Ram.

Even with tight supplies, Subaru may report its best-ever U.S. sales for August, helped by new and redesigned models such as the Forester and XV Crosstrek, the company’s top executive said.

“We’re certainly expecting a terrific August, just like we had in July,” Tom Doll, president of Subaru of America, told Bloomberg Television on Tuesday. “My guess is we’re going to be somewhere north of 40,000, which for us is a big month.”

Sean Gagnier and Reuters contributed to this report.

(Ford, Chrysler sales rise 12% on large pickups, cars originally appeared on the website of Automotive News)

‘Grand Theft Auto V: Bravado Banshee’

Rockstar Games is making its final advertising push before the Sept. 17 release of its game-changing title “Grand Theft Auto V.” The newest trailer has hit the airwaves and now Rockstar is joining with game-seller Gamestop to announce a contest where a real version of one the fictional cars from the game is the prize.

The Bravado Banshee made its first appearance in the opening scenes of “GTA III,” and has been in each release since, filling the role of the ultimate American sports car. It’s styled suspiciously like a previous generation Dodge Viper. The company wants to highlight the car customization features in the game, an option that was lacking in the New York City-based “GTA IV.”

Rockstar says significant work went into creating this real world version of the Banshee, which we bet uses Viper underpinnings. We have a call into Rockstar to check, though we’re sure their PR team is pretty busy this month.

The molds for the exterior, according to Rockstar, were cut and machined piece by piece. Each panel was laid out by hand to create the exterior. A custom cockpit was built and sewn, with carbon-fiber inlays and contrasting stitching featuring the Banshee logo. A coat of metallic blue and a stripe of white complete the package.

To enter the contest, go to GTAV’s Facebook page or the Gamestop website. You have to have a Power-Up Rewards card to enter on the site but players can also enter by mail. The full rules of the contest can be found here.

Gamestop’s rules say the Banshee has a $180,000 approximate retail value and winners will also get a check for $70,000, so entering would not be a bad day’s work. Contestants must be at least 17 years old, have a valid driver’s license and live in the United States.

So go and enter, and let us know if you win. You can meet us in the fictional Los Santos after Sept. 17 under the handle StarChief. Please don’t shoot us.

2013 SRT Viper GTS review notes

ROAD TEST EDITOR JONATHAN WONG: I’m all for raw, no-frills cars. Things like the Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S, Mazda MX-5, and Lotus Exige and Evora are cars that don’t pack much in terms of whiz-bang features and don’t have interiors lined with the finest Italian leathers and exotic woods. Instead they are minimalist vehicles that only have the necessary ingredients to be engaging drivers, and that’s something enthusiasts have to respect. And that’s what has always made me respect the previous Vipermodels. That and the pure ridiculousness of having a V10 engine screaming under the hood that the fine folks at Chrysler had owners trying to tame without traction and stability aids.

But I can understand the need to evolve and improve on things. Raw and unapologetic will only win you a certain niche of people and the need to broaden your reach is necessary. Enter the latest Viper generation that landed for the 2013 model year. In our particular GTS tester, we’ve got such luxury items like hand-stitched napa leather-covered interior with six-way power-adjustable seats. There are more sound-deadening materials for a quieter ride and a 12-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system. That’s a far cry from the cheapo, brittle-feeling plastics and weak sound system of old.

A two-mode Bilstein Damptronic suspension system gives the option of street and track settings that can be changed at the push of a button on the center stack, and a four-mode stability control system that offers varying degrees of help depending on the information provided by the yaw, lateral-g and steering-wheel angle sensors. Viper purists who may not like the new electronic safety nets can relax because they can be fully turned off to let you attempt to control all 640 hp all by yourself.

On road, the Viper GTS is indeed more comfortable to romp around in. Put the suspension in the street setting and jolts from small- to medium-sized ruts you come across are softened. Steering is heavily weighted, but it’s manageable on a daily basis. Being a hydraulic system, it feels direct and communicative, and features right-now response to steering inputs. Points also go to the new short shifter that allows you to go through gears with a flick of your wrist instead of long throws.

And the interior is a nice place to be with the nice leathers covering the majority of the cabin, a good sound system, and insulation on the firewall. The heat radiating through the dash was bad in the old car.

However, some things remain the same: big blind spots, tight pedal box, ingress and egress into the cabin aren’t the easiest or most elegant-looking actions. Oh, and the side exhausts still make getting out of the car after a drive a warm affair for the back of your legs, which is fine because it’s a Viper, after all.

So the latest Viper is a little nicer on public streets, but how about on track? After a couple of days flying around GingerMan Raceway, I can say it’s better behaved, but it’s still one of the crudest and frightening experiences out there. The optional track package on our tester gave me lighter two-piece StopTech slotted brake rotors and lighter wheels wrapped with Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires to work with, which was a little comforting. My laps were done with the suspension and stability control set to track modes.

Launching proved difficult. Yes, there are meaty tires out back, but 640-hp still can turn those rubber donuts to dust in no time. Launch control didn’t help much with still way too much wheel spin to get going out of the box efficiently. Instead my best launches came without using launch control and modulating the throttle on my own and the appropriate steering corrections to keep the Viper’s trajectory straight.

Obviously, the brute power from the V10 continues to amaze with pretty good throttle response. Bursting out of corners is easy and quick, while stretching the car’s legs down the back straight has you questioning your sanity in keeping your right foot burying the gas pedal into the floor board. The Viper’s high-speed stability is rock solid, but under hard braking the back end still dances around.

Track driving the Viper remains physically punishing. GingerMan is smooth track, but if you look at the on board video footage you see me bouncing around all over the place through every corner. All track seams and patches get translated into the cabin.

