The new packages include the Dart SXT and Limited model Special Edition packages and a new Ralley Appearance Group. The SXT Special Edition package features a black grille, dark tinted projector headlamps, LED racetrack tail lamps, and an integrated dual exhaust. The package also features front passenger seat and seat storage and add only $595 to the price of the vehicle.

Dodge also offers the Ralley Appearance Group that brings a dark front fascia, Ralley badge, and 17-inch hyper black aluminum wheels for an additional $395. The available Limited Special Edition package brings a power sunroof, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, dual zone automatic temperature control, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, LED racetrack tail lamps, premium Napa leather seats, and Garmin navigation for $1810.

That Limited Special Edition package adds significant features of luxury for the price. The Dart is a very important vehicle for Dodge. The company says that the vehicle attracts the youngest demographic in the compact car segment with 60% of buyers new to the Chrysler group. Dodge also says that the vehicle is important for building its brand awareness and is coming off of five consecutive month over month sales records.

The 2013 Dart has a base price of $18,590 plus an $895 destination charge. The SXT Special Edition uses a 2.0-liter 160 hp Tigershark four-cylinder engine. The Limited starts at $19,995 and features the 8.4-inch touchscreen on the dash along with the seven-inch full-color TFT LED reconfigurable instrument cluster.

SOURCE: Dodge

The 2014 Durango features an 8-speed auto transmission that Dodge boasts as offering up to 9-percent better fuel efficiency over previous offerings. This accompanies the Pentastar V6 (6200 towing capacity) or HEMI V8 (7400 towing capacity), depending on model, with the towing capacity being hailed as up to 65-percent higher than its competitors. The Pentastar and HEMI models each come with their own AWD feature.

In addition, this latest edition to the SUV line offers LED tail lights that house 192 LEDs, LED-equipped projector headlights, a new front fascia crosshair grille, leather/heated seats and a heated steering wheel, and 20-inch Hyper Black wheels. As far as connectivity goes, drivers can choose between a 5-inch and 8.4-inch touchscreen with Uconnect Access and 3D navigation. The vehicle is Wi-Fi capable, and offers both Bluetooth and USB ports.

Dodge’s President and CEO Reid Bigland said: “When the Durango was first launched in 1998, it represented a breakthrough in power, size and style. Now for 2014, we’re upping the ante by making it our most technologically advanced, fuel efficient and dramatically styled Durango ever. With countless class-exclusive features and best-in-class attributes, the new 2014 Durango represents the ultimate no-compromise full-size SUV.”

Production is slated for Q3 of this year.

[via Chrysler]

The special 392 Appearance Package will be limited edition with Dodge and SRT producing only 392 vehicles featuring the special styling. Dodge and SRT are also limiting the 392 package to availability on five exterior body colors of the vehicle. Dodge designed the 392 package as a modern interpretation of classic muscle car styling.

The appearance package has custom-designed gloss black 392 HEMI fender badges with a charcoal gray metallic insert. The center section of the car’s power bulge hood is painted Pitch Black as is the roof. The car also gets a satin black SRT lower-body side stripe and side mirrors painted in the same Pitch Black color.

The appearance package also adds 20-inch split five-spoke Black Vapor Chrome wheels and the rear spoiler is painted in the Pitch Black color. The five exterior paint colors that can be optioned with the new appearance package include Bright White Clear Coat, Billet Silver Metallic Clear Coat, Plum Crazy Pearl Coat, HEMI Orange Pearl Coat and TorRed Clear Coat. Under the hood, the power output of the 6.4-liter V8 engine stays at 470 hp and 470 pound-foot of torque.

The engine bay does get engine beauty covers that say 392. Inside the vehicle, the car is fitted with a serialized dash plaque showing the production build number out of the 392 available versions. The options package is $2495 and ordering of the package starts in April.

[via SRT]

Of the 4,459 cars being recalled overall for the issue, approximately 2,500 have been bought and delivered to drivers. The rest are still with dealers, Chrysler says, which should make addressing the wiring problems more straightforward.

