Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has issued a recall for older Ram pickups outfitted with manual transmissions.
The company has discovered a defect related to the clutch ignition-interlock switches, which may have been assembled with an incorrect spring wire. The alternate wire is said to be vulnerable to failure, preventing the vehicle from starting or, conversely, allowing unintended movement if the pickup is started when in gear.

The issue is being handled as a safety recall, as the single known accident involving a broken spring wire resulted in a fatality.

The campaign includes 2006-2007 Dodge Dakota, Ram 1500, Ram 2500, Ram 3500 and Mitsubishi Raider pickups, including more than 54,000 units sold in North America.

McLaren has confirmed plans to unveil its new Sports Series coupe early next year at the New York International Auto Show.
The company’s entry-level model is expected to produce more than 500 horsepower, potentially around 550 ponies to maintain a gap below the midrange 650S that is powered by the same 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine. The output specs should be good for a 0-60 mph sprint in under four seconds and a top speed north of 180 mph.

“Like our other models, this one will have a higher power-to-weight ratio and better performance figures than any rival,” McLaren chief Mike Flewitt said in a statement to Autocar.

The British automaker is said to be developing a track-focused GT3 model, though both the racer and the basic street variant will lack the coupled suspension and active aerodynamics of the 650S.

The first Sports Series models are expected to be arriving in showrooms by the end of 2015, with production eventually ramping up to 2,500 units annually.

Jaguar’s all-new XE sedan will be the brand’s first-ever vehicle built in China, a top executive for the British automaker has revealed.
Although no official decision has been made public, Jaguar Land Rover global fleet director Ken Forbes told Automotive News Europe that the XE will be Jaguar’s first China-built product. Forbes declined to reveal when the XE will start production in the world’s largest auto market.

Jaguar’s new XE sedan, which will compete against the BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, will go on sale in Europe in May followed by a United States rollout later in the year. The XE’s Chinese production won’t likely begin until at least 2016, when Jaguar will expand the capacity at its new plant in Changshu to 130,000 units. Opened in October, the Changshu plant currently makes the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque and will soon begin production of the Discovery Sport.

Jaguar will also open the doors to a new engine plant in China in 2015, meaning the XE will be the first Jaguar-badged vehicle to be fully assembled outside of the UK.

Jaguar hasn’t announced if it will build a long-wheelbase version of the XE for the Chinese market.

Analyst predict the new XE as well as an upcoming crossover model will lift Jaguars global sales to 200,000 units by 2017. By 2020, JLR forecasts that combined sales of Jaguar and Land Rover will top 850,000 units worldwide.

Photos by Drew Johnson.

Lincoln has kicked off its second round of advertising segments featuring actor Matthew McConaughey.
The latest spots focus on the company’s MKZ sedan, again using McConaughey’s introspective monologues to convey the brand message.

“If I can be authentic, and the spots are authentic, then we are sending the same message,” the actor said in a statement. “And I think we’re doing that in this series of Lincoln ads.”

The previous ads, which focused on the MKC, inspired parodies from Conan O’Brien, Ellen DeGeneres and “Saturday Night Live.” The spoofs received over 10 million views on YouTube.

“The overwhelming response to the MKC campaign sparked truly great awareness for Lincoln,” said Lincoln group marketing manager Andrew Frick.

Cadillac chief Johan de Nysschen suggests his former employer, Infiniti, may not bring the Q50 Eau Rouge concept to production now that he isn’t around to see the project through.
“I heard a rumor that Noboru Tateishi is going to cop-out and shelve the Eau Rouge project now that I’m not there to pressure him,” de Nysschen wrote in a Facebook post, as quoted by Jalopnik.

Tateishi is Infiniti’s corporate vice president in charge of vehicle test technology, one of the executives that allegedly maintains veto power of projects such a the Q50 Eau Rouge.

“Tell any Cadillac or Audi engineer ‘build me a 560hp sports sedan’ and you have to reign [sic] them in,” de Nysschen added in his post. “At Infiniti, it seems easier to push water uphill. More enthusiasm for ‘driver’s aids’, apparently, than ‘driver’s cars’, in some quarters, it would seem.”

Infiniti has not yet publicly confirmed production plans for the Q50 Eau Rouge, however the model has been repeatedly highlighted in various marketing campaigns that appear to corroborate rumors that it will be developed.