I have done laps of GingerMan with a number of previous-generation Vipers, including an ACR, and the new car is noticeably better at handling side-to-side transitions and doesn’t feel sloppy. What remains the same are the high lateral grip levels that can be tapped into when you begin to trust the Viper will indeed hold on. Believe in the car, don’t make any sudden throttle inputs or do something real stupid, like lift mid-corner, and it’ll stick just fine.

Track mode for the stability control allows for a lot of slip angle, as I learned at turn 11 when I got too greedy on the gas too early. It was later in the day, and I had become more comfortable with the car, only to have it slap me on the wrist and demand my full attention again. Maybe it was some brain fade, but those “oh crap” moments have always been part of the Viper experience for me.

The Viper is still among the most intimidating cars you can buy today. It offers an experience unlike any other. From behind the wheel on the track you are overcome with so many different emotions: complete and utter terror (does this car want to kill me?), amazement, shame (wow, almost went right into that guardrail), relief (thank you for not going right into that guardrail), accomplishment (I didn’t ball this thing up!), respect, and of course fun.

It’s a special car that has gotten a bit nicer but it’s still raw, which is exactly how Viper Nation likes it.

2013 SRT Viper GTS

Base Price: $124,990

As-Tested Price: $129,490

Drivetrain: 8.4-liter V10; RWD, six-speed manual

Output: 640 hp @ 6,200 rpm, 600 lb-ft @ 5,000 rpm

Curb Weight: 3,374 lb

Fuel Economy (EPA City/Highway/Combined): 12/19/15 mpg

AW Observed Fuel Economy: 15.7 mpg

Options: Track package including anti-lock brakes, performance tires ($3,500); 18-speaker Harmon Kardon audio system ($1,000)

Bene! Meet the SRT Viper GTS Sons of Italy edition

It seems automakers will badge-engineer anything to create special editions that do little for the benefit of the brand or for society. That’s not the case for this uniquely swathed SRT Viper GTS whose color and its reason for being are truly noteworthy.

This bellissima beast was created to benefit the Sons of Italy Foundation, a cause near the heart of parent company Fiat. The car features an extraordinarily rich white coat of paint, dubbed Avorio Perla, as well as other one-off touches. This show car will take a prominent position on the Concept Car Lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours Aug. 18 before it goes up for sale. All proceeds will go to the group.

The Sons of Italy Viper gets a pearlescent coat of white paint.

Leave it to a designer to opt for a white finish, a color that best accentuates sexy lines. “What’s cool about this white is that it has a lot of ‘travel’ in the color,” said Mark Trostle, head of SRT Design. “With it having some of this metallic pearl in it, it really shows off the shapes very well. It catches a lot of light, especially on the hood. In the sunlight, it’s beautiful how it lights up. That’s one of the big pieces that make the car unique.” Behind the GTS badge near the front wheels is a small tribute to the Italian colors.

Black Vapor Chrome wheels accentuate the Viper GTS Sons of Italy edition.

The black vapor chrome wheels, exclusive to SRT, are available as an option on the Charger, Challenger, 300 and Grand Cherokee — and are not offered on any Viper, except for this one. “The wheels look fantastic in this finish,” Trostle said.

“It’s a really rich, premium exterior with a pearl white and the black vapor wheels and that leads to a great color combination. We were looking for what colors would really make the car special, and this tri-coat white paired with the black vapor chrome wheels really resonated with us.”

Inside the Viper GTS Sons of Italy edition at Pebble Beach.

Inside is a bespoke suite fit for a collectible. A Laguna leather package is done up in warm hues, while a 1-inch stripe in the colors of the Italian flag runs down the center.

A red “Stryker” logo sits on the steering wheel while the gauges get red bezel accents. The GTS badge that traditionally lives above the passenger-side glove box also features Italian flair — the tri-color flag represented with the “G” in green, the “T” in white and the “S” in red.

Trostle suggests the color combination — inside and out — is subtle in its own way. To us, when you use the word “subtle” when speaking about a Viper GTS, it’s akin to using the term “velvet sledgehammer.”

For more details about the car to benefit the Sons of Italy Foundation, visit www.osia.org.

Ralph Gilles talks past, present and SRT future

Ralph Gilles — SRT boss, Chrysler vice president of design, curator of something called the “Man Van,” has become the public face of Chrysler performance, carrying the legacy of Firepower engines and 428 Coronets and the Dodge Viper RT/10 into the future with the Challenger, Charger and Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8s.

Since “unofficially” helping form it in 2003, Gilles has seen SRT transformed into Chrysler’s most coherent performance strategy since Plymouth Rapid Transit, a company-wide force so much greater than the flagship Dodge Viper. He was there from the beginning. He’s in charge now.

“Obviously I had more roles the last five years,” he said, modestly, “but still designing. Better parking spot every once in a while, but the rest is the same.”

Gilles came to Chrysler by way of Montreal, where he survived freezing East Coast Canadian winters in — of all cars — an Austin Marina, which British Leyland never had the good sense to sell in America. “Horrible car,” Gilles reminisced with scorn. “I almost don’t talk about it. The only good thing about it was it would do burnouts backwards.” From an early age, he drew not cars but animals: dogs and cats, until his father brought home a model of the John Player Special Lotus Formula One car. All of a sudden, he said, he started paying attention to cars. He was 6 — and just starting to lay into the car designer cliché of spending his waking hours plastering his schoolwork with drawings of cars, from notebook to notebook, to the inevitable ire of teachers and parents.

Gilles can thank his aunt Giselle for jump-starting his car-design career. She sent a letter to Lee Iacocca (“because she knew he was in charge,” said Gilles) suggesting that her nephew might have a knack for this car design thing, because look at these sketches! Iacocca was busy. But would you know it, chief designer Tom Gale wrote back. Gale, who led Chrysler design from 1985 to 2000 — when Gilles would work with him on the LH Cab Forward cars — suggested a list of universities for Gilles, then 14 years old, to check out.

