Fiat reported that its sales forecast for 2012 have fallen a staggering 500,000 units, adjusting the initial forecast from 2.7 million to a more modest target of 2.2 million units. Its Chrysler arm is forecasted to sell 2.4 million units next year.

The Big three do some things really, really well: like building pickup trucks that turn construction guys giddy. While each company has had their fair share of foibles over the past decade they’ve managed to stay more-or-less true to themselves.

Higher than anticipated demand for the JK-8 Independence  conversion kit, designed to turn a Jeep Wrangler into a pickup truck, led Mopar division president Pietro Gorlier joking that,” Santa Claus is coming early.”

Ward’s Auto released their 10 Best Engines List for 2012 today, and no surprise here but direct-injection and turbocharging – the two big trends for today’s automotive era – are heavily represented.

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat– Chrysler, is looking forward to 2013 for being a big year for the Italian-American brand. Marchionne is looking ahead to a collection of new Chrysler products, the reintroduction of Alfa Romeo back to America and have a chance to fully combine Fiat and Chrysler into one company.

While the revival of the Fiat brand in North America and the acquisition of Chrysler suggested financial strength within the automaker, it seems no company is immune to the current global economic downturn.

Dodge revealed teaser shots of their Dart compact car, designed to replace the wretched Caliber crossover, and so far it looks to be the first hit of Alfa Romeo-inspired product for North America.

After announcing that the new Dodge compact won’t be called a Hornet, speculation began on what it will be named when it’s released. Even though it’s set to unveil at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show in January, Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne still isn’t hinting at what the new Dodge compact will be called, nor has he said what the 2013 replacement for the outgoing Jeep Liberty will be.

Sergio Marchionne revealed Maserati‘s big plan to introduce three new products in quick succession during a recent interview at the CBI business conference held in London.

While automakers and outside research firms publish sales figures and earnings reports on a regular basis, one metric we rarely get a glimpse of is how profitable each vehicle is. In an era of re-badging and platform sharing, one would think that the most profitable vehicles are those with a large number of derivatives to spread the cost around. But a new report from Bernstein Research suggests that two factors – price point and volume – are the keys to making big bucks off vehicles. And judging by the list, longevity seems to help as well.

Having successfully worked with the United Auto Works union in developing a new contract in the US, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is now turing his attention north of the border, as the automaker gets ready to begin negotiations with UAW’s Canadian counterpart, the CAW.

Sergio Marchionne, head of Fiat, told reports that he expects combined sales of Fiat and Chrysler vehicles to hit 6 million units by 2014. Marchionne’s remarks come even in the face of declining auto sales in Europe, as well as an overall shaky economic climate.

Even as General Motors readies their new Chevrolet Colorado mid-size pickup, Ford and Chrysler are hedging their bets that consumers won’t return to the floundering small truck market, and continue to opt for full-size pickups instead.

Canadians should get ready to kiss the Chrysler Town and Country goodbye, as Chrysler seeks to trim its minivan lineup down to a single nameplate – but the opposite will be occurring in the United States, with the Dodge Caravan getting the axe, as the Caravan will now become the exclusive minivan sold by Chrysler LLC in the Great White North.

Fiat could blame American consumer sentiment. They could also blame J.Lo’s advertising debacle. Or perhaps, the fault lies with the car. Whatever the case may be, sales numbers for the 2012 Fiat 500 are disappointing.

Chrysler is getting some Italian style thanks to former Ferrari designer Lorenzo Ramaciotti, 63, who will now be lending a hand at Chrysler and Lancia.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles slapped Chrysler this month to the tune of $955,000 in fines.

Despite concerns within Jeep, Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed yesterday that the Wrangler will continue to be manufactured in Toledo, Ohio exclusively.

The future of the Jeep Liberty will be revealed Wednesday when Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne  will visit the Toledo, Ohio plant that currently builds the truck.

Charles Preston, bought himself a used Chrysler Town & Country minivan from Thrifty, a rental car office, for $14,000.  But then, when Charles brought the Chrysler to the garage to get its brakes checked out, the mechanic took a look at the window mechanism as well to figure out why it failed to roll down.

Slow sales by Fiat are causing layoffs for workers in  Chrysler‘s Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance Plant in Dundee, Mich., responsible for building the 1.4-liter FIRE engine used in the 500.

Chrysler‘s Mopar brand has launched a new website dedicated to Chrysler Group owners so that they can regularly view their vehicle information, service history, learn how to use vehicle features, roadside assistance, share vehicle galleries, and receive special offers.

Dodge will unveil its new 2013 compact car during the January 2012 Detroit Auto Show. Since this is the first all-new car designed by the combined Chrysler and Fiat Company that will debut three months from now, we are used to expecting information to leak prior to the car’s official unveiling, whether from spies and insiders or scheduled leaks from the company itself.

