In any roomful of Detroit auto executives, the man most responsible for the dramatic interior improvements of Chrysler Group's vehicles stands out dramatically.

Klaus Busse is tall and lanky with giant hands and an outsized smile. His standard attire is a light-gray windbreaker worn over a faded T-shirt and jeans. The 43-year-old's spiky hair and soul patch--the small square of brown whiskers between his lower lip and pointed chin--are as distinctive to his outsized persona as is his still-strong German accent.

But the attribute that makes Chrysler's head of interior design really stand out is that he chose to stay in Detroit for a trip through bankruptcy hell so he could help with the automaker's resurrection.

A designer and top manager for former Chrysler owner Daimler AG, Busse volunteered to come to Chrysler in 2005 with his wife, Anja, and young sons, Paul and Oskar, for a two-year stint under an executive exchange program.

When his countrymen washed their hands of Daimler's Chrysler experiment in 2007 and sold it to Cerberus Capital Management, Busse chose to stay in Detroit.

"It wasn't Chrysler that gave up on Mercedes," says Busse, who started his career in Stuttgart with a pair of Daimler internships. "It was Mercedes that gave up on Chrysler."

Busse became a proud ex-pat, happier with the outsized contribution he makes here than with the promise of career security in Germany.

"If I had gone back to Mercedes, I could have probably contributed to Mercedes picking up another 2 percent improvement in their interiors, or something like that," Busse says. "But I felt like I just had put in three years of my life here at Chrysler, and worked on all this new product and I wanted to see it come to market. I wanted to be part of this underdog turnaround."

Busse says his interior design team's close-up view of Chrysler's near-death in 2009 and subsequent revival now inspires them to push every design envelope, taking no component for granted.

"It creates a work environment where you just hunker down," Busse explained after showing off the luxurious leather interior of the 2013 SRT Viper. "It creates this special team spirit because everyone wants you to fail, and you're clearly marked as the underdog--maybe worse than the underdog--and you think: 'You know what? We're going to show you.'"

Chrysler has ticked off 31 consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains with a lineup that looks little changed from early 2009, at least on paper. For Chrysler and its dealers, the biggest differences between its lineups in 2009 and today come down to two upgrades: improved quality and vastly improved interiors.

The company's initial warranty claims have dropped by 60 percent since 2007. And Truecar.com analyst Jesse Toprak says upgraded Chrysler Group interiors are driving higher sales.

"If you look at Chrysler's interiors prior to their latest models, they lagged virtually every automaker, including the other domestics," Toprak says. But improved designs and upgraded materials "have not only brought more domestic conquests but also some import buyers that used to never give Chrysler a chance."

Chrysler's improved quality has many parents: a better trained work force, better supplier relations and a sound financial footing. But the company's single-minded focus to improve the cabins of its vehicles came primarily from design chief Ralph Gilles and Busse, his chief interior lieutenant, when the two men were working on what would become the highly regarded re-engineer of the 2009 Dodge Ram.

"Ralph wanted to change interiors, and he wanted to change it on the pickup truck," Busse says. Chrysler had just been stung by a Wall Street Journal review of the 2008 Chrysler Sebring that called the car "a veritable chalice of wretchedness ... all cast in plastic worthy of a Chinese water pistol."

Top executives, including former Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda, endorsed Gilles' radical plan to have a design team that specialized solely on interiors. Most automakers have multiple design teams, many of which view exteriors as the ultimate creative expression and interiors as leftover work.

Gilles turned to the lanky German--whom he called "one of the best designers in the world"--to lead the effort, even as the old Chrysler grew sicker every day in 2008 and early 2009. Busse kept the interiors job even as Cerberus took Chrysler into bankruptcy in April 2009 and new owner Fiat S.p.A. came onto the scene two months later in June.


Interior art

Busse and his hand-picked team started with the Ram 1500 and moved on to the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango, focusing first on what drivers touch the most.

"We had to beef up the steering wheel to make it bigger and wrap it in fine leather. It's the one piece that you hold all the time, so that's where we spend our money," Busse says, his long fingers wrapping around an imaginary circle in front of his chest. "The instrument cluster's very important to us, too, because that's where we show that we're an American brand. And the materials have really been upgraded--the really fine leathers, the open-grained wood."

The plastic is still there, Busse says. The difference is that now Chrysler's designers pour effort into every component, even a small black mat in the Viper's center stack.

"Plastic is plastic, and it's the same price if I put in a design or I just make it flat. And you'll see with the cars that are about to come out, you'll see the attention to detail even in the plastic," Busse says.

The Viper's mat contains a molded image of the Laguna Seca racetrack, a Mecca for Viper owners, which cost Chrysler the same as if the mat was plain.

"One thing is just a flat black piece of plastic; one is a work of art," Busse says. "That's the interiors team that I'm happy to be the face of, the team that comes up with ideas and says, 'You know, we can do better.'"


Attitude check

The attitude that allows designers to mold a famous raceway into a storage bin or to hide a tiny military vehicle in the tint strip of a Jeep's windshield comes from the freedom of past failures, Busse explains.

