AUBURN HILLS, MI - For the nearsighted, or those simply eying a Chrysler Group vehicle and uttering the classic question, “That thing got a Hemi?” the company's got help: The Hemi Badge is getting bigger.

All '06 Dodge and Jeep vehicles powered by the overwhelmingly popular Hemi V-8 will wear prominent new “Hemi” exterior badges roughly twice the size of the current emblem, says Burke Brown, chief engineer-Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum.

Engine badging is gaining increasing importance in some market segments - and the new Hemi badging, says Brown, has been up-sized at the request of customers who say they'd like to make it a little easier for the world to know their vehicle is powered by the hottest engine in the business.

The new extrovert '06 Hemi badge - already evidenced on the '06 Charger unveiled in January at the Detroit auto show - is almost exactly identical to that found on the '71 Dodge Challenger muscle car, says Brown.

Chrysler also says owner requests for Hemi emblems on the new Grand Cherokee led to a recent decision to attach the Hemi badge to Jeep-branded products. (See related story: Jeep Gets Hemi Badge)

Meanwhile, Brown says the 100,000th LX-platform car left Chrysler's Brampton, Ont., Canada, assembly plant this week carrying a Hemi V-8 with the fuel-saving Multi-Displacement System cylinder-deactivation technology.

Brown says since MDS' launch last fall, the technology has helped consumers save more than 8 million gallons (30 million L) of gasoline and around $15 million, assuming an average gasoline cost of $1.86/gal.

Source: Wards Auto