He took Gale’s advice to heart. He attended the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, graduating in 1992. He interned at coachbuilder Heuliez, despite having “no idea who they were,” he confessed, “I just wanted to go to France.” He upgraded his horrible Marina to a 1981 Scirocco, then a Corrado where he “got his ass spanked at autocross.” He grew his hair out, then shaved it off. He went to Chrysler because they were daring; they were the underdog in the face of Ford and the General. And by the time he was 30, Chrysler had promoted him to manager of its rear-drive program, lashed together with Daimler and Mercedes-Benz. He was “terrified.”

The press photo that launched Gilles to stardom. Photo by Chrysler

Gilles never intended to take credit for the Chrysler 300, it just sort of happened. Chrysler designers run in packs, he said, and he worked closely with Trevor Creed and Mark Hall to form one of the most memorable American cars in recent memory. But then, at the forefront of the press photos was Gilles in his “designer’s uniform,” a black blazer and no tie, posing confidently next to the badass Chrysler, and the media “latched on to me as the face of the 300C.”

Suddenly, his life changed.

“For about three years after it came out there was all this kind of stuff,” he said. The media gave him de facto credit for the 300. Black Enterprise put him on its “Hot List.” Time Magazine called him the “Bling King,” which he took with chagrin. DaimlerChrysler ran a full-page advertisement in the New York Times, featuring little more than his clean-shaven visage; that shocked the hell out of Aunt Giselle. He started speaking at schools about his own success. Snoop Dogg bought a 300 from him.

Strange times for Gilles, sure, but it cemented his legacy. “Except for a few here and there,” said Gilles, “no one’s ever questioned Chrysler’s design capabilities.”

Few people questioned Virgil Exner, for example, whom Gilles counts as one of his heroes. “Stuff from the ’50s was just beautiful,” he told us. “That whole generation when cars started to respect aerodynamics and they got rid of the fenders, you know, just real sleek. Europeans were just ahead of the curve. Then Virgil, of course, with the Forward Look and this almost ostentatious but beautiful look, kind of balancing the two.

“And then recently, of course, my predecessor’s predecessor, Tom Gale. He put Chrysler on the map in terms of design. He was running design during the great period in the late ’80s, early ’90s when Chrysler was doing these knockout show cars. The 1980s was another one of those transitional periods, when we were going away from those ugly, boxy cars into organic cars — I still today have a big appreciation for cars that look like they grew the way they are.”

“Is a Viper convertible on your radar?” we ask, sheepishly.

“I can’t talk about that.”

“I’ll mark that as a yes.”

“A lot of our owners are asking about that.” Gilles meets owners all the time, goes to SpringFest, drinks tequila with the enthusiasts, talks a little too much. The enthusiasts ask about a revival of the Hemi ‘Cuda: “They want us to resurrect a dead brand!”

But that might even be a possibility — Chrysler, of all the American companies, is most willing to experiment. “That’s the cool thing about Chrysler: we’re not afraid to do low-volume vehicles, scratch that itch and give enthusiasts what they’ve been asking for.” Look at the 1970s-tastic Lil’ Red Express with its bitchin’ high pipes, recently exhibited at SEMA, a personal favorite around the Autoweek offices. Performance is the new premium, we suggested, and Gilles seemed to agree, though more out of necessity than anything else.

“Because of CAFE laws, we have to regulate volume, and they become a little more rare. We can’t make as many to recoup the investment, so we have no choice but to charge more. If you wanna drive fast, you’re gonna have to pay the driving-fast tax.

“But what you’re getting nowadays is unbelievable! You’re getting cars with what I would call duality — cars that do more than just go fast. I would say that 10, 15 years ago, fast cars were just that: just plain fast cars. Now they’re total immersive experiences.”

The ultimate SRT, until the next-fastest Viper comes along. Photo by Chrysler

His white Viper at home, a 2014, is named “Storm,” after — yes — the “X-Men” character. He bought the first ACR made, the potent trackday terror from the last generation. He went to Le Mans with the Viper ALMS team, hung out with Tommy Kendall, had his mind blown by the extravaganza that is the 24 Heures. Jon Bon Jovi bought a red Viper from him and invited him to a concert.

There’s lots of loyalty at Chrysler, Gilles included — French fling notwithstanding, he’s never worked for anyone else. “Thing with being an engineer,” said Gilles, “they love fixing stuff. And at Chrysler, there’s a lot to fix.” And now with Fiat, it seems to work out, slowly but steadily: fortunately for Gilles, Sergio Marchionne loves brands.

No testimony to Gilles’ career is stronger than this: when the second-generation Viper was launched in 2003, it was the first usage of the SRT brand on a Chrysler product. The Viper SRT. Now, it’s on its own: the SRT Viper. And it’s Gilles’ brand — with him as SRT CEO, this time there is no ambiguity. The Viper is his life and he is its public face, in charge of Chrysler’s fastest, most potent, and sexiest car.

We spoke with Gilles at Inside The MotoMan Studio, now at the Petersen Museum, where George the eponymous MotoMan asks designers, executives, and automotive personalities about their upbringing and successes before trotting forth ancient pictures of embarrassing cars and even more embarrassing haircuts.(Last time, we talked to Derek Jenkins.) The next announced guest will be the one and only Bob Lutz, on Oct. 26. Stay tuned as we interview an American treasure.

Rare American classics turn out at Boston’s Larz Anderson Auto Museum

Every year the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, Mass., holds more than two dozen lawn events, and a few days ago we were able attend one of its most popular annual events , American Car Day. The museum opens its grounds to lawn events arranged by themes like make or country of origin, and every year thousands of classic-car fans from all over New England make the trip to the Boston-area museum, the home of America’s oldest car collection.