His interiors team "has the confidence to go after things that we wouldn't have done before," he says. Their 80-hour workweeks in 2009 and 2010 for Chrysler Group's freshening of 16 models "was all about materials, and now we're able to start having more fun with these designs."

The hardest thing now is maintaining the culture that sprouted as Daimler and Cerberus and even bankruptcy gave way to current corporate parent Fiat S.p.A.

"A lot of my energy, and Ralph's, too, goes into making sure that the culture that we created in those dark days, that we don't lose that," Busse says. "The worst thing that could happen is a person gets cocky and arrogant. It's our job and my job to make sure no one forgets what we've gone through, and stay humble."

Is Fiat Chrysler Automobiles [NYSE:FCAU] about to resurrect the Barracuda nameplate for a new muscle car? Only a few years ago it certainly seemed that way but then in 2014 Ralph Gilles, who at the time was running Dodge-tuner SRT, came out and dismissed the rumors.

Now the rumor mill is spinning back into action with news FCA has filed a new trademark for the Barracuda name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The filing, first discovered by Allpar, was made on June 23 of this year and relates to usage on “Motor vehicles, namely, passenger automobiles, their structural parts, trim and badges.”

Before you get too excited, recall that automakers routinely renew trademarks with such filings in order to prevent other firms from using the names. Then again, there’s always the possibility that FCA is gearing up for a new Barracuda, either as a range-topping version of the Challenger or as a successor model.

With the arrival of the SRT Hellcat, the Barracuda replacing the Challenger would appear to be a more likely option. In its five-year strategy announcement for Dodge made last year, FCA said the current Challenger would be replaced in 2018, although we’ve heard that there may be some delays for the successor model, whatever it ends up being called.

Many moons ago, Dodge gave enthusiasts a shot in the arm when it unveiled the Hellcats--two cars that come from the factory with a 707-horsepower supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V-8.

Time could be running out on the Hellcats, as sources suggest all HEMIs in SRT models will be gone from the Dodge lineup by 2019.

There's considerable imprecision in any future-product plan, but a source at JeepTrackhawkForums indicates that the current plan is for both HEMI engines to end their run in 2019. Both the 6.4-liter and supercharged 6.2-liter units will be supplanted by twin-turbo four or twin-turbo six-cylinder engines, depending on the vehicle.

These unconfirmed reports make sense, with impending CAFE requirements that will almost certainly make V-8 engines a rarity--especially for automakers without big electric-car credits to apply against them.

If the Hellcats and HEMIs die after the 2018 model year, all the tire-smoking versions we've sampled in the past few years would undoubtedly become collectors' items.

We called Fiat Chrysler Automobiles [NYSE:FCAU] to try to confirm some of these product plot points. FCA's official response: "We can't comment on future products."

Reports of the V8 engine’s death have been greatly exaggerated -- we never cease to be amazed at just how much reliable power (and efficiency) engineers are able to squeeze out of supposedly “obsolete” designs like the overhead-valve third-generation Hemi family. But the party can’t last forever; the V8 hasn’t been the default choice for family vehicles for ages now, and it seems like it will be increasingly relegated to performance machinery for the dedicated gearhead.

So what will be powering the next generation of Alfa Romeo luxury sedans, or maybe even your 2024 Ram 1500? If a report at Allpar can be believed, it could be an upcoming Fiat Chrysler inline-six. Slant-6 fans (and we know you’re out there reading this), rejoice!

As always, this is the kind of thing that you have to take with a couple grains of salt; Allpar’s “reliable sources” notwithstanding, we’ll believe it when we drive it. But there are a few reasons that this move would make sense.

For one, according to Allpar’s sources, such an engine could be based on the FCA Global Medium Engine inline-four, currently found in the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio and Jeep Wrangler, Cherokee and Chinese-marketGrand Commander. There’s a lot more to it than slapping two extra cylinders on a four to make a six, of course, but the automaker wouldn’t have to start with a totally clean sheet of paper. It could be produced at FCA’s Dundee and Trenton, Michigan, engine production families, perhaps in parallel with the inline-four motors upon which it would be based.

Second, it's a way to downsize without stepping down to a four-cylinder. Chevrolet is taking a risk with its new Silverado-bound 2.7-liter "Tripower" turbo-four, and whether consumers will bite remains to be seen. Meanwhile, buyers seem quite comfortable with full-size pickups powered by six-cylinders. Allpar suggests that an FCA-designed I6 could displace as few as 2.9 liters to conform with European regulations, though we imagine the line of engines would offer a number of different displacement options -- some of which could be suitable for SUVs and trucks.

There are potential packaging advantages, too: A straight-six would be lighter and narrower than a V8, and a compact head design patented by Chrysler awhile back could shave off some of the height associated with I6 engines. Remember, the storied and darn-near-bulletproof Chrysler Slant-6, built from 1959 to 1983 (for passenger cars) and 1987 (for trucks), was so named because it was tilted on its side to better fit in an engine bay.

