I’m digesting a lot of negative news about Chrysler this morning. Sales off 45%, new lawsuits and continuing lawsuits with Daimler over parts supply for future models and opinions that we (the taxpayer) aren’t going to see any of the bailout money paid back.
I’m more negative than ever about Chrysler’s future.
Is there any hope? (and don’t tell me about the Fiat 500 - IMO that segment of the market is just too competitive to save Chrysler).
Whoops!! Sorry…pretend this is on the general discussion board.
I too have doubt sabout Chrysler’s future.
More and more my belief that throwing our tax dollars at private sector companies to try to save them is bad policy. I’d like to see CHrysler survive, but not this way.
I’m with you. I HATE to see GM/Ford or Chryco fail…but they MUST be able to stand on their own. It’s pure socialism.
Chrysler needs to get over the period between sponsorship by Daimler-Benz and Fiat. A lot of that depends on how badly Fiat wants a ready-to-go dealer network. Renault didn’t seem to want the existing dealer network for their cars that Saturn offered. OTOH, Renault already has Nissan dealerships for their products. And Fiat has 26 models to choose from. They might not even offer the 500 at first. I wouldn’t. I think I’d start with the Punto and bring the 500 in later.
I hope it works out for them. There are a lot of Chrysler employees whose lives depend on it; dealer employees, too. It would be far better for them and us if they stay off the dole. We’re the short term answer, and it appears that Fiat is the long term answer.
Chrysler has a tough road. My brother in law was a Chrysler dealer mechanics for over 15 years. In his opinion the product quality had been getting worse and worse. The intial optomism over the Daimler Benz ownership sooned soured and quality and designs went south rather than north during that period.
Chrysler needs to improve quality fast on everything it sells, not easily done - ask Ford. Then Chrysler needs some very good small cars and at the same time has to hope gas prices go up significantly so there will be demand for them.
This is a tough period for auto makers. They got hammered with close to $5.00 a gallon gas and everyone went off big cars, trucks, and SUV’s. Now the gas prices are down again and not looking to spike again for a year or two. So, if you are a car company what do you develop and bring to market for the next 1,2 or 3 years? Small cars aren’t selling well now, hybrids aren’t selling well now, trucks and SUV’s aren’t selling well now - nothing is selling well now. The company that guesses right wins, but Chrysler is not likely to end this one a winner.
A car company has to design a number of quality, efficient, cars in different sizes and attracting different market segments. Then they have to design plants for manufacturing flexibilty to shift production to whatever is selling. By the time a car company takes two or 3 years retooling a factory to make a car the market has shifted again to something else. Manufacturing flexiblity is the key to thriving in the next 10 to 20 years in my opinion. When things are unstable you have to able to move fast because opportunities come along but last only a few years, not decades.
Let them get taken over by another company, hash it out in bankruptcy court to see if anything will remain, or go belly up forever; the gov. should stay out of it. And not just Chrysler either.
I remember reading a news blurb in a trade publication half a dozen years ago in which it was stated that many of Chrysler’s suppliers had put DC on a cash up front basis so their current troubles are just a continuation of what’s been coming on for a long time.
Also don’t think a Fiat merger is going to accomplish anything and that pairing sounds as strange as the goofy Chrysler/Daimler Benz merger some years ago.
Never did understand that one at all.
Sad to see it because I’m a Mopar fan. 