About a week after emerging from bankruptcy protection and finalizing a deal with the Fiat Group, Chrysler Group LLC confirmed today that in addition to the reopening of the Dodge Viper’s Conner Avenue factory in Detroit on Monday, the firm plans to resume production of vehicles at seven more assembly plants in North America by the end of June. According to Chrysler, two factories are in Michigan, one is in Missouri and one in Ohio, while the automaker will also restart production at its assembly plants in Windsor and Brampton, Canada and in Toluca, Mexico.

According to a new study from financial advisory firm Grant Thornton LLP, European and Asian automakers will churn out more cars in North America than Detroit’s ‘Big Three’ by 2012. The study expects that after the completion of the restructuring of the domestic auto industry, the combined capacity of General Motors, Chrysler Group LLC and Ford in North America will fall by more than 4 million units or a 35 percent reduction compared to 2008, for a total of 7.5 million units in 2012.

In an interview in New York on Wednesday, Fiat S.p.A. and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne revealed that one of the first priorities of the partnership is to decide how to handle the Dodge and Alfa Romeo brands, which he sees as American and European counterparts. It sounds crazy but one of the scenarios being examined by Marchionne is the possibility to sell Alfa Romeo models under the Dodge brand in the U.S. and Dodge cars as Alfa Romeos in Europe.

Here’s some good news for muscle-car enthusiasts. The Chrysler Group announced today the company has decided to continue production of the Dodge Viper SRT10 after all. Following several failed attempts to sell off its Dodge Viper business unit, the Detroit automaker had originally made plans to cease production of the V10-powered sports car in December, 2009. Since the introduction of the first generation Viper in 1995, Dodge has built more than 25,000 Vipers.

Porsche has released new details on their upcoming 2010 911 GT3 RS. The car will be powered by a modified 3.8-liter boxer engine from the original GT3 model with a total output of 450-horsepower. The car is claimed to reach 0-100 km/h in just 4 seconds with a top speed of 314 km/h. Meanwhile, the exterior parts will feature a two-tone paint scheme, a set of 19-inch wheels, a center mounted exhaust from titanium and a massive wing made from carbon fiber. The 2010 911 GT3 RS will go on sale in January, 2010 in Germany with a base price of 122,400 Euro.

Ferrari has released a new video of their upcoming Ferrari 458 Italia showing various technical details of this new model. For your info, the 458 Italia features a 5.0-liter V8 engine mated to a 7-speed gearbox with 570 hp and 540 Nm of torque. The car is capable of reaching 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.4 seconds with a top speed of 325 km/h. The Ferrari 458 Italia will make its debut at the IAA next month. Watch the video after the jump for more details.

Here are several new pictures of the Tesla Model S. With a range up to 300 miles and 45-minute QuickCharge, the Model S can carry five adults and two children in quiet comfort. You can charge it from any electric outlet, without ever stopping for gas. The Tesla Model S will be launched in Q3 of 2011.

To the surprise of no one, cash-strapped Chrysler LLC won’t be performing any global premieres at next week’s Geneva Motor Show. Instead, the American automaker will showcase its electric vehicle future (that is, if it makes it through the economic crisis) with the European premieres of the Chrysler 200C EV concept vehicle and Dodge Circuit EV prototype, both of which made their debut at January’s Detroit Auto Show.

The 1980’s: Chrysler’s heyday. Lee Iacocca said, “If you can find a better car, buy it.” Nowadays that’s one hell of a dangerous ad campaign to try. Counting the number of manufacturers presently building cars better than Chrysler involves counting toes… not a good sign. Chrysler; My God, what happened? For the past thirty years the smallest of the Big Three has endured a roller-coaster ride of successes and failures. Looking at the Cerberus-owned Chrysler of today and the Chrysler of 1979, not much has changed.

Just a word to the people… The auto industry, along with the rest of the economy, is in shambles. Obviously the big-wigs cannot be trusted to make the right decisions. Everyone (be they layman, enthusiast, or insider) needs to voice their opinions, not only on finished products but on job standards, engineering developments, and the quality of the buttons on the dashboard.

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