Chrysler news and rumors at allpar.com

High & Mighty II schedule announced

CEMA has announced a series of High & Mighty II appearances. The car will be shown on August 5 at the Plymouth Owners Club Meet in Pontiac; at the Ohio Mopar Nationals, August 8-10; at the Whiney, Detroit, August 11; on the Woodward Cruise, August 16; at the Chrysler Museum, Auburn Hills, October 2008-April 2009; at the CEMA car show, June 6, 2009; at the SAE Congress, Cobo Hall, Detroit, April 20-23; and at the Carlisle show, July 10-12, 2009.

Reported by DaveAdmin at (July 18 2008, 10 AM)

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Slant Six Club looking for Iaccoca Award sponsors

The Slant Six Club of New York and New Jersey has been approved to present the Lee Iacocca Award to an auto enthusiast, who, on multiple levels, displays good character, is involved in their community, shows a good deal of integrity, and exhibits a level of excellence in the presentation of their vehicle at events. The Club can then use the Lee Iacocca Foundation logo in its publicity. The Club, however, must raise at least $1,000 for the Iacocca Foundation, which supports diabetes research; and is therefore looking for any people or companies that would be willing to sponsor the award. Allpar has agreed to kick in $200 unless a sponsor can be found to support the full amount.

Anyone interested in either sponsoring the award or helping the Slant Six Club of New York and New Jersey should contact the Club via its forum or its web site.

Reported by DaveAdmin at (July 16 2008, 09 AM)

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Layson's Restorations denies wrongdoing

Dave Layson, owner of Layson’s Restorations of Lakewood, Washington, denied any wrongdoing in connection with the investigation that resulted in the searches and seizures of his inventory, as well as his arrest at the annual Chryslers at Carlisle car show last week.

The investigation comes as the culmination of a long-running dispute between Layson’s and the Chrysler Corporation. Layson argued that competitors were upset with Layson's market share and ability to bring long-discontinued items to market at a fair price; and that parts made by Layson's were made with the trademarked Pentastar logo, and sold as reproductions (the latter was confirmed by the police report).

Dave Layson also argued that Chrysler has yet to roll-out a "meaningful" licensing program that includes manufacturing standards, exclusivity agreements, marketing agreements or a uniform royalty structure. This, he said, is why his company has not participated in the company’s licensing program. Layson's believes that Chrysler has tried to intimidate and coerce vendors to pay into "what amounts to a... non-existent and yet-unformed licensure program."

Layson's Restorations sent Allpar a notice that claims:

Parts that carry the Pentastar logo seized from Layson’s were all purchased from “licensed” vendors, and are not so called “Forged auto parts” as the mis-informed authorities acting at Chrysler’s behest allege.

Layson has records and purchase orders to document the acquisition of these parts and is confident that a more careful investigation will prove these facts. While Layson’s does not subscribe to Chrysler’s claim of licensure, other mis-informed vendors have been intimidated into doing so, and subsequently have produced parts bearing the trademark Pentastar. Again, any of those parts in Layson’s possession were legally purchased from those vendors and the documents exist to prove it.

Layson’s believes that the Chrysler Corporation wrote a criminal complaint that constituted a “wish list” of sorts. Chrysler was then able to persuade investigators in tiny North Middleton, PA to carry their water, which in turn lead to a request for assistance from the Lakewood, WA Police Department.

The searches, seizures and resulting loss of business have been entirely excessive. The serious verbiage contained in the charges, excessive bail, and the use of clearly excessive criminal charges are outrageous.

The questioning of employees, the seizure of personal property and the blind speculation about “exploding” investigations by Lakewood law enforcement officials who have no background in this case or trademark law are way, way out of line, are libelous on their face and have already caused Layson’s Restorations serious and substantial damages in the marketplace.

Reported by DaveAdmin at (July 16 2008, 08 AM)

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Volkswagen tries for U.S. production again

Volkswagen AG will build a $1 billion factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with a capacity of 150,000 vehicles including a new mid-sized sedan created for North American sale. The plan should be online by early 2011, and will play a role in Volkswagen's goal of 800,000 sales per year in the U.S. Volkswagen had claimed that Michigan was in the running, but internal documents released to the media indicated that they were never considering a factory anywhere but Alabama or Tennessee.