However, those who do have an affected Challenger could find the recall puts a temporary freeze on their muscle-car fun. Chrysler has warned owners that not only should they not drive the 2013 V6 model until the wiring harness has been replaced, they should even park it outside and away from other buildings and cars, just in case it catches fire before the fix is applied.

Owners will get a free loaner while they wait, and the car company is speeding the recall process by trying to contact all of those affected by phone rather than waiting for them to check their mail.

Chrysler wouldn’t confirm to USA Today which particular component in the wire harness is at fault, describing it only as “a single batch of misconfigured electrical components” that resisted engineers’ attempts to address the flaw. It’s unclear how much the recall will cost Chrysler, and indeed how long the fix will take to apply.

YouTube users voted on their favorite Super Bowl advertisement for the past two weeks, and it’s not too surprising that Dodge won the crown. Their ad was a bold step towards originality, using strictly photos and a voice-over from the late Paul Harvey, who was a famous radio broadcaster for over a half-century. While the ad may not have been comical or fast-paced, it tugged at the heart strings for many viewers.

Rounding out the top five Super Bowl ads on YouTube include Budweiser’s “Clydesdales” ad, Samsung’s “The Next Best Thing” featuring Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen, Jeep’s “Whole Again” ad, and Hyundai’s “Team” ad. All five of these adds have a combined 62.7 million views as of this writing, with the most being Samsung’s ad with 21.3 million views.

In total, these five ads made up more than 30% of all total views of Super Bowl ads and teasers on YouTube. Plus, the Ad Blitz channel itself had over 46 million interactions. To celebrate the end of Ad Blitz, YouTube is hosting a Google+ Hangout later today at 3 pm ET where they will chat with the “creative heavyweights behind these winning ads, along with ADWEEK editors James Cooper and Tim Nudd.”

Ram has announced that it will be building the industry’s only light-duty diesel-powered pickup. Diesel engines in trucks in the United States are limited to heavy duty vehicles designed for towing and other needs. The 2014 Ram 1500 will have an optional 3.0-liter EcoDiesel engine mated to an eight-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission.

RAM promises that the engine will offer best in class fuel efficiency, best in class torque, and impressive overall capability. The V-6 engine is a turbodiesel and promises to produce 60% less emissions than was produced by diesel-powered trains of 25 years ago. The engine will be manufactured by VM Motori, the company who has provided the Chrysler Group with diesel engines since 1992.

The available EcoDiesel engine marks the first time that an American truck manufacturer has offered diesel power in a light-duty half-ton pickup. Ram didn’t offer horsepower or torque specifications for the new engine at this time. You can bet it will have a huge amount of torque and an impressive towing capacity, hallmarks of a power in the truck market.

[via Ram Trucks]

This will be a very limited edition vehicle with only 500 numbered units to be constructed at the assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois. Chrysler has promised more details the vehicle will go live today, but those details are missing as yet. What we do know is that the Mopar Dart will be customized with a number of Mopar performance parts and accessories.

In the teaser photo here, the car actually looks very good, I would totally drive that and that is the first time I can say that about a Dodge Dart. Dodge says that the Mopar Dart is designed for the driving enthusiast. The 500 vehicles will be powered by a 1.4-liter Multiair intercooled turbocharged engine with a manual transmission. The cars will all be offered in black with car length Mopar Blue stripes.

The vehicles get improved handling thanks to a performance steering gear calibration, suspension that is 7 mm lower than normal, and 225/40-R18 tires. The cars will also get a premium brake kit with slotted rotors, a performance tuned exhaust, and a Mopar ground effects kit. Inside the car will be custom Mopar Blue leather seating with black accents and a serialized badge on the dash. The car also gets wireless smartphone charging and an 8.4-inch navigation screen among other details. Pricing on these limited edition vehicles is unknown.

[via Dodge]

The package includes lost black wheels, gloss black painted split-crosshair grill with gloss black matching grill surrounds, darkened head light bezels, and some unique Blacktop interior touches. Dodge says that the special packages have been very popular on the Challenger, Charger, and Avenger. The Blacktop package proved so successful that Dodge has decided to roll the package out to its line of three 7-passenger people hauling vehicles.

