Ron Burgundy Calls the Durango a Terrible Car on the Conan Show

They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity. If that’s true, Dodge should be grateful that Ron Burgundy, the star of its advertising campaign for the Durango, has criticized the SUV on the “Conan” show.

Fictional anchorman Burgundy (played by Will Ferrell) told Conan O’Brien the Durango he helps promoting is a terrible car, much to the amusement of spectators.

When asked how he feels about the fact that Durango sales rose 59 percent in October (the month the ads began being aired), Burgundy gave an unexpected answer, saying it’s amazing how sales went up considering that the Durango is a terrible car.

Obviously, this is part of the promotion strategy for the SUV, and it’s pretty amazing Dodge had the courage to approve it. It’s definitely funny and helps raise awareness on the SUV.

By Dan Mihalascu

VIDEO

Ron Burgundy Returns for a Fresh Batch of Funny Dodge Commercials

If you liked last month’s Dodge ads featuring fictional news presenter from the 1970s, Ron Burgundy, then you’ll be glad to know that new spots have surfaced. Apparently, Dodge and Will Ferrell filmed around 70 commercials, many of which are the product of the comedian’s improvising genius.

You’ll notice that while some commercials start in an identical manner, they have different endings, as Ferrell improvised on the spot. The ads were shot over two days in Los Angeles in August and serve to promote not only the Dodge Durango SUV, but also Ferrell’s movie “Anchorman 2, The Legend Continues”. A sequel to 2004’s “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”, the movie premieres in the U.S. on December 20.

Until then, you can get more of Burgundy’s humour by watching the new Dodge ads posted below in which you’ll notice some sequels to the Durango commercial featuring the horse and to the one where Burgundy doesn’t know how to pronounce MPGs.

By Andrei Nedelea

VIDEO

2011 Dodge Durango puts on a Fiery Show at Cherry Blossom Parade [with Videos]

There's an old saying that any advertising is good advertising, but something tells us that the media attention received by the 2011 Dodge Durango Citadel at this past weekend’s National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington D.C. isn't exactly what the Chrysler Group had in mind for publicity.
As you can see after the jump in a small sample of the videos that made their way onto the web, a brand new Dodge Durango that was towing a parade float carrying a band, suddenly started blowing smoke from under the hood.

The driver was forced to come to a halt and open the bonnet to see what was going on. The situation only got worse as flames started spilling out and eventually something blew up. At the same time, the parade came to a stop and the crowd went video-crazy.

New Dodge Durango Heat gets the R/T’s Goods Sans the V8 Engine

Dodge doubled its new Durango offerings at the Chicago Auto Show with the launch of the Heat performance package that joins the R/T model. The two trim levels share most of their exterior and interior appointments as well as suspension tweaks, but whereas the R/T gets a 360-horsepower 5.7-liter HEMI V8, the Heat is fitted with a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 delivering 295 ponies and 260 lb.-ft. (353 Nm) of torque for an improved fuel efficiency of 16/23 mpg for the rear-wheel-drive model and 16/22 mpg for the all-wheel-drive version.

Dodge Unveils Sporty R/T Versions of Charger, Challenger, Journey, Durango and Grand Caravan

The Chicago Auto Show is the stage for the world premiere of an entire lineup of new R/T performance models from Dodge. The brand's performance moniker, which stands for Road & Track and has been in use since the 1960s, has now been applied on the latest iterations of the Charger saloon, Challenger Coupe, Journey crossover, Durango SUV and the Dodge Caravan minivan. Every R/T model receives exclusive exterior and interior design cues plus performance enhancements including special exhaust tuning and a sport suspension.
“Our Dodge R/T models give buyers the chance to stoke their love of driving while still taking care of their families and responsibilities. Driving these R/T models will absolutely leave a smile on their face,” said Dodge CEO Ralph Gilles.
Beginning with the 2011 Charger R/T, the sports sedan comes with a 5.7-liter HEMI V8 engine with four-cylinder mode Fuel Saver Technology returning 370 horsepower and a 0-60 mph (96 km/h) performance in less than 6 seconds. It is available in both rear- and all-wheel drive configurations. The MSRP for the 2011 Charger R/T is $30,170 (excluding an $825 destination charge).

Marchionne Says Jeep Grand Cherokee Platform Could be Used on New Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Maserati SUVs

Launched in June, the new Jeep Grand Cherokee has enjoyed a massive success, as sales last month were up 291% compared to October 2009. So it comes to no surprise that Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat and Chrysler, is considering the use of the Grand Cherokee's architecture on a variety of new models including Fiat, Maserati and Alfa Romeo SUVs, and possibly for a future Chrysler variant.

