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Lorenzo Ramaciotti to head Chrysler and Lancia design

Lorenzo Ramaciotti, current head of design at Fiat Group, has been tasked with leading the design of future Chrysler and Lancia products in a bid to more than double the sales figures of the newly collaborated brands. The 63-year-old former Pininfarina designer – credited to some of the most beautiful Italian machinery of the modern era – has been asked by Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler Group LLC, to create a common styling language for the two brands that wouldn't look out of place in Detroit or Milan. Ramaciotti has made it clear that badge-engineering isn't going to be the future for the two brands and is hoping to inject a unique, but global flavor, into the two brands.

Retro style, street-rod flair made PT Cruiser a star

The recipe was simple. Use an existing small-car platform, mix in some nifty retro styling inside and out, build it in a low-cost country, and command a higher price. When it made its debut at the 1999 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Chrysler PT Cruiser with its street-rod flair was an immediate sensation.

GM, Koenigsegg sign deal on Saab sale

General Motors Co. reached a deal Tuesday to sell its money-losing Swedish subsidiary Saab to Koenigsegg Group AB. The companies signed a stock purchase agreement that would give the tiny Swedish supercar maker 100 percent of Saab's shares, GM Europe said in a statement.