Chrysler Group will introduce hybrid and diesel engines in newly streamlined cars and trucks, the company announced yesterday.
The designs include a "mild-hybrid" vehicle with a lower-cost battery pack that would kick in at stops, which product development chief Frank Klegon said would result in a 25 percent overall gain in fuel economy.
The U.S. market's fourth-largest automaker said it would offer a diesel version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee expected to meet tougher emissions standards in states like California. And the company may also introduce a four-cylinder diesel engine common in Europe that would be 30 percent more efficient than gasoline models.
Klegon predicted that such alternatives could eventually constitute 30 percent of the U.S. light vehicle market, about 10 times their current level (Kevin Krolicki, Reuters, June 22).
Chrysler's 2008 models will also include a family of V-6 engines with the ability to run on only three cylinders when less power is needed, with 6 to 8 percent fuel savings (AP/ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 22).
Its 5.7-liter Hemi and 4.7-liter V-8 engines will also be upgraded for better gas mileage. Chrysler, which has lagged behind its U.S. and Japanese competitors, was sold for $7.4 billion to Cerberus Capital Management last month (Greenwire, May 14). -- LBD
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