Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Qualcomm Sics Fire-Breathing Snapdragon on Android Hackers
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Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is still pushing for what he sees as an inevitable merger with General Motors, despite months of rejected meetings and ignored phone calls.
-The man in the black sweater hit hard in a recent must-read interview with Automotive News, claiming that combining with the world’s second-largest automaker could generate $30 billion a year in revenue, or roughly $5 billion more than what both companies earn separately. Marchionne first proposed the idea in March through a direct e-mail to GM CEO Mary Barra. The GM executive said any meeting would be a “distraction” and that GM has been “merging with ourselves.”
-“You may reject the deal but you can’t reject the discussion,” Marchionne said. “If you’re refusing to talk to me, and you have seen nothing, you either think you’re above it all, or you think the capital markets are full of schmucks that owe you something.” Marchionne said that while he has “obviously made some arbitrary assumptions about which architectures survive, which engines survive,” he has looked at every plant and car and has a lot of graphs proving his point.
-“Look, the combined entity can make $30 billion a year in cash. Thirty. Just think about that [expletive] number,” he said.
-GM has not publicly commented about the potential deal since Barra publicly commented on Marchionne’s overtures in May. Former GM chairman Bob Lutz has gone on record as the resident devil’s advocate within the industry, and he fully supports the merger. “I was always in favor of GM acquiring Chrysler, and I honestly think it would deserve a serious look now. You would get synergies . . . which would be massive,” he said. Lutz was at GM when it considered buying out Chrysler in 2008.
-Marchionne has been hunting for a “partner” particularly to bolster Fiat, which itself merged with Chrysler shortly after the Detroit automaker filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Marchionne was the mastermind in that deal, grabbing company stock for next to nothing, shedding dealers, paying back Chrysler’s government loans, and infusing cash into Auburn Hills. But instead of propping up both companies, the resultant Fiat-Chrysler is lopsided. Chrysler and its American brands are soaring while Fiat and its Italian brands (save for Ferrari) slump overseas.
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- Why GM’s Mary Barra Swiped Left on Sergio Marchionne’s Merger Proposal
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- Why Investors Aren’t Excited About Fiat-Chrysler’s NYSE Listing
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- The Quotable Bob Lutz Weighs In on Marchionne’s Merger Dreams
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Fiat-Chrysler’s NYSE listing last fall failed to attract significant investment, and Marchionne—since announcing an aggressive five-year plan to boost sales 60 percent—is under pressure to grow while facing high pension costs in the U.S., fighting slim market share in Europe, and playing catch-up in China. The Ferrari IPO, expected to net several billion sometime this quarter, will help. But in Marchionne’s eyes, it’s not enough. “I tell you that you can make X billion more by being together, I guarantee you that I can carry half the market,” he said.
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For years, Jeep has had difficulty building enough Wranglers to satisfy demand, but that hasn’t kept the brand’s marketing and product planning troops from dreaming up new packages to enhance profitability and keep metal moving off the showroom floors. The latest is the Black Bear Edition, new for 2016, and due to become available this fall.
-The really hard-core Wranglers are named for California’s Rubicon Trail. But in an apparent quest to expand Jeep awareness to other tricky treks, this package is named for the short but treacherous Black Bear Pass trail, which culminates at Telluride, Colorado. Although it’s not specifically listed on Jeep’s list of top 10 off-road destinations, the starting point is near Ouray, Colorado, number six on the list, an area that includes a number of opportunities to test skills and skidplates.
-The Black Bear Pass route, from Red Mountain Pass to Telluride, is less than 10 miles, but its high altitudes (from 11,018 to 12,840), extremely narrow stretches, and a series of precipitous switchbacks descending to Telluride make it a hold-your-breath proposition. Fall off the road here and you’re likely to come down in Denver. Jeep literature refers to the trail as “notorious.”
-So how does the Black Bear Edition hone a Wrangler Sport for an assault on the Black Bear Pass Trail? Well, there’s a topographical map of the trail reproduced as a hood decal, though it would be tricky to employ as a reference tool on narrow trails bordered by several hundred feet of drops.
-More practical package elements include rock rails—reinforced rocker panels to resist damage from boulders—and a set of Kevlar-reinforced Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor tires on black-finish 17-inch wheels. Beyond that, though, the Black Bear package is conceived to make you look good as you’re threading your way through the switchbacks.
-The interior is distinguished by black cloth seats; a leather-wrapped steering wheel with gray stitching; all-weather floor mats; and grab handles, instrument bezels, vent rings, and door handles in iron gray. Air conditioning and a power convenience group are standard, as is a connectivity group—important for keeping tabs on stock reports when you’re inching along at 12,000 feet.
-In addition to the black wheels and map decal, exterior elements include a black grille, a gray bumper appliqué, black taillamp guards, and your choice of a premium Sunrider soft top or a body-color hard top. The package is available for both two- and four-door Wranglers.
-Speaking of colors, the Wrangler’s 2016 palette includes two new ones, Hypergreen and Mojave Rhino Sand. The latter may have been inspired by the reported sighting of a rhinoceros in California’s Mojave Desert, a report that is thought to have come in late one night not long after the bars closed in the town of Boron.
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- Sergio Sez: Next Wrangler to Feature Hybrid Construction of Aluminum and Steel
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- Jeep May Actually Build Wrangler-Based Pickup
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- Jeep Wrangler Research: Tests, Reviews, Specs, and More
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If the Black Bear package—pricing to be determined—seems more about appearance than function, do not be deceived: As delivered, the standard Wrangler Sport is more than capable of tackling any of Jeep’s top 10 off-road adventures or any other wilderness expedition that affords a satisfactory element of peril. But it’s the rare buyer who resists adding personalizing elements to his or her Wrangler, and Jeep’s accessory development troops just want to keep expanding the choices.