This year’s American Car Day enjoyed a solid turnout, with dozens of cars lining the lawn. The cars that made the trip to the museum this year were from all eras, starting with early pre-war examples and ending with late-model muscle cars. American Car Day is perhaps in the top five best attended lawn events at the museum, so we weren’t surprised to see cars from all over the region. Even though the field of cars was above average, compared with previous years, the number of cars is perhaps a fraction of how many we’ll see at Tutto Italiano, the museum’s annual Italian Car Day, in a just a couple weeks. But for now, let’s take a look at some of the highlights from last weekend’s event.

Classic America station wagons have been gaining interest among collectors. Photo by Jay Ramey

Here’s something you don’t see every day: a 1968 Buick Sport Wagon. We saw a very similar one at the 2009 Hemmings New England Concours in Stratton, Vt., also with Vermont plates, so we’re not discounting the possibility that this may be the same car. After all, how many Buick Sport Wagons in this color can there possibly be in Vermont? This example is owned by Kevin and Christine Dewyeam, and features the 400 Big Block engine underhood.

A rare sight at any car show, a Rambler American two-door sedan. Photo by Jay Ramey

A rare sight even at classic-car shows, here’s a Rambler American sedan by Nash. This two-door sedan was available for a short time even by Nash standards. This one, owned by Ross Sealund, appeared to be in great shape inside and out.

From back when fullsize cars had a bigger footprint than today’s SUVs. Photo by Jay Ramey

This Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham took up more lawn space than several other cars put together. This example is from 1972 and has a bigger interior than some studio apartments we have seen. It’s probably nicer too. With a logo redesign looming for Cadillac, we’re hoping the crest will stay approximately the same size as on this Fleetwood.

A spectacular Cord 812 Sport Phaeton from 1937. Photo by Jay Ramey

Now here’s something special: a 1937 Cord 812 Sport Phaeton, owned by Keith Carlson. This one attracted quite a bit of attention from the crowds. This spectacular vintage Cord features a supercharged V8 engine.

Here’s a nice Cadillac Sedan deVille, a car we don’t see very often. Photo by Jay Ramey

Another large sedan, this 1963 Cadillac Sedan de Ville is owned by Joe and Diane Lane. This example had only 29,000 miles on the clock, and definitely looked the part.

This Buick was in great condition. Photo by Jay Ramey

One of the few cars from the 1980s was this Buick LeSabre from 1985, seemingly in showroom condition. This example is owned by Bob Lawrence, and we couldn’t recall the last time when we saw one of these in such nicely kept shape.

A nicely kept Chevrolet Camaro from the 1990s. Photo by Jay Ramey

Here is a Chevrolet Camaro from the 1990s. We were wondering where all of these went. It’s always nice to see an example that hasn’t been thrashed within an inch of its life.

So that’s it for American Car Day for this year. Click here to see a schedule of all lawn events at the museum. Next Sunday’s event is Triumph Day, which falls on the same day as Misselwood Concours d’Elegance just an hour north in Beverly, Mass.

SRT unveils Viper GT3-R race car

SRT on Thursday unveiled a new racing version of the Viper developed for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series GT class as well as international GT3 series.

The new SRT Viper GT3-R is being developed by the same Riley Technologies team that has masterminded SRT’s return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year.

The car shares its heritage with the GTE-spec — the Le Mans spec — Viper GTS-R: it runs the same suspension and body molds but is powered by a standard version of the road-going muscle car’s 8.4-liter V10 powerplant.

SRT motorsports boss Beth Paretta said, “This project has been spurred on by our customers; the first one is already sold. We believe that the market is there for this car, but we aren’t talking about numbers yet. We are still testing the temperatures.”

Riley Tech boss Bill Riley revealed that the first car should begin testing in August and that deliveries of customer cars could start as early as the end of this year. He believes that the GT3-R, which will sell for $459,000, will prove popular with customers.

“We are about in the middle compared with other GT3s in terms of the purchase price, but we hope to sell cars on durability and low operating costs,” he said. “The engine is so strong and the [Xtrac] gearbox so simple.”

The GT3-R will be the second Viper to compete in GT3 series: the Viper Competition Coupe was among the first batch of cars homologated for the category in 2006.

2013 SRT Viper ads feature rad wagon, cheerleaders, burnouts

This fresh 2013 SRT Viper ad hit our inbox this morning, and we’re glad it did. It’s got a 1964 Dodge Custom 880 wagon, some coming of age stuff, some donuts and a kick-ass burnout. Towards the end, there’s a 2013 SRT Viper and some talk about DNA.

We’d give you more, but we’re heading over to eBay to ogle Mopar wagons. If you want to catch a shorter version of the above ad (and really, why would you?) click on over to SRT’s Youtube channel.

We flog three top performers on the track: Video

We hit Michigan’s GingerMan Raceway with the 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2014 Porsche Cayman S and 2013 SRT Viper GTS performance cars to demonstrate the wide range of fun available at all price points.

And boy, did we have fun.

The Focus ST, our budget performer, is outfitted with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that churns out 252 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque. Our midprice entry, the Cayman S, was just right with a 3.4-liter, 325-hp and 272-lb-ft flat six at an attainable price tag. And the Viper GTS supercar tops out our test as we find its raw power as impressive as ever.

Check out the video, and read “Pick your Poison” in the June 10 edition of Autoweek magazine for the full story.

SRT Motorsports Viper team ready for Le Mans return

SRT is heading back to France with two identically prepared Viper GTS-Rs for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 22-23. It will be the first time the marque has competed at the race since it won the GTS class three consecutive times, from 1998 to 2000. It will compete in the LM GTE Pro Class.

