You’d be hard-pressed to find any similarities between the current and the former presidents of the United States. Yet, Barack Obama and George W. Bush actually do have one thing in common: they both agree that bailing out the bankrupt U.S. car industry was the right thing to do. Bush, whose extension of bridge loans to U.S. automakers was one of the last decisions before he left office, gave the closing address to the annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention. The former President said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned him that, unless the administration took drastic measures, a new depression was imminent. Although he believes that the government should not interfere with the marketplace and that companies have to pay for their mistakes, the economic crisis forced him to give the U.S. car industry $25 billion in emergency aid in December 2008. His successor in the White House gave them another US$60 billion in early 2009. “Sometimes circumstances get in the way of philosophy”, Bush said, adding that he had no regrets about his decision. In fact, he stressed that, if necessary, “I would make the same decision again.” "The immediate bankruptcy of Chrysler and GM could cost more than a million jobs, decrease tax revenues by $150 billion and set back America's Gross Domestic Product by hundreds of billions of dollars," said Bush. This statement echoes Obama’s claim that using the taxpayers’ money to bailout companies like GM and Chrysler was the right thing to do. "I knew this wasn't a popular decision. But it was the right one," Obama said in 2010. “GM and Chrysler were on the brink of collapse. The rapid dissolution of these companies -- followed by the certain failure of many auto parts makers, car dealers and other smaller businesses -- would have dealt a crippling blow to our already suffering economy."
Chinese officials may be withdrawing their support for investments made by foreign automakers, but the Fiat-Chrysler Alliance is still looking for ways to increase its presence in the country. A new report from the Detroit News says that Fiat and Chrysler are currently in "intense negotiations" with the Guangzhou Automobile Group to produce Jeep models for the local market. The Italian automaker has already forged a joint venture with Guangzhou for the manufacturing of a new compact sedan based on the 2013 Dodge Dart, which will most likely be introduced in China at the upcoming Beijing motor show in April. Mike Manley, head of Fiat-Chrysler's Asian operations, says that the growing Chinese market is very important for the group's future, though he admits it's not going to be easy. "If you look at our aspirations for volumes in 2014, 2015, some of the keys to unlocking that is significant growth in China," Manley said. "(But) it's one of the most competitive marketplaces in the world. We are, to a large extent, late to the party." Ironically, as the Detroit News reports, Jeep was the first western automaker to forge a joint venture with a Chinese manufacturer to build the Cherokee in 1984. However, when the Chrysler group brought American Motors Corp. and together the rights to Jeep in 1987, it pulled it out of the Chinese market – not a smart move as it turned out. Manley says that sealing a deal with Guangzhou for the local production of Jeeps is a top priority for the group. "There is no doubt domestic manufacturing of Jeeps is the way to significantly grow our volumes," he said. "Fiat have what I consider to be a very good joint venture partner in Guangzhou. They're very well established in the market." The Chrysler group executive added that while other companies have expressed interest in building Jeep models in China, the firm's goal is to seal a deal with Guangzhou. "This partner is the right one for us. We have common interests that are very much aligned. They have a lot of respect for the Jeep brand," said Manley.
It's no secret that, aside from the Fiat Group-sourced 168bhp 1.4-liter turbocharged MultiAir engine, the new 2013 Dodge Dart compact sedan continues to use two powerplants from Chrysler's past. You see, while the Detroit maker is marketing its 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter four-cylinder units under the new "Tigershark" moniker, both have their roots in the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA) family of engines. 
To explain, GEMA was a joint venture of the Chrysler Group, Mitsubishi Motors, and Hyundai Motor Company for the development of a line of shared four-cylinder gasoline engines. In 2009, Chrysler bought out the shares of Mitsubishi and Hyundai and continued GEMA on its own. And here's where Hyundai comes into the picture. Citing unnamed sources, Car&Driver is reporting that the 2013 Dodge Dart's Tigershark engines are fitted with a Hyundai-supplied 6-speed automatic transmission. Speculation has it that Chrysler wanted a quick solution to replace the GEMA engine's obsolete four-speed automatic with a modern transmission so it came to an agreement with Hyundai that uses a six-speed auto on its 2.0-liter Turbo and 2.4-liter naturally aspirated Theta engines, both of which evolved from the GEMA program. The magazine says that Chrysler won't confirm the agreement for the supply of the 6-speed auto while Hyundai hasn't offered any specifics on which transmission it will sell to the Detroit company – this also leads us to believe that C&D's sources may have come from within or a company related to Hyundai. C&D also wrote that the same sources say Chrysler is having some difficulties with the final calibrations of the Hyundai gearbox. We still don't know if Hyundai's gearbox was used on the model that Dodge says achieved an unadjusted combined rating of 40 mpg (which is not the same as the EPA ratings) and which gave Fiat the right to acquire an additional 5% stake in Chrysler. But even so, since we're lacking any official information, the alleged calibration problems with the transmission may not have affected the car's economy. Chrysler has confirmed that it is already working on a new 9-speed automatic transmission currently being developed by the ZF Group that will be added to the Dart's range in 2013. PHOTO GALLERY
The Chrysler Group has posted a voluntary safety recall of 119,700 Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans from the 2011 and 2012 model years because of a potential problem with the power distribution center that could overheat causing the anti-locking braking system (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC) to fail. 