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To hear Chrysler tell it, the automaker’s 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 essentially will be a new engine when it makes its debut in the 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee, its first application in the FCA lineup.
-Basic dimensional elements—bore, stroke, bore-center spacing—carry over, but the engineering team claims greater efficiency, improved torque characteristics, a small horsepower uptick, and better NVH performance.
-New components include cylinder heads with an 11.3:1 compression ratio (up from 10.2:1), eight-hole ignition coils, platinum-tipped spark plugs, new valve springs, low-tension piston rings, lightened crankshaft and crank pins, extensive friction reduction, and cooling of exhaust-gas recirculation.
-However, the biggest single efficiency improvement, according to FCA engineers, is a revision to the engine’s variable valve timing, giving intake-side valves a two-stage lift strategy—low lift for routine power demands, high lift when the driver calls for more urgency.
-Operating range of the variable-valve-timing system has been increased from 50 to 70 degrees to mitigate detonation during hot starts, improving operation of the automatic engine stop-start (ESS) function. Carried forward from the current V-6, the ESS system has been enhanced with a new high-speed starter motor on order to reduce cranking time and deliver quicker, smoother starts.
-Conspicuous by its absence from the engine’s catalog of revisions is direct fuel injection. FCA chose to continue with an upgraded port-injection system, citing added cost and weight as tradeoffs that go with direct injection. (According to FCA, the new engine will weigh 326 pounds in the Grand Cherokee, four pounds less than the current V-6.) The engineers also looked at, and ultimately passed on, Fiat’s Multi-Air induction system, for reasons of cost and U.S. market suitability. While it would be nice to see DI (or even Multi-Air), this strategy gives FCA something in its pocket for future development of the engine.
-While FCA isn’t ready to deliver all the engine’s performance specifics, it did reveal that output in the Grand Cherokee advances from 290 to 295 horsepower. Torque is said to improve by “more than 14.9 percent” between 1000 and 3000 rpm. (Which would be . . . what? 14.91? 14.98? You’re getting ridiculously specific here, Chrysler.) Note that there was no mention of the maximum torque figure changing—it stood at 260 lb-ft in 2015—but the low-range boost will be welcome given that torque peaked at a rather lofty 4800 rpm. FCA also anticipates a fuel-economy boost of “more than six percent.” (So, 6.1?) That would translate to roughly 18 mpg city and just over 25 mpg highway.
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- Jeep Grand Cherokee V-6 Tested: Six Pistons, Eight Gears
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- The Unboring Minivan? 2017 Chrysler Town & Country Comes Into Clearer Focus
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- Jeep Grand Cherokee Reviews, News, Pricing, and More
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The revised 3.6-liter V-6 will be under the hood of the six-cylinder 2016 Grand Cherokee when it rolls into showrooms this fall. FCA is still mum on when it will spread to the rest of the lineup, but the 3.6-liter Pentastar currently appears in the Dodge Challenger, Charger, Grand Caravan, Journey, and Durango; the Chrysler 200, 300, and Town & Country; the Jeep Wrangler; and the Ram ProMaster, Ram Cargo Van, and Ram 1500 pickup.
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After a long, multi-year (and multi-concept-car) gestation, Infiniti’s all-new compact Q30 hatchback has finally been revealed. Scheduled to fully debut at the 2015 Frankfurt auto show this fall—so far Infiniti has only released the photo above—the Q30 marks Infiniti’s first foray into the “premium-compact-car” field since the G20. Don’t remember the G20? It vaguely resembled a Tehran taxi, but was somehow even less interesting to look at. Hence why you don’t remember it. The Q30, on the other hand, is quite a different creation.
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For starters, whereas the G20 was based on a humble Nissan, the Q30 is a rather successfully re-skinned Mercedes-Benz A-class/GLA-class, using the same front-drive architecture, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic as those cars. (The Benz pieces come by way of a technology-sharing agreement between Daimler and Nissan-Renault.) As promised by company representatives, the final Q30’s bold styling is carried over from the Q30 concept with nearly zero changes. The only standout difference between the two is the production car’s realistically proportioned tire-and-wheel package.
-This being the Q30, not the QX30 pseudo-crossover that will debut slightly later this year, the rocker panels, fascias, and wheels and tires are decidedly street-oriented pieces. The QX30 will add body cladding, unique front and rear styling, a taller ride height, and all-wheel drive to do battle with the Audi Q3, BMW X1, Lexus NX, and Mercedes-Benz GLA-class. We’re told to expect the Q30 and QX30 to feel and drive completely differently from their platform-mates, the Mercedes-Benz CLA250 and the GLA250; Infiniti even went to the effort of making its own infotainment system work with the Benz’s electrical architecture in the hopes of differentiating the cars as much as possible. The only whiffs of Mercedes in the Q30’s interior are the steering-wheel and door-panel switchgear; otherwise, the infotainment control knob is of Infiniti’s own design, as is pretty much everything on the center stack and in the gauge cluster.
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- 2015 Infiniti Q70L 5.6 AWD Tested: From China, With Legroom
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- 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA250 4MATIC Tested: Stuttgart’s Mini-Ute
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- Infiniti Q50 Research: Full Pricing, Specs, Reviews, and More
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Unfortunately, final Q30 details—beyond a couple photos—will have to wait until closer to the car’s big reveal in Frankfurt this September. The wait for the Q30’s arrival in dealerships will be slightly longer, as the baby Infiniti won’t go on sale until midway through next year as a 2017 model.
-This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 10:00 a.m., and has since been updated to include discussion and an image of the Q30’s interior.
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