Dodge at SEMA: Video presentation offers first look at the 2011 Challenger SRT8's Interior

Last night, the Chrysler Group's Mopar division held a special media event at its SEMA Show booth in Las Vegas to show off its new goodies, which include the 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 Inaugural Edition, Charger Redline, Durango and the Rich Evans Mopar-powered Challenger. This video from the presentation provides us our first glimpse of the 2011 Challenger SRT8's interior, which doesn't look any different from the current model sans the newly designed and badged three-spoke sports steering wheel. Follow the jump to watch the video clip.

Mopar to Show 35 Tuned Vehicles Including 2011 Dodge Durango at SEMA Show

Wrapping up our preview on the Chrysler Group's 2010 SEMA Show offerings, we've grouped up the rest of Mopar's products in a gallery after the jump. All in all, Chrysler's in-house tuning division will showcase a total of 35 vehicles in Las Vegas.

Aside from the 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 and RedLine Charger, and Fiat 500 that we've already told you about in previous posts, it's worth mentioning that Mopar is reading a luxed-up version of the 2011 Dodge Durango called "Black and Tan" as well as an "Off-Road Edition" of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee.

First Interior Photos of 2011 Dodge Durango SUV

About a month ago, Dodge released pictures and initial details on its all-new 2011 Durango SUV model. Now that we have had some time to digest the crossover's exterior, the automaker has dropped the first photos of the 7-seater model's interior.

Being that the new Durango is heavily based on the 2011 Grand Cherokee, it comes to no surprise that -for the most part- the cockpit design is almost identical to that of Jeep's flagship model.

There are changes to the color schemes and trim, new steering wheel hub and instrument panel gauge designs, while certain switchgear such as the rotatable knob for the headlamps are unique to the Durango.

VIDEO: 2011 Dodge Durango heads to Virginia Beach

Dodge came out this weekend -so it's still happening- and got involved with the common folks at a half-marathon in Virginia Beach. Officially, the event is called the "Dodge Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon presented by SunTrust", but really it was just a nice chance to show off the new Durango (fully revealed here) in action as the pace car/truck/crossover.

BREAKING: 2011 Dodge Durango 7-Seater SUV Fully Revealed

[Updated] There have been no shortage of spy shots, teaser photos and even trademark sketches to be had showing the 2011 Durango SUV, but today Dodge finally came out with full blown pictures and initial specs on its brand-new 7-seater crossover that's scheduled to arrive in U.S. showrooms in the fourth quarter of 2010 competing against the likes of Ford's new Explorer.

Even though it makes use of an older name, the 2011 Durango is all-new inside and out. Under the fresh sheetmetal you'll find the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee's unibody structure and the same engine options including a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and a 5.7-liter HEMI engine with the Chrysler Group's Multi-displacement system (MDS) four-cylinder mode.

SPIED: 2011 Dodge Durango Ain't Ready to Throw Away its Camouflage Just Yet

Even though Dodge has started playing the striptease photo game with the 2011 Durango, the Detroit carmaker is still keeping test cars under cover for apparent reasons. Forum member GM4Life from 'Cheers and Gears' bagged these photos of a camouflaged prototype of the seven (or eight) seater crossover on the highway somewhere near Denver, Colorado.

Dodge Lets Out New Teaser Photos of 2011 Durango SUV

Not to be outdone by Ford and its marketing tactics with the 2011 Explorer, the Chrysler Group published a few more teaser shots of the upcoming 2011 Dodge Durango. These new photos come in addition to those released during an earlier announcement today on the launch of a dedicated website on the crossover model which is equipped with three rows of seats.

2011 Dodge Durango SUV Teaser Site Goes Live

After much speculation about the name of Dodge's forthcoming SUV model which is heavily based on the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, an official teaser site that just went live confirms the use of the 'Durango' nameplate. The website also offers some new rendered images of the 2011 Durango including a cropped shot of the dashboard revealing the push-button start.

We've added a full set of images from the site after the jump, but for a better look of the SUV, click here for a completely uncloaked 2011 Durango snagged in the factory and here for a very accurate rendering based on the official patent drawings.

2012 Dodge Durango SUV (or Magnum) Scooped Undisguised!

Thanks to Twitter user who posted a link to a Twitpic page, we now have the first photo the 2012 Dodge Durango, which could end up being named Magnum or something entirely different, without any trace of camouflage.

The full size SUV model is believed to ride on the same or lengthened version of the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee platform, which was developed alongside the next generation Mercedes-Benz ML SUV.