“Le Mans is a world stage. The GTS-R has enjoyed great success at Le Mans in the past, and we’re excited to start a new chapter of Viper racing at that historic venue,” said Ralph Gilles, president and chief executive officer of SRT brand and motorsports.

Viper and SRT brass attended the event in 2012, to get a sense for how it would play out if they received an invitation. The company saw that letter in February, and accepted.

“We went to do some research should we ever get back on the track at Le Mans and were astounded by the interest shown by the amount of fans who lined up and waited to simply get a glimpse of our SRT Viper GTS-R show car and take photos,” said Beth Paretta, director of marketing and operations for SRT. “People came wearing all sorts of jackets — both Viper jackets and competitor jackets — and it was interesting too that they very much crave to see this American rivalry between the brands. They take such pleasure in watching them kind of duke it out on the track.”

The new SRT, revealed at the New York auto show, made its official return to motorsports last August at the American Le Mans Series Mid-Ohio race. The SRT team came in 10th and 12th in its class, with Kuno Wittmer and Dominik Farnbacher behind the wheel of the first car, and Marc Goossens and Tommy Kendall in the other.

In 2013, the No. 91 Viper has three top-five finishes in three races, including third at Long Beach.

As for Le Mans, the rules have changed since SRT’s last race, as well as the competition.

“The rules have changed over the years, but we’re going with the same commitment to do our best,” said Gary Johnson, SRT racing manager. “Our plan is to be as competitive as we can and see what happens at the end.”

Preparation time is running out: The 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place in exactly one month.

2013 New York auto show vehicle-reveal schedule

About the New York auto show

Automakers are wrapping up the domestic auto show season with a bang in New York — we are counting some 20 world debuts.

Autoweek will be on the ground at the New York auto show during press days Wednesday and Thursday, publishing updates from the show floor.

Here’s a look at the auto show press-days schedule, along with a list of vehicle reveals we expect (all times EDT).

Wednesday, March 27

9:10 a.m. — Toyota

Press days begin with the 2014 Toyota Highlander debut, a three-row crossover that hasn’t been redesigned since 2007.

9:45 a.m. — Volkswagen

The seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf makes its North American debut in New York. VW first showed the new Golf last September in Germany, and the Golf GTD was premiered in March at the Geneva motor show.

10:15 a.m. — Kia

Kia will show three vehicles in New York: the redesigned Soul, the coupe variant of the Forte compact and a freshened Optima midsized sedan.

10:45 a.m. — Jaguar Land Rover

The luxury brand is thinking performance in New York, debuting the 2014 Jaguar XJR, a performance variant of their flagship XJ sedan, and the Land Rover Range Rover Sport. View the Range Rover reveal live Wednesday as it makes its debut by driving through the streets of New York.

11:15 a.m. — Mercedes-Benz

The 2014 CLA45 AMG is making its debut in New York as the high-performance version of the CLA compact sedan that goes on sale this fall. Benz’s compact B-class Electric Drive hatchback also will be unveiled.

11:45 a.m. — BMW

Three vehicles debuted at the Geneva motor show will make their North American debut: the Active Tourer concept car, the 3-series Gran Turismo and the 328d.

12:10 p.m. — Acura

The production version of the 2014 Acura MDX seven-passenger SUV will be shown officially, although we don’t expect it to be much different than the production-ready prototype we saw at the Detroit auto show in January.

12:45 p.m. — General Motors

The GM brand is bringing three new models to the New York auto show, including the 2014 Camaro Z/28.

Buick revealed the updated 2014 LaCrosse on Monday, which gets new interior design and more safety and technology features. Cadillac is expected to reveal the 2014 CTS sedan at a media event Tuesday, and photos that hint at the design appeared on the Internet Monday.

1:45 p.m. — Jeep

The controversial new Jeep Cherokee will have its world debut. Jeep already released photos of the Cherokee’s design, but powertrain details and an on-sale date should be a part of the reveal.

2:20 p.m. — Nissan

The redesigned 2014 Nissan Pathfinder hybrid is set to be revealed at the show. Nissan hasn’t released any details, but we know it uses a gasoline-electric drive system and a four-cylinder engine.

2:50 p.m. — Bentley

3:15 p.m. — Rolls Royce

3:40 p.m. — Porsche

The Porsche 911 GT3 and GT3 Cup that debuted in Geneva will make the trip to New York for their North American debut.

4:05 p.m. — Infiniti

A hybrid version of Infiniti’s seven-passenger JX crossover, now badged the QX60, makes its debut in New York.

4:35 p.m. — Hyundai

The updated 2014 Hyundai Equus sedan is coming to the auto show. While Hyundai has revealed little about their luxury sedan so far, teaser photos show it wears new turbine blade-style wheels and a cleaner front fascia.

Watch the reveal live here.

Thursday, March 28

9:55 a.m. — Scion

The 2014 Scion tC sports coupe will be unmasked in New York.

10:30 a.m. — Volvo

11:05 a.m. — Subaru

The 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek hybrid, Subaru’s first gasoline-electric vehicle, will be shown at the show.

11:40 a.m. — Dodge

The updated 2014 Dodge Durango SUV is expected to be revealed, along with the 2014 SRT Viper TA “Time Attack.”

12:15 p.m. — Honda

The 2014 Odyssey minivan will highlight Honda’s stand in New York, and will be put on display with the 2014 Accord plug-in hybrid and 2013 Fit EV.

1:10 p.m. — Mitsubishi

1:40 p.m. — Shelby

Shelby will debut the 2013 Shelby 1000 S/C, a 1,200-hp Mustang.

