TechAutos » chrysler

San Francisco loses last domestic car dealership

admin — Wed, 11 May 2011 23:07:48 +0000

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Golden Gate City has lost its last domestic car dealer. Since San Francisco Ford Lincoln Mercury closed last week, the city lacks a single Ford/Lincoln, GM/Chevy/Buick/Cadillac, or Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealer in its 47.6 square mile territory. The dealer’s original owner returned its franchise three years ago to Ford, which has been running the shop since. Ford Lincoln Mercury president Mel Turner said that when Ford’s attempts to sell the dealer fell through, the company had to make a “very tough decision” to close its doors in San Francisco.

While Ford is recovering nationally, with a new set of globally-competitive models that are selling well and boast higher quality almost at par with Japanese rivals, San Francisco car buyers don’t seem to have caught on. Mike Hollywood, a sales manager at Ellis Brooks Chevrolet — a seven-story, 195,000 square foot facility that stop selling Chevrolets 2.5 years ago and will soon become a flagship Nissan/Infiniti dealer — said, “People in San Francisco just weren’t buying Cadillac Escalades. You can’t even park them in the parking structures here.”

Meanwhile, dealers of import brands, from Audi to Toyota, Scion, Honda, VW, Mazda, BMW, and Mercedes are doing great business just down the road from the former Ford dealer. Dennis Fitzpatrick, regional VP of the California New Car Dealers Association, said “It’s a tough market. Imports have a much bigger share in San Francisco. ”When you can sell 100 imports a month as opposed to 25 domestic, and what with the rents and real estate, it’s tough to make a U.S. car dealership pencil.”

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

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Charger owner beheads robot in new Dodge ad

admin — Wed, 11 May 2011 23:07:34 +0000

Dodge’s recent ads depict people taking back control of their driving experience from computers, and the latest spot for the Charger follows in the same pattern. The sedan ironically no longer offers a manual transmission, but the ad is simple and works well. A passive owner literally rips the head off of a nanny driver robot and channels a streak of irresponsibility, driving the HEMI-powered gas guzzler through town like a madman. As in all of Dodge’s ads, the spot is narrated by a calm, deep male voice meant to appeal to Dodge’s target audience, which is almost exclusively male.

Ad video after the break.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Super Bowl 2011 Auto Ad Roundup

admin — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 10:36:14 +0000

This year’s Super Bowl had its fair share of entertaining ads. Here’s our roundup of some of the interesting automotive ads:

Spied: 2011 Dodge Charger

admin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 01:52:41 +0000

Earlier today, spy photographers caught an in-testing 2011 Dodge Charger R/T whose cover blew off. While we had seen photos of the car’s interior earlier, these are the first clear shots of the Charger’s exterior.

The 2011 model is an evolutionary step over the current sedan, with a larger, forward-canted grille and more aggressively chiseled hood coming together for an even angrier look than the first-generation Charger. The new bumper has revised fog lights and a larger air intake to match the grille.

The 2011 Charger is based on Chrysler’s LY platform (shared with the Chrysler 300C and Dodge Challenger) and is essentially a major refresh of the current model, rather than an all-new car. Interestingly, while Chrysler spun Dodge’s truck lineup into a separate Ram brand, the new sedan still sports the horned ram logo, suggesting Dodge might stick with the old badge for the moment (or might switch the badge later).

Photos: Autoblog/KGP

Full gallery after the break.

Spied: 2011 Dodge Charger Interior

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:27:57 +0000

Spy photographers caught the next-generation Dodge Charger during a testing run earlier today. The car’s interior was photographed for the first time, showing a moderately improved design. The 2011 model sedan, based on Chrysler’s LY platform (shared with the Chrysler 300C and Dodge Challenger), is essentially a major refresh of the current model, rather than an all-new car. As a result, designers couldn’t completely revamp the interior, but it does have smoother lines and new, even if questionable, accents (such as a large, silver slab of plastic across the driver’s side).

The car photographed seems to be a top-spec model, with a large in-dash navigation screen and two-tone color scheme (cream-colored leather seats and matching door panels). Whether Chrysler is finally using soft-touch materials instead of hard plastic remains to be seen.

More photos of the new Charger after the break:

TechAutos » chrysler

San Francisco loses last domestic car dealership

Charger owner beheads robot in new Dodge ad

Super Bowl 2011 Auto Ad Roundup

Kia Optima – “One Epic Ride”

Volkswagen Passat – “The Force”

Chrysler 200 – “Imported from Detroit”

Chevy Camaro – “Miss Evelyn”

Hyundai Sonata Hybrid – “Anachronistic City”

Suzuki Kizashi – “Kizashi vs. Wicked Weather”

BMW Advanced Diesel – “Change”

Mercedes-Benz 125 Years – “Welcome”

Cars.com – “The Reviews Are In”

Cars.com – “Go First”

Spied: 2011 Dodge Charger

Spied: 2011 Dodge Charger Interior