For the 2013 calendar year, the Blacktop package will be available on the Dodge Grand Caravan minivan, Durango SUV, and Journey crossover SUV. Dodge says that the Durango Blacktop edition will arrive at dealers in Q1 of 2013. The Journey and Grand Caravan Blacktop editions will arrive in dealer showrooms in Q2 of 2013.

The Blacktop package will be available on the Grand Caravan and adds 17-inch polished aluminum wheels with gloss black pockets. The interior the vehicle will be all black and the special package will cost $595. The Durango Blacktop will be available on the Rallye and the R/T models adding the black grille and gloss black 20-inch aluminum wheels for $295. The interior can also be upgraded with some special touches for an additional $595. The Journey Blacktop version will be available on both 4-cylinder and V-6 versions and adds special 19-inch black wheels, the black grille, and other styling upgrades for $995.

The engine under the hood of the customized car is a new Mopar 426 crate engine producing 550 hp and 490 pound-foot of torque. The car was customized with help from the crew at Palmer’s Customs of Camarillo, California. The car also features a Mopar T/A good with a functional air scoop to feed more air to the massive engine underneath.

The Mopar 426 crate engine was custom tune by Arrington Engines. The company has Mopar-authorized tools and software to create performance calibrations for select 2011 through 2013 Chrysler vehicles. On the outside of the car, the custom Challenger is lowered by 1 inch and rides on 22-inch HRE performance wheels.

The rear of the car was widened by 4 inches allowing for dramatic wheel arches and larger rubber. The car also has numerous custom parts including a new rear diffuser, dive-planes, a new front splitter, new rocker panels, new lower-rear spoilers, a new deck lid spoiler, and custom aluminum side sills with side exhaust. The inside of the car is also customize with full-grain Napa leather and color keyed panels.

The vehicle features an active transfer case, and front axle disconnect system that automatically enables all-wheel drive during slick conditions. At the same time, the special transfer case and axle disconnect system maintains the performance and handling characteristics of a rear-wheel drive architecture. What that means is the car uses all-wheel drive only when slick and otherwise operates as a standard rear-wheel drive vehicle.

The sophisticated all-wheel drive system is optional on the Charger Pursuit, but is available for police departments to choose along with the 5.7 L Hemi V-8 engine. Dodge says that police fleet customers will be able to order the Dodge Charger Pursuit with all-wheel drive for the 2014 model year. Criminals trying to evade police might want to give up when the Dodge Charger Pursuit steps into the fray.

According to Dodge, the vehicle delivered the fastest lap ever recorded at the Michigan State Police Vehicle Evaluation Test for the 2012 model year with the time of 1:33.70 at Grattan Raceway in Michigan. The vehicle’s 5.7-liter V8 engine produces 370 HP and 390 pound-foot of torque. It also promises 25 highway mpg with a four-cylinder mode.

That means that the recently unveiled Dodge Charger racecar won’t be in the NASCAR field next year. The last NASCAR racing team driving a Dodge product is Penske Racing. Penske announced back in February that at the end of 2012 season it would end its partnership with Dodge. That partnership saw the Penske team driving Dodge race cars since 2003.

Dodge says that it has been an “intense five months” working to identify and evaluate options in the NASCAR series. I would assume that means Dodge attempted to find teams willing to leave their current automotive brand and move to Dodge products. This isn’t the first time Dodge has left the NASCAR racing series.

Dodge left NASCAR previously in 1977 and didn’t return until 2001. The automaker has won 55 races since returning in 2001 and 215 in NASCAR overall. Penske Racing has announced that it will be driving a Ford in the 2013 NASCAR season.

Meanwhile, companion promotions with Transworld and .Free Clothing Co., encouraging people “to create Dart-inspired works of art, songs, clothing and skateboard decks” under the tagline “Inspired by You”, will also run between now and the end of August. Dodge is hoping to engage with more than 25m of the “technicallyminded, creative individuals not necessarily reached through traditional media.”

