Engine Harmonic Balancer Dorman 594-115 on 2040-parts.com

Chrysler in crisis

By Liz Turner, in the US Motor Industry 02 March 2007 04:28 The trouble with Chrysler: the background In 1996 when Chrysler opened its $1.1bn headquarters in Auburn Hills, 30 miles north of Detroit, executives joked that if things didn’t work out, they could always sell it as a shopping mall. Following DaimlerChrysler’s annual press conference on 14 February, local realtors are, no doubt, sneaking in to take measurements. Chrysler Group announced a staggering operating loss of $1.5 billion for 2006, and in the subsequent question time, DaimlerChrysler’s CEO Dieter Zetsche said the company ‘will examine far-reaching strategic options with partners’.

Lexus IS 300h promises unrivalled ownership costs

The new Lexus IS - launched at Detroit in January and costing from £26,495 for the IS 250 in the UK – actually offers ownership costs that eclipse diesel offerings from the likes of Jaguar, BMW, Audi and Mercedes, say Lexus. Despite the logical assumption that the complex hybrid powerplant in the IS 300h would cost more to maintain, Lexus say the opposite is true. Because it has no clutch and the starter motor and alternator are integrated they require no servicing or replacement and Lexus has fitted a timing chain instead of a timing belt, so it won’t need regular replacement either.

College Exhibition: IAAD - 'Italian Sportivity: The New Generation'

Demonstrating the development of new concepts for Alfa Romeo and Ducati, the Automobile Museum of Turin, Italy, has been hosting an exhibition entitled 'Italian Sportivity: The New Generation'. The work was produced by Transport Design students from Turin's Institute of Applied Arts and Design (IAAD). Working with designers from both companies, IAAD students were given a pair of options to chose from: two wheels or four; Ducati or Alfa Romeo.