Long Term: 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI: December 2011

Filed under: Sedan , Volkswagen , Diesel , Long-Term Garage After spending the first half of December up in the San Fernando Vallery with Drew Phillips, our long-term Jetta TDI made its way back into my care for a holiday road trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Old Blue saw some great American icons on the trip, such as Alcatraz, Muir Woods, Sonoma Valley and the Golden Gate Bridge. Come to think of it, the Jetta and I have seen a lot of the country’s splendor together. After all, my last run with the Volkswagen involved driving it 2,000 miles from Detroit to LA .

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Long Term: 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI: December 2011

Why the 2013 Dodge Dart won’t really get 40 mpg combined

Filed under: Budget , Sedan , Dodge Chrysler dropped a bombshell today, insinuating that its forthcoming 2013 Dodge Dart will have a combined fuel economy of 40 miles per gallon. Some media outlets have regurgitated this number without question. But it just isn’t true, as that 40-mpg fuel economy number is unadjusted and will most certainly be lower once it gets printed on window stickers.

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Why the 2013 Dodge Dart won’t really get 40 mpg combined

Official: Fiat increases Chrysler stake to 58.5%

Filed under: Government/Legal , Chrysler , Earnings/Financials , UAW/Unions How important is the forthcoming 2013 Dodge Dart to the future of Chrysler ? Well, it allowed Fiat to boost its stake in Chrysler for the fifth time in the past year today, adding five percent to bring Fiat’s total ownership to 58.5 percent. That’s because the new Dodge sedan scored a combined 40 miles per gallon in CAFE fuel economy testing, triggering the increase in ownership under the operating agreement reached following the Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings. (Note that the 40 mpg number is unadjusted, meaning that the actual EPA combined fuel economy, the one published on the window sticker, will be lower.) Chrysler sent the United States Treasury a letter stating that it was “irrevocably committed to begin assembly” of the Dart at its Belvidere plant in Illinois .

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Official: Fiat increases Chrysler stake to 58.5%

2013 Dodge Dart will have 9-speed automatic trans enabling 40 mpg

In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has revealed the all-new Dodge Dart compact sedan will achieve 40 mpg (48 mpg-UK; 5.8L/100km) thanks to a new 9-speed automatic transmission.

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2013 Dodge Dart will have 9-speed automatic trans enabling 40 mpg

2012 Toyota Yaris

2012 Toyota Yaris The Yaris used to have little to recommend it beyond the fact that it was the most affordable way to own a new Toyota. The Yaris used to have little to recommend it beyond the fact that it was the most affordable way to own a new Toyota. This year it gets a shot in the arm that, at the very least, makes it worthy of consideration on other points.

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2012 Toyota Yaris

Report: Marchionne: 2013 Dodge Dart will have optional 9-speed auto, hit 40 mpg

Filed under: Hatchback , Chrysler , Dodge Dodge might have teased us with a few images and some initial powertrain details on the 2013 Dart , but Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has provided even more in an interview with Reuters . According to Marchionne, the Dart is one piece of a larger puzzle for Chrysler in 2013, and the all-new Dart – based off a widened and stretched Alfa Romeo Giulietta – will hit 40 mpg thanks to a host of new engines and transmissions. As previously reported , the turbocharged 1.4-liter MultiAir fitted to the Fiat 500 Abarth will grace the top of the Dart range, but Dodge also plans to fit modified versions of the 2.0 and 2.4-liter World Gas Engine, comically rebranded as the Tigershark. When the Dart debuts, a Fiat-sourced six-speed dual-clutch transmission will feed the front wheels, but later in 2013 Dodge will reportedly offer a nine-speed automatic gearbox supplied by the ZF Group and manufactured in South Carolina.

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Report: Marchionne: 2013 Dodge Dart will have optional 9-speed auto, hit 40 mpg