Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler/Fiat CEO, rolls around the Detroit Auto Show with a posse. Seriously. He's got a body guard (one of whom I have a picture of as he stepped into my camera as I was shooting) an assistant and some other flunkies as well as a swarm of photographers / videographers / sonographers following him around in case he happens to let fly with some juicy news.

And let fly he has. Shocking….

There are three big items credited to Sergio from this year's Detroit Auto show. Let's start with the truckiest: There is going to be a  multipurpose Jeep vehicle in the near future "with something that they call a truck bed" reports pickuptrucks.com. He went further, discussing the Gladiator Concept, "There's a better than 50 percent chance that you'll get one. Regardless of what Ram says." Ram, of course, is Chrysler Co's Truck line so any other brand having a pickup could be seen as overlap.

But wait, there's more! After the jump there's more Marchionne talking about Grand Wagoneers and the death of a minivan…..

 Next up is the 2013 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Yep. The next seven-seat Jeep product will ditch the Commander study and pick up the heritage GW title. This may have something to do with Marchionne's feelings on the Commander, "That car was unfit for human consumption. We sold some. But I don't know why people bought them." Tell us how you really feel…

The Grand Wagoneer will be priced higher than the Dodge Durango and the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Finally, Marchionne said that Chrysler would pare down its minivan offerings to one. "We will have to look at the branding, but we are absolutely going to one minivan." The branding he's discussing is whether or not to call the van a Chrysler Town & Country or a Dodge Caravan. Dodge Caravan has the longer history, but the TnC outsells the Dodge and delivers more money to Chrysler. Tricky situation.

Oh, and expect a decision on a Nitro replacement within the next 40 days — so, that would be the Chicago Auto Show.

( Auto News, Pickup Trucks.com, Autoblog )

In a double-whammy reveal from GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson, the General will be inserting Volt technology into a minivan within the "next few years," according to Automotive News.

Wait a minute…Thought GM bailed on the minivan segment? Well, like a fighter watching his own tape to find the holes, GM checked its product portfolio, realized that there's money to be prefabricated in minivans and is, apparently, getting back in.

But to enter a market as loyal and deep as this one is (let's grappling it, minivans today are good and even the worst one is a well-thought-out, functional appliance) GM's got to bring out the big guns. In this case, the big gun looks to be the extended-range EV/hybrid powertrain from the Volt.

And when thinking about it, an EV is a near-perfect solution for minivan use: School, soccer practice, church, neighbor's kid's sleepover; how many of those are more than 35 miles away roundtrip? Not many in the suburbs I grew up in. And if they are, well, that's what the gas motor is for.

Not only is the EV solution a good one for a van (assuming of course it doesn't kill cargo space or seat-folding functionality), but the Volt's powertrain is expensive and spreading the cost to multiple vehicles is a no-brainer and we fully expect more than just a minivan to have a Volt soul in the "next few years."

Akerson followed up by mentioning a plug-in Cadillac SRX. We'll have more on that…..someday.

( Auto News )

 Chrysler Financial Corp is owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP but could soon be owned by Canadian Mega Bank Toronto-Dominion. TD as we so often see it (especially if you're a basketball / hockey fan )  is the second-largest bank in Canada and is rumored to be willing to shell out $6 – $7 billion for the Detroit-based lending arm.

The move would increase TD's presence in the US — currently 1,300 branches from Maine to Florida — directly to consumers and set them up with the bones for a vehicle leasing business that is essentially plug-and-play.

Of course, this is big business and nobody is talking or confirming the rumors, but expect an declaration by the end of this week if TD and Cerberus really are trying to get this thing done.

( Auto News )

Selling the most cars is tricky business and Toyota has issued a repair campaign — not a recall, there's no government filing or immediate country risk they say — for 650,000 of its Toyota Prius hybrids over a cooling pump glitch which could cause the vehicle to overheat and lose power. 378,000 of the vehicles included are in the United States.

At issue is the electric water pump itself. The pump can let air into the system, interrupting the flow of cooling liquid over hot electronics and causing a warning light that, if left untended, will cause the vehicle to go into limp home mode. The repair is expected to cost Toyota $100 per vehicle.

As always, if you have a vehicle covered under this, get it checked out. And, related, if you have a vehicle that tells you to check the engine or that it's overheating– get it checked out before it falls into limp home mode.

( Auto News )

Selling the most cars is tricky business and Toyota has issued a repair campaign — not a recall, there's no government filing or immediate country risk they say — for 650,000 of its Toyota Prius hybrids over a cooling pump glitch which could cause the vehicle to overheat and lose power. 378,000 of the vehicles included are in the United States.

At issue is the electric water pump itself. The pump can let air into the system, interrupting the flow of cooling liquid over hot electronics and causing a warning light that, if left untended, will cause the vehicle to go into limp home mode. The repair is expected to cost Toyota $100 per vehicle.

As always, if you have a vehicle covered under this, get it checked out. And, related, if you have a vehicle that tells you to check the engine or that it's overheating– get it checked out before it falls into limp home mode.

( Auto News )

Coupe-like performance and a stronger structure—and it looks fantastic, too.

We usually assess convertibles in terms of structural rigidity, the square root of all vehicle dynamics. Rubbery bones don’t enhance transient response, and there’s the disconcerting phenomenon of dashboard and steering column jiggling to the beat of slightly different sambas.

But that’s not the biggest concern of a team convertibilizing a fastback coupe. They’re wondering whether their baby will be seductive. Makes sense, right? After all, a guy surveying the traffic at a hookup bar isn’t thinking about structural rigidity (other than his own).

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Rough rider: After 13 months with Lexus’s lusty M3 fighter, we have just one suggestion: Fix the ride!

Every so often, our long-term fleet acquires a special kind of car. Not a 10Best winner. Not a comparison-test winner. Rather, a car that changes its segment or signals a immoderate shift in its maker’s attitude. The IS F does both. It’s a Lexus with true enthusiast credentials. This is roughly equivalent to saying it’s a granny who writes in regularly to Penthouse Forum.

The F stands apart from Lexus’s sporty IS line of cars with its large fender flares, 19-inch BBS wheels with matching summer-only tires, and a hood with a serious power bulge. Beneath that bulge resides an immensely powerful 5.0-liter, direct- and port-injected V-8 that delivers 416 horsepower through a slick eight-speed automatic. This illusion setup is accompanied by a thunderous exhaust soundtrack.

Keep Reading: 2008 Lexus IS F – Long-Term Road Test

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