GM might actually have a chance for survival. Chrysler has been gutted by Cerberus to make short term financial goals. I still think that Cerberus just wants to get out any way they can and if they can force a merger with GM and bail, they don't really care if both companies die as GM chokes on Chrysler's extra capacity.
GM has cars people want to buy, Chrysler has cars people buy because of brand loyalty or cheap prices (Employee Pricing Plus Plus!!!!!1!eleven).
Chrysler has 2 things going for it: their cummins diesel contract, and Jeep. Jeep in it's current state is nuetered and wimpering in the corner, and I doubt anyone there has the understanding of what it would take to build up that company's name again.
ReverendDexter wrote: GM has cars people want to buy, Chrysler has cars people buy because of brand loyalty or cheap prices (Employee Pricing Plus Plus!!!!!1!eleven). Chrysler has 2 things going for it: their cummins diesel contract, and Jeep. Jeep in it's current state is nuetered and wimpering in the corner, and I doubt anyone there has the understanding of what it would take to build up that company's name again.
There is nothing wrong with Jeep that couldn't be fixed in 6 months with proper focus.
get rid of those girly 4 door wranglers that i refuse to wave at when i pass
4 door Wranglers are great.
Jeep should make things like this, only more handsome.
New rules for Jeep:
Solid axles
Locking Hubs
I6 engines
Low range
4WD is a shifter on the floor, not a button on the dash.
Shawn
Not that Ceribus is exempt, but Chrysler was originally gutted for short term profit by Daimler.
But there has to be a bailout! I've been recycling all my `80s era "Tax Dodge" jokes for three months now! 
I expect one of the 3 to fail, the market almost demands this, and Chrysler is the weakest....it is a jungle and only the strong survive
Sorry, when I said no one understands what it takes to get Jeep back on it's feet, I meant no one in a current position of authority to make such a decision knows how to do it.
The fate is the same for all niche brands: they make an awesome car or three, get a good, hardcore following, then wonder why they lose all credibility when they attempt to make mass-market appeal vehicles. Porsche has done it, Jeep has done it, Subaru has done it, and Lotus is the exception to prove the rule.
Just for sticking to their guns, I will buy a Lotus should I ever be in the position to afford one.
Honestly, as much as I may not like some GM products.. there were even more chrysler products I didn't like...
Bring back cheap, durable (albeit tinny) fuel efficient vehicles. They can turbo the, to get more power and... Wait, Chrysler did that. It also had a competitive small car with the Neon and had done well with The Intrepid etc. Daimler abandoned all small platform development. Now Ma Mopar is dead in the water.
Chrysler was taken 'upmarket' by Daimler Benz. Why, I don't know. There were many mistakes, such as the Pacifica. It just didn't really fit anywhere and was plagued with electrical problems.
The new Sebring is a joke; check out the convertible to see how just how poorly thought out things were in the design phase.
The 300 could save the brand, it's actually not a bad design (even though I detest the styling). But I don't see the Chrysler brand surviving no matter what they do.
Dodge has viability through trucks and the performance models. Smaller cars sold under that brand would probably sell OK.
Jeep has strong brand loyalty even with the Wrangler redesign, but the Commander and Compass need to go away FAST. The Compass overlaps the Patriot way too much in size and price (whose dumb idea was THAT?) and for that reason does not sell well. The Patriot actually seems to be picking up in sales at our store; it gets decent gas mileage, will hold a family of 4 and looks a lot like the old Cherokee (on purpose).
The Commander is just wrong for the market and the brand. It's not as big and roomy as the Suburban/Yukon or Expedition or as 'in your face' as the H2 and those are its main competition. Add to that the base 3.7 V6 (bog slow!) and you have another crappy marketing decision.
The Grand Cherokee will sell based on the older versions loyalty (although I swear as crappy as the 99-04's were I don't know why anybody would ever buy a new on).
New production of First Gen neons, and an optional SRT4 coupe
neon4891 wrote: New production of First Gen neons, and an optional SRT4 coupe
No kidding. Who was the genius that axed the Neon for the Caliber, just as the Neon was getting respect as a performance car in it's SRT-4 guise?
