Autos
-The Chrysler Group’s first gas/electric models, the 2008 Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen, will have 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engines when they debut early next year. Chrysler says the hybrid system will increase city mileage nearly 40 percent and overall fuel economy 25 percent, but did not give numbers because new methodology will reduce EPA fuel economy estimates for 2008. The 2007 Durango and Aspen are rated at 15 m.p.g. city, 20 highway with the V-8. Chrysler’s hybrid system was developed with General Motors and BMW.
-GM’s large gasoline/electric sport-utility vehicles will use a 6-liter engine to provide more towing power. The hybrid Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon, GM’s biggest SUVS, will also be able to shut off half the engine’s 8 cylinders to reduce fuel use, making them 25 percent more fuel-efficient than gas versions with 5.3-liter engines, says Mark Cieslak, chief engineer for the new models. The hybrids go on sale later this year. GM plans to build at least 12 hybrid models in the next few years as it tries to match offerings from Toyota. The Japan-based company passed GM as the world’s largest automaker for the first time in the first quarter and may end GM’s 76-year reign as the global leader this year.
-Hot on the heels of the launch of the 2007 Altima and a hybrid, production has begun on the new Altima coupe, a sportier version of Nissan’s best-selling model. It is Altima’s third launch in seven months at its Smyrna, Tenn., plant, 20 miles south of its North American headquarters in Nashville.
Probe
-GM’s 2005-06 Pontiac G6 sedans with electronic power steering are being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because of complaints of a loss of power steering. As many as 176,968 cars are affected, with the agency saying it has received 19 complaints, including two accidents and one injury.
Air
-Plans are under way for a Tuskegee Airmen Museum at Coleman A. Young International Airport, a surviving member of the all-black fighter group says. A renovated, 35,000-square-foot hangar at the Detroit airport will house the national museum, says fundraising coordinator and retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Lucius Theus. Once completed, expected in several years, the proposed $26 million facility will feature memorabilia and full-scale models of fighter planes and bombers flown by the legendary World War II pilots.
FYI
-Chrysler Group is offering five-year, no-interest loans or rebates of up to $5,000 on most of its vehicles, which sit on dealers’ lots almost 50 percent longer than the industry average. The offers run through July 2 for 70 percent of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep models. Buyers also can get cash bonuses of up to $1,000 on some vehicles.
-Lawmakers have approved legislation that would require almost everyone to wear seat belts in Indiana, including in back seats and SUVs and pickups. The bill heads to Gov. Mitch Daniels for consideration.
People
-General Motors has named Bryan Nesbitt, who helped create the Chrysler PT Cruiser, vice president of design for North America as it revamps design responsibilities worldwide. Nesbitt, 38, moves to the post June 1 from executive director of design for GM’s European operations. GM also has named Mark Adams as design vice president for Europe and Kenneth Parkinson to the job for the Asia-Pacific region. Nesbitt, Adams and Parkinson will report to Ed Welburn, GM’s vice president for global design.
-Actor Patrick Dempsey, a co-owner of the Vision Racing team, will drive the Chevrolet Corvette pace car for the Indianapolis 500 May 27. Dempsey stars in the ABC-TV drama “Grey’s Anatomy.”
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Quick Trips are compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.