The 2013 New York auto show runs from March 29-April 7 and is expected to attract a range of production and concept cars such as the new Toyota Highlander, Jeep Cherokee and the United States debut of the Corvette Stingray Convertible. Check out Autoweek’s complete coverage at autoweek.com/new-york-auto-show .

Viper TA track special heads for New York auto show debut

About the New York auto show

Straight-line speed has not been an issue for the redesigned 2013 SRT Viper, with a 0-60-mph performance in the low three-second range coming from its 640-hp, 8.4-liter V10. But Chrysler Group’s Street and Racing Technology team is always looking to make its products faster around the road courses.

That brings us to the 2014 Viper TA, which debuts next week at the New York auto show and goes on sale this fall. The TA stands for Time Attack and marks a Viper that has been optimized for road course duty, while still being street legal.

The Viper TA slots between the base SRT Viper and the SRT Viper GTS in the lineup, with a huge emphasis on the brake, suspension and aero package for the car.

This isn’t just a stripped-down Viper. Chrysler says the SRT Viper TA has a curb weight of about 3,348 pounds, 6 pounds less than a base SRT Viper but 51 pounds more than a base Viper with the Track Package, which includes lightweight wheels and two-piece StopTech brake rotors.

The Viper TA includes the carbon fiber front splitters, rear spoiler, and other carbon fiber exterior pieces that make up the Advanced Aerodynamics and Exterior Carbon Fiber packages that are options on other Viper models.

A key change for the Viper TA is the brake package, which Chrysler says is still being developed. A Chrysler spokesman says engineers are willing to accept some weight gain at the corners — meaning a larger and heavier brake package with Brembo rotors — in exchange for better performance. Chrysler says it and Brembo are working on a package that “increases thermal capacity and optimizes heat dissipation providing improved extreme use.” The brake calipers are finished in black with an orange Viper logo.

Other suspension changes include springs and shocks optimized for road course duty, solid antiroll bars front and rear, and a Bilstein two-mode damping system recalibrated with settings for smooth tracks and rough tracks. The Viper TA uses the Pirelli P Zero Corsas from the SRT Track Package — 295/30Z R18s up front and 355/30 ZR19s in back.

The Viper’s aluminum X brace in the engine compartment is replaced with a carbon fiber unit. But the powertrain is unchanged. The only change to the interior is the addition of orange stitching accents.

The first batch of 33 SRT Viper TA cars will be painted Crusher orange and built this fall. Sticker price is estimated to be around $116,000. Chrysler hasn’t determined how it will allocate the first 33 cars. A spokesman says you’ll likely be able to get the Viper TA in other colors after the first 33 are built.

The 2013 New York auto show runs March 29-April 7 and is expected to attract a range of production and concept cars such as the new Toyota Highlander, Jeep Cherokee and the United States debut of the Corvette Stingray Convertible. Check out Autoweek’s complete coverage at autoweek.com/new-york-auto-show .

Video: ‘Grid 2’ video game trailer shows fictional World Series Racing

The second trailer for the driving video game “Grid 2” was released last week. Besides more beautiful shots of classics, muscle cars and exotics spanning four decades, we hear a bit more about the storyline from one of the main characters.

Patrick Callahan is a fictional entrepreneur who wants to create a new motorsports series called World Series Racing. Callahan says he wants to recruit drivers from different disciplines across the United States. Later in the clip, Callahan talks about traveling the world taking on the best racing teams and gaining support for his series.

Home continent races include Indianapolis, the streets of Chicago and the California coast.

Players will earn experience points that help them enter new races, grow their fan base and get new cars. In “Grid 2,” Codemasters collaborated with ESPN to create in-game “SportsCenter” live-action video sequences that reflect the rise of the series.

“Grid 2” comes out May 28 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows.

Loud and proud

When Steve Loudin and Tom Drewer hit the road this May in a heavily modified SRT Viper, they’ll be carrying a message that ought to resonate with anyone who likes Chrysler’s “Imported From Detroit” campaign: Buy American.

The Prefix/Forge Ahead USA team SRT Viper will take part in the 2013 Tire Rack One Lap of America May 4-11 before going on tour and making appearances at a series of performance-driving challenges, enthusiast gatherings, car shows and the Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas in November. The idea is to put the Forge Ahead USA “Buy American” message in front of as many people as possible, said Kim Zeile, owner of title sponsor Prefix. Prefix is a Michigan automotive supplier whose business includes painting bodies for the new Viper and building prototypes and show cars.

Forge Ahead USA is a national campaign designed to help companies market their “Made in the USA” products as a sales advantage. It promotes buying American products, supporting American manufacturers and recycling dollars back into the U.S. economy.

“This Forge Ahead USA message is much bigger than putting an ‘American-made’ sticker on a product,” Zeile said. “The future of our economy depends on all of us making the decision to buy American whenever possible.”

The car at the center of the program is a 2008 Viper coupe owned by Loudin (it was actually his wife’s driver), that has been upgraded to 2012 Viper ACR standards. It should produce about 700 hp, Zeile said.

Although Chrysler isn’t a direct sponsor, Chrysler design vice president and SRT chief Ralph Gilles attended the Forge Ahead USA Viper’s recent unveiling at the Prefix plant near Chrysler’s headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. And Gilles says he certainly supports the message.

“Every chance I get I remind people that the Viper is built in Michigan,” Gilles said. “This is a great initiative by these guys and we really support it.”

Now that the Viper’s makeover is complete, all that’s left to do is hit the road—and judging by car, its livery and its message, the Forge Ahead USA Viper won’t slip under anyone’s radar.

“Absolutely not,” promised Loudin.

Additional team sponsors include: Whelen Engineering, Archer Racing, Forgeline Wheels, American Racing Headers, Arrow Racing, Tricel Corporation, K&N Engineering, Corsa Performance, PartsRack, Thule, and Jason Industries.