"Hrm, I have an idea, let's take a known good platform, and replace it with utter rubbish! Yes Janice? Oh, of course we'll make it more urban styled, we need to attract buyers in those markets. Dave? Hrm, well, I'm not sure that Hummer is exactly competition, but you're right, we'd better style it so that it can compete in that market, too. I'm sorry, can you speak up Roberto? Oh, SRT? Uh, I don't know why we even make those... we still have a bunch of those turboboosters laying around, don't we? Okay, just jam one of those on..."
That is a very good observation that Daimler gutted chrysler, since mercedes only lost money on the merger. Chrysler is junk and mercedes wrote down the last 20% so it won't drag down future earnings. If you only lose money how did you gut the thing for short term profits?
Mercedes did try to bring chrysler upmarket and tried using shared platforms(crossfire uses slk platform), but it failed. Mercedes should be recognized for it's failed attemps at mergers and acquisitions, mercedes also had a 30% stake in mitsubishi.
ReverendDexter wrote: The fate is the same for all niche brands: they make an awesome car or three, get a good, hardcore following, then wonder why they lose all credibility when they attempt to make mass-market appeal vehicles. Porsche has done it, Jeep has done it, Subaru has done it, and Lotus is the exception to prove the rule.
Porsche continues to make more and more niche vehicles while becoming one of the most profitable car companies in the world. Sure, the Cayenne is dumb, but because of it we get the GT3 RS. I'm cool with that.
Maybe I should say "other people get the GT3 RS". I'll probably never get the chance to drool on one, never mind drive one.
benzbaron wrote: Mercedes did try to bring chrysler upmarket and tried using shared platforms(crossfire uses slk platform), but it failed.
Translation:
Daimler took over, robbed their war chest, fired the engineers, and dumped a bunch of obsolete Mercedes parts on the company.
Keith wrote: Porsche continues to make more and more niche vehicles while becoming one of the most profitable car companies in the world. Sure, the Cayenne is dumb, but because of it we get the GT3 RS. I'm cool with that.
It's not only sales that makes Porsche profitable. They also handle thier financials well:
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE49R3I920081028
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/30/business/norris31.php?page=1
There was a much better explanation of it somewhere but basically, Porsche made more money last year by "investing" it's money than it did by building cars.
DILYSI Dave wrote:ReverendDexter wrote: GM has cars people want to buy, Chrysler has cars people buy because of brand loyalty or cheap prices (Employee Pricing Plus Plus!!!!!1!eleven). Chrysler has 2 things going for it: their cummins diesel contract, and Jeep. Jeep in it's current state is nuetered and wimpering in the corner, and I doubt anyone there has the understanding of what it would take to build up that company's name again.There is nothing wrong with Jeep that couldn't be fixed in 6 months with proper focus. 1. Drop the sissy re-brands. 2. Create a Rubicon version of everything that is left. No, not a Rubicon sticker - an actual legitimate Rubicon version.
Bring back the Cherokee. Not the Grand. Not the luxury model. The original 4X4 station wagon with the 4 litre six. Just like the one I still have in my driveway.
Unfortunately, the old 4.0 reached the end of the road, it would just cost too much to make the thing meet ever tightening emissions standards and still perform decently. Not to mention it's a heavy cast iron pig that takes up way too much longways space. The 3.8 pushrod and the 3.7 OHC may not be the best replacement for it but they are better than nothing.
The old Cherokee body wouldn't meet the newer rollover and airbag standards without a massive rework. BTW, that's what killed the Isuzu Axiom and Rodeo too.
So we got the much reworked Liberty in the Cherokee's place (they still call them Cherokees in Oz, BTW but that's not PC up here).
longhorndude wrote: get rid of those girly 4 door wranglers that i refuse to wave at when i pass
Quit being a snob. The 4 doors are awesome. I'll take mine with Dana 60's and 40" KM2's on Walker Evans Bead Locks please,
Jensenman wrote: The Compass overlaps the Patriot way too much in size and price (whose dumb idea was THAT?) and for that reason does not sell well.
they're the same bloody car! its a rebrand...under the same brand...WTF! and what a worthless steaming pile of crap they both are too.
The compass was supposed to bring in the ladies.
It didn't bring in very many. 
And holy schitt it's ugly.
Like the Sebring redesign there are no two styling lines which work well together, it's automotive styling goulash. The Caliber is a much more harmonious design.
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