Volkswagen's last factory in the U.S. was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Reported by DaveAdmin at (July 15 2008, 11 AM)

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GM to slash salaries (except for the CEO)

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner announced new cuts, designed to save $10 billion through the end of next year. The company also plans to sell assets and borrow money to gain another $4-7 billion.

Salaried worker costs will be cut by 20% through attrition, early retirement, and resignation packages. GM has already cut their salaried head count by 12,000 people since 2000. Health care coverage will be cut for salaried retirees who can get Medicare; they will however get higher pensions. Pay raises will be stopped until at least the end of 2009, and executives will not get discretionary bonuses through that time. Sales, marketing, racing, and engineering budgets will be cut, along with capital spending. The dividend on common stock will also be cut by a total of $800 million. Truck capacity will be cut by 300,000 units by the end of next year (including the 170,000 trucks already planned to be cut.) Payments to the health care trust for UAW employees will be deferred until 2010.

CEO Rick Wagoner received $15.7 million in compensation for 2007 despite large corporate losses.

Reported by DaveAdmin at (July 15 2008, 10 AM)

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Super Stock Challenger announced

Chrysler officially introduced the Super Stock Challenger drag racing package. See our Super Stock Challenger for details and the development story.

Reported by DaveAdmin at (July 14 2008, 08 PM)

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Layson's Restorations accused of counterfeiting

David Layson, of the well-known company Layson's Restorations, has been arrested by the North Middleton (Pennsylvania) police on charges of running a corrupt organization, trademark counterfeiting, and theft by deception, after a search warrant was served during the Carlisle All-Chrysler Nationals, according to North Middleton Township police and The Sentinel.

The following allegations are from the affadavit of probable cause used to obtain a search warrant of the owner's hotel room (thanks, Stewart). These allegations are from a law enforcement officer:

Chrysler had notified the police, after identifying Layson's Restorations as a seller of counterfeit merchandise in 2001, and, in 2003, warning Layson and trying to work with him on authorization.

A Chrysler official notified local police that Layson's Restorations would be selling counterfeit products at the Carlisle All-Chrysler Nationals on May 28. These included tail lights, lenses, and vehicle emblems. According to the officer who served the complaint, Chrysler's trademark investigation firm had discovered that special tools were created to create unauthorized Chrysler emblems in the 1970s, to make what appeared to be authentic products. Despite previous investigations and arrests, those tools had not been located in the past.

In 2004, Layson was served withi a cease and desist order and they agreed. However, in 2007, law enforcement officials in Columbus, Ohio, allegedly purchased counterfeit materials from Layson's Restorations at the Mopar Nationals.

According to the affidavit, on July 11 (Friday), Office Richard Grove attended the All-Chrysler Nationals in Carlisle and bought two lenses and four marker lights from Layson's Restoration, and observed "well over 200 other items that purport to be Chrysler products." Four experts examined the purchased parts and declared that they were not produced by Chrysler, and that no other makers had been licensed to produce them. The items were marked with the Pentastar trademark and part number, which increase the value of the items.

Layson's Restorations had brought a 2004 Isuzu van with Washington plates to the show; a 2008 Chevy van with Florida plates, registered to PV Holding Company, was also used to hold parts.

In a conversation with a law enforcement officer, David Layson, when asked if an emblem on a lens was "the real thing," Layson replied that "It is a reproduction that we make...the real emblem would be an NOS product which has a metal backing and this emblem has a plastic backing."

Reported by DaveAdmin at (July 14 2008, 12 PM)

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Florida Highway Patrol receiving 102 Chargers

After soliciting bids for 2008 patrol cars, the Florida Highway Patrol chose all three major options. Ford priced the Crown Victoria police package at $21,780 each, Chevrolet priced the Impala at $18,898, and Dodge put the Charger at $21,973. The Impalas are being relegated to CSO duties, despite being equipped with the full police package; 211 Fords were ordered for patrol and pursuit, along with 102 Dodge Chargers. Two of these will be used for training; and ten Chargers will be assigned to each of the ten FHP troops for evaluation, for 100 evaluation cars in all. For details and more photos, courtesy of the Florida Highway Patrol, visit our Dodge Charger patrol cars in use page.

Reported by DaveAdmin at (July 09 2008, 10 AM)

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