Fiat Chrysler readies another sport utility vehicle

Michigan: For consumers torn between a sport utility vehicle (SUV) and a muscle car, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has a new 475-horsepower solution.
At this week’s Chicago Auto Show, the automaker will bill the Dodge Durango SRT as the world’s most powerful three-row SUV, with a zero-to-60 miles per hour time of 4.4 seconds. The Durango SRT will join a hot-rod version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV already sold under the Street & Racing Technology line.
"This takes everything that’s great about the Durango and everything that’s awesome about the Charger SRT and puts it together in one bad-ass SUV,” Tim Kuniskis, the head of the Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and Fiat brands for FCA North America, told reporters last week at a briefing in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Fiat Chrysler’s addition of another high-performance SUV to the lineup reflects the auto industry’s confidence that lower gasoline prices will help sustain booming demand for larger and less fuel-efficient models. Deliveries of light trucks, which also include pickups, exceeded 60 per cent of the US auto market last year for the first time ever, according to researcher Autodata Corp.
The Durango SRT will boast 8,600 pounds of towing capacity, exceeding any other full-size SUV, according to Fiat Chrysler. Buyers will receive a full day of instruction at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Arizona to learn proper handling of such a large and powerful vehicle, the company said.