Sure, its a first for automatic, front-wheel-drive vehicles, but ZF's just walking in the footsteps of semi-truck transmission builders with its 9-speed gearbox, which will offer all the all-wheel-drive/floor wax/dessert topping flexibility those zed-effing Germans can muster.

Chrysler-Fiat maestro Sergio Marchionne admitted to dealers this week that the company had "historically ignored" quality complaints, but vowed that the new Chrysler would banish its ghosts with better technology, such as 9-speed automatic transmissions.