For some, it’s been a long time coming, especially as the current Liberty, despite a fairly recent refresh, is one of the oldest vehicles in the Jeep, or for that matter Chrysler portfolio.

Perhaps in response to comments labeled at Ford’s dual-clutch gearbox, particularly by Consumer Reports, which caused the Blue Oval to take a hit in CR‘s annual reliability survey, Chrysler has announced that it won’t be releasing its own twin disc unit until concerns over refinement have been addressed.

Law enforcement gets a severe-duty upgrade beginning this month, with Chrysler’s Ram Truck brand offering their new Ram 1500 Crew Cab 4×4 Special Service package for police enforcement and emergency services support.

The 2012 Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, and Volkswagen Routan all earned Top Safety Pick awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

This year’s SEMA awards were announced Wednesday morning, with the Chevrolet Camaro, Ford F-Series and Jeep Wrangler taking home the awards for Hottest Car, Truck and 4×4 SUV respectively.

Today’s total nonsense rumor comes from Chrysler fansite Allpar, which is reporting that the 2013 Dodge Viper will get an 8.7L V10 and doesn’t cite any source, anonymous or otherwise.

On display at the upcoming SEMA Show this year will be a custom Chrysler 300 SF6, built and inspired by the annual Spring Festival owners gathering in Southern California. With a focus on discrete styling and Mopar performance parts and accessories, the 300 gets a nice overhaul just in time for the sixth-annual event.

We’ve all heard the horror stories about women who take their cars into a mechanic to fix a minor problem, only to be charged outrageous fees for non-existent or small issues. A national news program went undercover to get the scoop. After placing hidden cameras at several dealerships, the show’s decoy was overcharged for service work.

During its annual Truck Rodeo in the city of San Antonio, the Texas Auto Writers’ Association, one of the largest such organizations in the country, declared two Chrysler products as winners in the SUV category.

A new Viper is rumored to surface from the unlikeliest of venues. Rather than the typical selection of an international auto show to unveil the new Dodge supercar, the new Viper will be one of the cars displayed next month at the charity event, Rides and Smiles.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is making Alfa Romeo’s U.S. re-launch a top priority, calling it “the most difficult thing I have to do”. Alfa Romeo last sold cars in the U.S. in 1995, but the brand still has a strong image in the U.S., spurring Marchionne to focus efforts on North America.

However, due to a fall in demand, this model was axed in the North American line-up. But in Europe, the wagon lived on, albeit with a different nose and badge. It was called the Chrysler 300C estate, which was basically a Magnum body with a 300C nose.

Chevrolet’s decision to offer a diesel-powered Cruze compact in the U.S. is a sign that GM is testing the waters to see how American’s react to the gasoline alternative. Chrysler, says company CEO Sergio Marchionne, has much more ambitious goals for the often-criticized fuel.

We’ve all seen them. The “Imported from Detroit” ads that Chrysler is flooding the market with. Some people think it is a clever way to gain favor with Chrysler’s home audience, others simply do not like the ads themselves. Nomatter how you feel about them, one thing is clear – they are kind of misleading.

Local 551 of Chicago’s Ford Plant gave a resounding “no” to the new four-year labor contract. Local 551 represents about 6 percent of Ford’s United Auto Workers (UAW) employees and according to  secretary-treasurer Scott Houldieson of Local 551, the two-tier pay scale was one of the biggest reasons the plant’s workers voted against it.

With a new look, a new engine, a much improved interior and better ride quality you’d think the folks at Chrysler would be pleased with their new Dodge Grand Caravan? After all, it has even been met with much-improved comments from the automotive media.

The world’s economy stinks, gas is expensive and we’re all watching our wallets closely.

This coming Sunday, October 9th, a very special event will air on Versus at 3 pm Eastern Time. It’s the Duel in the Desert, a special edition of the Viper Cup race series, where a talented collection of drivers and motorsports heros, from all different forms of the genre, race against each other at Miller Motorsports Park, in Toole, Utah.

The annual North American Car and Truck of the Year awards has just released its short list for 2012, selecting 17 cars and seven trucks that will compete for the prestigious prize.

In the running for the 2012 North American Car of the Year are three from Hyundai (the Accent, Elantra and Veloster), two from Audi (A6 and A7), two from Volkswagen (Passat and Beetle) and two from Toyota ( Camry and Prius v). Others on the list include two GM models, the Buick Verano and Chevrolet Sonic, while two Chrysler group nominees include the Chrysler 300 and Fiat 500. Rounding out the list is the Ford Focus, Kia Rio, Scion iQ and Subaru Impreza. Notably absent from the list is the all-new Honda Civic.

