Reports surfaced earlier this week that Chrysler had cancelled its Phoenix V6 program due to a pending sale to General Motors, but a top Chrysler exec says the engine program is still on. The Phoenix family of engines was designed to give Chrysler a world-class V6 that could compete with the best for power and fuel economy.
Chrysler began its Phoenix engine program in 2007, and says it has no plans to put the brakes of the plan now. “The Phoenix engine program is going forward full steam,” Chrysler President Jim Press told Reuters. “It’s a great engine. We’re driving the prototypes today.”
So far, Chrysler has invested about $3 billion in the project.
Despite Chrysler’s public support of the Phoenix engine, it still remains possible that the engine might never see the light of day. Chrysler’s two biggest possible suitors — GM and Renault/ Nissan – have world-class V6 engines of their own, rendering the Phoenix engine range redundant.