On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine a straight-six working with anything other than a rear-wheel-drive (or rear-biased all-wheel-drive) vehicle. But while the I6 doesn’t lend itself to transverse-mounted front-wheel-drive applications, it could work in everything from luxury sedans to pickup trucks both full- and midsize.

Finally, there’s just something special about an I6. Your author just drove a Mercedes-Benz CLS450 equipped with the new 3.0-liter turbocharged M256 motor, and it served as a reminder of the smoothness and refinement that a straight-six offers -- something that no V6 can match. In that CLS450, the I6 was combined with Benz’s mild hybrid system for seamless stop/starts and extra-torquey launches. FCA’s eTorque mild hybrid system could provide the same sort of functionality; it worked well on the 2019 Ram 1500 we drove recently and could pair nicely with a hypothetical I6, as well.

And an I6’s smoothness isn’t just good for luxury vehicles. Its gracefully delivered torque would be welcome in everything from family-haulers to pickups (which, at the top of the range, are practically luxury vehicles in their own right these days). It’s a versatile configuration, which is why it used to be commonplace. Since everything old is new again, it may be time for this venerable engine to become (slightly more) common once more. We’re not holding our breath for any impending announcements, but we’re very curious to see where FCA goes with this.

Automotive News Canada pointed its divination stick at Chrysler as part of its Future Product Pipeline series. The publication dug up two revelations, one being that the Chrysler 300 has two more years to live, ending production come 2020. The article said nothing about the 300's platform twin, the Dodge Charger. The death of the 300 would leave the Pentastar brand with just one offering, the Pacifica minivan. AN Canada's other revelation was Chrysler would allay that fate by putting the "six-passenger multi-purpose" Portal concept into production for 2020.

The automaker that wants to be known for its people haulers introduced the Portal concept at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show. The big bang at the time was the Portal having been designed by millennials in Chrysler's design department, specifically for millennial buyers. Feature bait for the confounding demographic included facial and voice recognition so the Portal knew who was in the car and could tailor the driving environment and cockpit to their tastes; a panoramic dashboard; a configurable interior so the owner can create space where needed, up front or in the cargo area; vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure tech; upgradeable Level 3 autonomy; a retractable aviation-like steering wheel; and customizable light signatures.

We didn't get many specs on the show car, but the all-electric powertain employed a 100-kWh lithium-ion battery, had a range of at least 250 miles, and could restore 150 of those miles in 20 minutes hooked up to a DC fast charger. Reasonable specs for a real vehicle.

It wouldn't be an outrageous move for Chrysler to create a production version of the Portal. When the concept came to the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, former Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne told media he intended to roll out the "fifth generation" of family cars — the next evolution of the wagon-minivan-SUV-crossover progression — and he expected the Portal or something similar to make production at some point. The Detroit Newspredicted we'd get a Portal sometime after 2018. Tim Kuniskis, then head of FCA passenger cars in North America, said the company viewed the Portal as that fifth-gen product and "the future of family transportation."

On top of that, the designers based the front-wheel-drive Portal on the Pacifica's platform, and Marchionne was vocal in his desire for another retail product on that architecture. He had said, "I need another minivan. It's going to be in line with the Pacifica architecture," when talking about the demise of the Dodge Caravan. Also, he said, the Windsor, Ontario, plant that builds the Pacifica and Caravan was a "natural place" to assemble the Portal. One final, potential clue: The head of a Canadian union at the Brampton plant that builds the 300 said it's already understood that the 300 will be replaced by a minivan, but he didn't have any more info than that.

The Portal was apparently designed with an eye on showrooms, because Marchionne declared the automaker could build it in two years. That would be 2020, which is exactly when AN predicts the start of production, and would mean Chrysler had practically made up its mind about the Portal when the concept hit the stage.

Assuming all this transpires, we don't expect to see French sliding doors with integrated B-pillars, carbon fiber beams, a recessing yoke for the driver, and perhaps not even the EV powertrain. When the Portal debuted at CES, we wrote, "[Is] this a preview of a future production car? We think yes, but in very, very vague terms. As in, something with this basic shape and style could be in the pipeline." We'd love to get the seating design and dashboard in real life, though.

With just two models in its lineup, one of which is the ancient 300 sedan, the Chrysler brand has been teetering on the brink of extinction for some time. But no longer. At an event outside of Amsterdam today to discuss the future product strategy for the 15-brand Stellantis empire, CEO Carlos Tavares said that "Chrysler is one of the emotional pillars of the former FCA. It's important for us to give this brand a future and opportunity to rebound," and that "Chrysler will be relaunched." He added that the coming Chrysler models "look really gorgeous," which is something that CEOs always say about future products.

We expect one of the first new models to be an electric compact crossover called the Airflow (pictured above) that will compete with the Tesla Model Y, Ford Mustang Mach-E, and Volvo XC40 Recharge. More specifics on future entries may be part of the presentation happening later today.

In speaking more broadly about the U.S. brand strategy, Tavares said, "We have the strategic vision to invest in all the American brands," but added that "I have no intention to bring more brands to the U.S. right now. I think we have enough."