Follow the team at facebook.com/TeamForgeAheadUSA

Photo by Jeff J. Dolphin

Autoweek in review: Geneva previews, IndyCar troubles and Ram goes diesel

On Monday we talked about the 2014 Corvette Stingray and its place in Corvette history. We also checked out a used Porsche race car on Bring a Trailer and looked at which Formula One teams are not at risk of collapsing.

We awoke on Tuesday to see video of a helicopter crashing during filming of “Top Gear Korea.” We looked at the interior of the McLaren P1 and saw some shots of the Alfa Romeo 4C before its reveal at the Geneva motor show.

Wednesday had us busy with the Mercedes-Benz A45 and the Honda Fit EV, which is going on sale on the East Coast. We also found out that IndyCar driver Katherine Legge is seeking legal action against Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing.

Valentine’s Day brought good news for enthusiasts. The Ram 1500 will get a diesel; we saw shots of the new Holden Commodore, which previews the Chevy SS; and reviewed the 2014 Kia Sorento.

We wrapped up the week learning about the Acura RLX, a BMW recall and the Automotive Fine Art Society’s show at the Amelia Island Concours.

Come back next week for more car news. We’ll be off on Monday but we’ll have fresh content for you, even if we’re celebrating our favorite presidents — Taft, Van Buren and R.B. Hayes, obviously.

Jake Lingeman – Jake Lingeman is Road Test Editor at Autoweek, reviewing cars, reporting on car news, car tech and the world at large.
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SRT Viper gets refresh in 2015, product plan shows: Chrysler to boost Fiat brand in U.S.

Chrysler Group will bolster the Fiat brand but has dropped plans to add Fiat-derived small cars for Chrysler and Dodge this year, according to a new long-range product plan revealed Wednesday.

The new plan updates Chrysler’s five-year North American product outlook that it presented in November 2009. The update extends the outlook into 2016. According to the plan, the SRT Viper gets a refresh in 2015.

The revised strategy contains changes for each brand Chrysler sells in North America. It shows the addition of seven new unannounced vehicles for the Fiat brand in 2015 and 2016, as well as a single Alfa Romeo, believed to be the 4C sports coupe, arriving this year. There are five additional unidentified new Alfas set to arrive in 2015 and 2016, the plan indicates.

Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne was set to discuss the plan in a conference call with analysts Wednesday morning.

The product plan changes for Chrysler Group’s other brands are:

Chrysler: Three Chrysler vehicles that were to be built by Fiat in 2012 and 2013 have been dropped from the previously released plan. One existing Chrysler vehicle–likely the 200 sedan–will be refreshed in 2014. Three new vehicles are to arrive for the brand in 2015.

Jeep: The addition of a small Jeep built by Fiat has been delayed one year until 2014. Two new Jeep products will be introduced in 2015, including one vehicle–likely the previously discussed 7-passenger Grand Wagoneer–which is delayed two years. The brand will refresh two of its products in 2016.

Ram: A Fiat-built Ram–likely a rebadged Fiat Doblo small commercial van–has been delayed two years from the previous product plan and will appear in 2014. Two new Rams are now scheduled to appear in 2016.

Dodge: While two previous Fiat-produced Dodge vehicles have been dropped, three existing vehicles in the brand will receive previously unscheduled refreshes–one this year and two in 2014. Another existing unidentified vehicle will get a new platform in 2015, and the brand will add another vehicle to its lineup in 2016.

SRT: Chrysler Group’s performance brand won’t get another new vehicle in its lineup until 2016 but will get new refreshes of three existing vehicles in 2014. The Viper, released last year, will next be refreshed in 2015.

A look at Chrysler Group’s future product plans

Chrysler displays Mopar garage at Chicago auto show: Loaded with “Moparized” vehicles, custom parts and accessories and a new line of Mopar cabinetry and tool boxes, the garage could be a hit with tinkerers

About the Chicago auto show

Chrysler is bringing a 1,015 sq.-ft. garage to the Chicago auto show. Inside the display, show-goers will find several Moparized vehicles, shelves of custom Mopar parts and accessories, and Mopar’s new line of standard and commercial-grade custom cabinetry and toolboxes designed to give your garage that Mopar look.

“Customization is king,” said Pietro Gorlier, president and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “At Mopar, we offer more than 500,000 quality-tested parts and accessories throughout the world. In Chicago, we want to give show-goers an idea of how they can personalize and accessorize some of our new vehicles and furnish their garage in full Mopar style.”

To get your customizing juices flowing, a slew of Moparized vehicles will be featured in the garage, including one of each of the following: 2013 SRT Viper, Dodge Dart, Fiat 500, Jeep Wrangler, Ram truck and Chrysler Town & Country.

In addition to these vehicles, parts, accessories and “Moparabilia,” both NHRA 2012 championship trophies won by Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson and Funny Car racer Jack Beckman will be highlighted in the display.

If you are a member of the Mopar fan club, make sure to check out the Mopar garage at the Chicago auto show.

The Chicago Auto Show is held every February at McCormick Place and bills itself as “The Nation’s Largest.” Pickup trucks traditionally have had a big showing in Chicago, as have green and small cars. This year marks the 105th Chicago Auto Show; press days are Feb. 7-8 while public days are Feb. 9-18.

This guy is making Chrysler’s interiors cool again: When the Germans left, Klaus Busse stayed in America.

In any roomful of Detroit auto executives, the man most responsible for the dramatic interior improvements of Chrysler Group’s vehicles stands out dramatically.

Klaus Busse is tall and lanky with giant hands and an outsized smile. His standard attire is a light-gray windbreaker worn over a faded T-shirt and jeans. The 43-year-old’s spiky hair and soul patch–the small square of brown whiskers between his lower lip and pointed chin–are as distinctive to his outsized persona as is his still-strong German accent.