It’s not the first we’ve seen of Dodge ticking more than the average number of boxes in an attempt to make the Dart’s appeal stick. The company has been lavish with its spec sheet, too, throwing a pair of sizable displays at the dashboard – an 8.4-inch Uconnect central touchscreen, and a 7-inch customizable instrument cluster – and releasing a smartphone app that can remotely start up the car. It will also feature wireless charging.

The splashy campaign is part of Chrysler’s attempt to spend itself our of financial ruin, a strategy which seems to be working reasonably well so far. The Dart is showing up in dealerships now, priced from $15,995.

The truck gets new engines and a new transmission, perhaps the best news is that the base 3.7 L V6 has been killed. The new base engine is a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and while its displacement is a little smaller than the outgoing engine, it rocks 42% more power and 13% more torque. Dodge also says the engine is 20% more fuel-efficient.

Many truck buyers don’t care how much power a V6 makes; it’s a V8 or nothing. The 1500 still gets its hemi V-8 displacing 5.7 L with 395 HP and 407 pound-feet of torque. The truck will also have an available 4.7 L V-8. The transmission gets twice as many speeds for 2013 as it had 2012 with a new eight-speed automatic. The transmission is notable because it no longer has a floor or column gear selector ditching both in favor of a knob on the dash to select gears. The new truck also gets an airbag suspension system from the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

[via Jalopnik]

This announcement comes amid an event in Detroit today in which Reid Bigland, also the president and CEO of Dodge Brand, spoke at a Hard Rock Cafe to press and affiliates about the new vehicle with what they’re calling “class-leading technology.” This vehicle will have a starting price of $15,995 and will be touting its gas efficiency at the forefront as it consumers seek out smaller cars to compete with the ever-present rising cost of gasoline. This vehicle is set to be a big seller, says Dodge, as Bigland expects they’ll be at 10,000 to 12,000 Darts produced per month by late summer.

SRT Motorsports also took part in this event as they helped announce that the Dart is going to be entered into the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship Series to show off its full power. This race vehicle will be driven by sports racing star Travis Pastrana and will be participating in this race which is in its second year, the first taking place at the X Games in Los Angeles in 2010. This race combines circuit racing, off-road racing, and rally competition into one event, and Pastrana, a renaissance racing man himself, will be pushing the Dart to the limit!

via Freep]

First off, is the Mopar 2012 300 that takes the Chrysler 300 sedan and makes it over into a performance sedan to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Mopar. Under the hood of the car, the 363hp 5.7L hemi V-8 engine has fuel saver technology that turns off four of the cylinders when not needed. The car also has a different rear differential with a 3.91 gear ratio for better acceleration that allows the car hit 60 mph in the low 5-second range. The car also has improved suspension, stickier tires, and special performance brakes. Other features include special wheels and a special interior with Mopar blue stitching. At the show, Dodge has its Dart GTS 210 tribute car on display as well.

The car wears a stage 1 appearance package that adds matte black trim pieces such as a lower chin spoiler, side sills, rear spoiler, and rear diffuser panel. The car also has a carbon fiber hood, and special 18-inch wheels. Inside, the car gets a special leather interior and special trim pieces. The car also has a stage II performance package with a special engine calibration and a better flowing intake along with the low backpressure exhaust system allowing for increased horsepower to 210hp compared to 184hp of the stock car. The Fiat 500 Stinger has special body parts to make the car look more athletic and sporty along with a special leather interior. The car also gets more power via a special Mopar intake and has special track ready brakes.

The final vehicle is the 2012 Mopar Jeep Compass dubbed the True North edition. The Jeep has matte black parts including the wheels, roof, wheel flares, lower fascia, door cladding, and grill. They grill also has body color inserts. The Jeep also gets a 16 inch set of alloy wheels with special all-terrain tires and a 2-inch body lift for sporty off-road look. Mopar also equips vehicle any Kicker audio system.