The 2012 North American Truck of the Year short list includes just one vehicle from seven different automakers: the BMW X3, Honda CR-V, Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, Mercedes M-Class, MINI Countryman, Nissan Quest and Saab 9-4X.

The three finalists in each category will be announced later this year with the winners being announced at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Last year the Chevrolet Volt took home 2011 Car of the Year, with the Ford Explorer as 2011 Truck of the Year.

See the full list of nominees after the jump:

Anyone who has spent time looking for fake watches, knockoff handbags or other wonderful Asian products has likely come across the site Alibaba.com

Jeep has scrapped plans to build a replacement for their Patriot and Compass SUVs in Italy, and will instead build a subcompact Jeep product in Italy that will also be badged as a Fiat in world markets.

Chrysler has launched their first two re-badged Lancia product in the UK (where the Lancia brand has been defunct for a number of years), with a pair of hatchbacks based on the Lancia Delta and Ypsilon compact and subcompact cars.

Given how hotly contested the full-size pickup truck market has become in recent years, those manufacturers participating are constantly looking for ways to one-up each other. Most recently, in the half-ton segment, Ram has attempted to do such a thing by going after the fleet crowd with its 2012 model year 1500 Tradesman Heavy Duty.

Chrysler is issuing a recall for a small number of vehicles equipped with the new 3.6-liter “Pentastar” V6. According to the automaker a total of 657 vehicles may be affected and could exhibit a loss of power as a result of manufacturing debris left in the engine.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Jeep Liberty SUVs built between 2002 and 2003 for an issue regarding the premature deployment of airbags.

Sales targets for the Fiat 500 were set at an ambitious 6,000 units per month, and surprise surprise, the car isn’t meeting them. This might be due to the fact that it’s a subcompact, foreign branded car in a market where gasoline is (relatively) cheap and large vehicles reign supreme. Or it could be the fault of your marketing agency, if you ask Chrysler.

When it opened last year Chrysler‘s Motor Village, located in downtown Los Angeles, made quite the impression, though not entirely a good one.

Having entered a three car team in this year’s grueling Ferrari Enzo-killing Targa Newfoundland,   Chrysler‘s SRT/Dodge Motorsports entry managed to rack up first and second place finishes in the event, as well as raising almost $26,000 for the Autism Society of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Fiat and Chrysler product osmosis continues. Chrysler first revealed its plan for a Fiat collaborated small commercial van for the North American market back in November 2009. Finally, here it is. Tofas Turk Otomobil Fabrikasi, Fiat’s Turkish joint venture, announced that it will supply Ram with 190,000 units of the Fiat Doblo small panel van over the course of seven years.

And it’s largely down to a new eight-speed automatic transmission. The ZF unit, the 845RE, is the first of its kind installed in a domestically produced automobile and will come teamed with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 found in both the entry-level 2012 Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans.

Fans of Italian cars should prepare to dry heave, as Lancia has just released an image of their new Flavia Cabrio, looking like a poorly rebadged Chrysler 200.

The only engine available is a 175-horsepower 2.4-liter V6 mated to a 6-speed automatic. Thrilling. Lancia will also get a re-badged Chrysler Town & Country, known as the Voyager as part of their rejuvenated, Chrysler-infused lineup. You can check back for  AutoGuide’s for live Frankfurt coverage starting on September 13th.

Hit the jump to see the press release below

Teaming up with Activision Publishing, creators of the famed Call of Duty video game series, Jeep has introduced the MW3 Special Edition Wrangler.

Never far from controversy, former Vice-President Dick Cheney has stirred the pot again, this time, declaring that he was against government handouts to automakers Chrysler and General Motors.

September is almost upon us, which means, for motorsports fans, that it’s time for the annual Targa Newfoundland. This year, Chrysler has announced that it will be fielding a three-car team for the event, comprising of a single Dodge Viper SRT-10 and two Challenger SRT-8s.

In not-so-shocking news, Chrysler has officially pulled the plug on the Dodge Dakota compact pickup’s production. The expected move will result in 39 temporary workers losing their jobs and could lead to additional layoffs at Chrysler’s Warren Truck Plant where the Ram 1500 pickup is also produced. The union currently believes that layoffs could reach 150 or more at the plant with the Dakota’s production now discontinued.

Michael Accavitti once worked for Chrysler as its chief marketing officer, even becoming president of the Dodge brand. But now he’s taken his talents to Honda, where he will be doing much the same thing.

Chrysler has announced that it is dropping the MSRP of the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee by $3,220. The base Laredo model, when it goes on sale next month, will start at $26,995 before options and taxes.