But the attribute that makes Chrysler’s head of interior design really stand out is that he chose to stay in Detroit for a trip through bankruptcy hell so he could help with the automaker’s resurrection.

A designer and top manager for former Chrysler owner Daimler AG, Busse volunteered to come to Chrysler in 2005 with his wife, Anja, and young sons, Paul and Oskar, for a two-year stint under an executive exchange program.

When his countrymen washed their hands of Daimler’s Chrysler experiment in 2007 and sold it to Cerberus Capital Management, Busse chose to stay in Detroit.

“It wasn’t Chrysler that gave up on Mercedes,” says Busse, who started his career in Stuttgart with a pair of Daimler internships. “It was Mercedes that gave up on Chrysler.”

Busse became a proud ex-pat, happier with the outsized contribution he makes here than with the promise of career security in Germany.

“If I had gone back to Mercedes, I could have probably contributed to Mercedes picking up another 2 percent improvement in their interiors, or something like that,” Busse says. “But I felt like I just had put in three years of my life here at Chrysler, and worked on all this new product and I wanted to see it come to market. I wanted to be part of this underdog turnaround.”

Busse says his interior design team’s close-up view of Chrysler’s near-death in 2009 and subsequent revival now inspires them to push every design envelope, taking no component for granted.

“It creates a work environment where you just hunker down,” Busse explained after showing off the luxurious leather interior of the 2013 SRT Viper. “It creates this special team spirit because everyone wants you to fail, and you’re clearly marked as the underdog–maybe worse than the underdog–and you think: ‘You know what? We’re going to show you.'”

Chrysler has ticked off 31 consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains with a lineup that looks little changed from early 2009, at least on paper. For Chrysler and its dealers, the biggest differences between its lineups in 2009 and today come down to two upgrades: improved quality and vastly improved interiors.

The company’s initial warranty claims have dropped by 60 percent since 2007. And Truecar.com analyst Jesse Toprak says upgraded Chrysler Group interiors are driving higher sales.

“If you look at Chrysler’s interiors prior to their latest models, they lagged virtually every automaker, including the other domestics,” Toprak says. But improved designs and upgraded materials “have not only brought more domestic conquests but also some import buyers that used to never give Chrysler a chance.”

Chrysler’s improved quality has many parents: a better trained work force, better supplier relations and a sound financial footing. But the company’s single-minded focus to improve the cabins of its vehicles came primarily from design chief Ralph Gilles and Busse, his chief interior lieutenant, when the two men were working on what would become the highly regarded re-engineer of the 2009 Dodge Ram.

“Ralph wanted to change interiors, and he wanted to change it on the pickup truck,” Busse says. Chrysler had just been stung by a Wall Street Journal review of the 2008 Chrysler Sebring that called the car “a veritable chalice of wretchedness … all cast in plastic worthy of a Chinese water pistol.”

Top executives, including former Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda, endorsed Gilles’ radical plan to have a design team that specialized solely on interiors. Most automakers have multiple design teams, many of which view exteriors as the ultimate creative expression and interiors as leftover work.

Gilles turned to the lanky German–whom he called “one of the best designers in the world”–to lead the effort, even as the old Chrysler grew sicker every day in 2008 and early 2009. Busse kept the interiors job even as Cerberus took Chrysler into bankruptcy in April 2009 and new owner Fiat S.p.A. came onto the scene two months later in June.

Chrysler’s push to dramatically improve its interiors started with the redesigned 2009 Dodge Ram pickup.

Interior art

Busse and his hand-picked team started with the Ram 1500 and moved on to the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango, focusing first on what drivers touch the most.

“We had to beef up the steering wheel to make it bigger and wrap it in fine leather. It’s the one piece that you hold all the time, so that’s where we spend our money,” Busse says, his long fingers wrapping around an imaginary circle in front of his chest. “The instrument cluster’s very important to us, too, because that’s where we show that we’re an American brand. And the materials have really been upgraded–the really fine leathers, the open-grained wood.”

The plastic is still there, Busse says. The difference is that now Chrysler’s designers pour effort into every component, even a small black mat in the Viper’s center stack.

“Plastic is plastic, and it’s the same price if I put in a design or I just make it flat. And you’ll see with the cars that are about to come out, you’ll see the attention to detail even in the plastic,” Busse says.

The Viper’s mat contains a molded image of the Laguna Seca racetrack, a Mecca for Viper owners, which cost Chrysler the same as if the mat was plain.

“One thing is just a flat black piece of plastic; one is a work of art,” Busse says. “That’s the interiors team that I’m happy to be the face of, the team that comes up with ideas and says, ‘You know, we can do better.'”

Look closely: That’s the Laguna Seca track molded into the SRT Viper’s storage bin mat.

Attitude check

The attitude that allows designers to mold a famous raceway into a storage bin or to hide a tiny military vehicle in the tint strip of a Jeep’s windshield comes from the freedom of past failures, Busse explains.

His interiors team “has the confidence to go after things that we wouldn’t have done before,” he says. Their 80-hour workweeks in 2009 and 2010 for Chrysler Group’s freshening of 16 models “was all about materials, and now we’re able to start having more fun with these designs.”

The hardest thing now is maintaining the culture that sprouted as Daimler and Cerberus and even bankruptcy gave way to current corporate parent Fiat S.p.A.

“A lot of my energy, and Ralph’s, too, goes into making sure that the culture that we created in those dark days, that we don’t lose that,” Busse says. “The worst thing that could happen is a person gets cocky and arrogant. It’s our job and my job to make sure no one forgets what we’ve gone through, and stay humble.”