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A closer look at the 2015 Chrysler 200

When the doors of the Detroit Auto Show open to the public tomorrow, there's no doubt that the Chevy, BMW and Lexus booths will attract plenty of foot traffic with flashy sports cars. But when it comes to relevance as it relates to sales volume and in-market shoppers, the 2015 Chrysler 200 could end up being one of the more important introductions from the show. Positioned in the highly competitive midsize sedan segment, Chrysler has quite the challenge ahead of it, so we asked Andy Love, product chief of the 200, to give us a closer look at the new sedan to see how it will stack up against cars like the Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion and Honda Accord.
All of the pertinent information about the new 200 was revealed during the on-stage introduction, but Love gave us a first-hand look at the sedan's more intricate details. This includes some of the exterior design elements such as the wide use of LED exterior lighting and the strategic placement of the side marker lights, and even interior cues like electronic shifter, which allowed for extra storage space in the center console. Aside from the name, the 2015 200 started from scratch riding on a similar platform as the Dodge Dart and Jeep Cherokee, based on the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
Scroll down to watch Love talk us through the 2015 Chrysler 200, and you can find more information about it at our original post from earlier in the week.

2015 Chrysler 200 nets 10,000 orders in first day

Chrysler is having a "crazy impressive" launch for its 2015 200, claims company spokesperson Rick Deneau. Within the first two days of opening the order books, the Pentastar took over 17,000 requests for its swoopy new family sedan - 10,000 of them in the first day. The company says that's enough to keep its Sterling Heights, MI, factory running at full capacity through mid-July.
Deneau tells Autoblog that the last time he saw such an immediate popularity for a model was when Ram launched its 1500 EcoDiesel pickup. That truck sold out of its initial order allocation in just three days earlier this year. As you'd expect, "most of these are dealer orders," Deneau admits. In other words, they're not necessarily coming at the behest of individual customer, but that's standard operating procedure as dealers look to fill up their showrooms.
For the moment, it's too early to know which trim or engine will prove most popular in the new 200. At present, most of the ordered models are highly optioned. That's normal for a new vehicle launch, as early adopters tend to want all the bells and whistles and dealers want to show off their new stock by putting their best foot forward.

DoJ fines Japanese parts firms $740M in massive automotive price-fixing scandal

Nine Japanese suppliers have pleaded guilty in US court over charges of price fixing in the automotive parts industry, resulting in the Department of Justice doling out a total of $740 million of fines, according to a report from Bloomberg. The scandal, which has resulted in General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Chrysler spending up to $5 billion on inflated parts and driving up prices on 25 million vehicles has sent the DoJ hustling into investigations. "The conduct this investigation uncovered involved more than a dozen separate conspiracies aimed at the U.S. economy," Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured above) said during yesterday's press conference.
As the investigation stands, the DoJ has issued $1.6 billion in fines against 20 companies and 21 individual executives, with 17 of the execs headed to prison. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Scott Hammond said, "The breadth of the conspiracies brought to light today are as egregious as they are pervasive. They involve more than a dozen separate conspiracies operating independently but all sharing in common that they targeted US automotive manufacturers."
Big-name suppliers indicted in the investigation include Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi Automotive and Mitsuba Corporation. A list of fines and other corporations named in the investigation is available at Bloomberg.