04 CTS-V, 05 STS, 07 SRX- All sold :(
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Chrysler BK, Fiat deal reached, Nardelli leaves.
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04 CTS-V, 05 STS, 07 SRX- All sold :(
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26,570 Posts
I believe they already reached a new pay agreement with the Union prior to the Ch.11. The only reason they still needed the BK was the minority debt holders wouldn't accept a buyout like the majority did.
I suspect the Chrysler care level is quite low.
04 CTS-V, 05 STS, 07 SRX- All sold :(
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Because it affects ton of jobs and our economy, and very well may be a blueprint for what happens to General Motors in the coming months.
Apathy is not an admirable trait.
Apathy is not an admirable trait.
Yea, Chrysler needs to disappear already. Going through this bullshit every 5-10 years is getting old. If the jobs will be lost then they need to be lost. A clean break is better than prolonging this dog and pony show to it's messy, inevitable end over and over and over. Long live the only two American car companies that matter, and that HAVE mattered for the past 10 years.
It's like those people in the nice neighborhood that everyone suspects are drug dealers. After a-while you just don't give a damn about seeing the cops in front of their house.
It's like those people in the nice neighborhood that everyone suspects are drug dealers. After a-while you just don't give a damn about seeing the cops in front of their house.
Something that *IS* an interesting twist to all this not mentioned above... Chrysler is outsourcing it's financing operations to none other than GMAC.
Too bad GM doesn't own a majority stake anymore, that could be a nice source of income.Edmunds.com said:
'03 STS (RIP), '89 Eldorado, '13 Malibu, '89 Grand Wagoneer
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It's unfortunate that it's come to this... I'm still left to wonder what things would be like had Chrysler not agreed to that disastrous "merger" with Diamler a decade ago. I realize some people don't have very high opinions of Chrysler in general, but the fact remains that at the time of the "merger," Chrysler was a healthy, viable company which was turning out some fairly competitive products and was in several ways leading amongst the Detroit Three. While some may try to question that assertion, I still hold if that were not the case, then Chrysler would not have been as attractive to Diamler as it was.
Regardless of anything else that can be said on the situation, I still hold Diamler largely at fault for this whole mess... If it weren't for the Germans completely screwing the pooch, then Chrysler would have never subsequently fallen into the inept hands of the three-headed dog and things could have been very different then they are today.
That's not to say that I think even amidst this overall downturn that Chrysler would somehow be faring better than the rest of industry, but I strongly feel that had they remained independent from the get-go, they would have at least come into this slump as a much stronger, more stable company than the disheveled, skeleton they are now.
It's a sad day either way...
Regardless of anything else that can be said on the situation, I still hold Diamler largely at fault for this whole mess... If it weren't for the Germans completely screwing the pooch, then Chrysler would have never subsequently fallen into the inept hands of the three-headed dog and things could have been very different then they are today.
That's not to say that I think even amidst this overall downturn that Chrysler would somehow be faring better than the rest of industry, but I strongly feel that had they remained independent from the get-go, they would have at least come into this slump as a much stronger, more stable company than the disheveled, skeleton they are now.
It's a sad day either way...
I realize that if this deal goes through Fiat stands to benefit from a readymade dealer network and will come upon some obsolete manufacturing facilities ........... but I don't see how this will benefit Fiat in the near term and in the intermediate term. The consensus seems to be that the Chrysler dealerships were pretty sad organizations enjoying negative reputations in the marketplaces. Chrysler's lineup for many years have been mere rehashes of designs ....... a company insearch of the "Impossible Nitch." I think Fiat's move is liken to the infamous "Peter Principal" as its' management attempts to stretch the success of its' current winning streak. Such is the fate of those that ignore the warning "Caveat Emptor!"
'03 STS (RIP), '89 Eldorado, '13 Malibu, '89 Grand Wagoneer
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It's really not all that interesting of a twist... Did you really think that Cerberus didn't have several contingency plans up its sleeve? They were going to get their money back some how, some way... The writing was on the wall for something like this to happen after they acquired a majority stake in GMAC.
But it really is too bad for GM... They should have never unloaded any ownership in GMAC to begin with.
The Daimler era was the beginning of the end for Chrysler. In 1997 it was a profitable enterprise with some attractive vehicles. By 2000 it was a disaster. Although, it should not go without saying that Chrysler is notorious for the infamous "yo-yo" effect of ups and downs much more than either of the other two by far.
Like I said, I'm just tired of it. I'd rather remember Chrysler for what it once represented than this diluted cess-pool it has become after so many hands have been in the stew.
'03 STS (RIP), '89 Eldorado, '13 Malibu, '89 Grand Wagoneer
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Really?
Near-term notwithstanding, for the intermediate and especially long-term this has the potential of being hugely beneficial for Italian automaker...
Fiat is a huge company that has next to zero market presence in North America. For very little effort on their part, they would be regaining access to the world's second largest automobile market and will also benefit from a ready-made financing agreement with GMAC.
Regardless of the currently perceived quality of such, the dealer network is a huge boon for Fiat... They've been wanting to reestablish themselves in the American market for a while now, but to do so on their own on a large scale would be financially impossible. For a company that basically has zero market presence here, the prospect of buying into a ready-made, nationwide dealership network for a mere fraction of both the money and time to do so independently must be very, very appealing.
Not only will every Chrysler/Dodge-branded Fiat sold in the US will be a sale they would have previously not had access to, but each one will be damn-near nothing but net profit for them... Theoretically, all Fiat will have to do is put the underlying bits and pieces together and sell it to Chrysler and let Chrysler pay for the rest of the design and marketing for such.
Beyond that, this pretty much affords Fiat preexisting showroom floorspace were they to decide to reestablish not only the Fiat brand itself in the United States, but their other subsidiaries such as Alfa Romeo and Lancia... As well as to expand the market footprint of Maserati or even Ferrari. Not to mention any of their commercial vehicle subsidiaries.
All for what... Buying a minority stake in Chrysler at cut-rate prices? Seems like a pretty good deal to me. Especially if you consider that even if Chrysler itself ultimately goes belly-up, Fiat could still potentially walk away with the manufacturing base and dealer network.
I cannot understand why you folks are so down on Chrysler ! They have some great cars & trucks that you are obviously unaware of.
1. VIPER Sports car
2. Inventor of the popular Minivan, still their current ones are the best in the market place
3. THE HEMI : Chrysler 300 SRT-8 AND Dodge Charger SRT-8
4. The Jeep Wrangler, Grand Cherokee and Commanders
5. Dodge Heavy Duty & Light Duty Trucks
6. The re-birth of the Dodge Challenger in 3 trim levels Incl. the 6.1 litre Hemi
A pretty impressive line-up ! Where they ARE weak, is the absence of a LUXURY car. In my opinion THAT is a big mistake ! To be a smashing success one needs a star on top of the Christmas tree for buyers to aspire to.
Think about it. GM has Cadillac, Ford has Lincoln, Honda has Acura, Nissan has Infiniti, Toyota has Lexus, Volvo has the S80 Premier Elite, and and...
Chrysler has_____________?____________.
That is where they are wrong, and what it is that they need.
1. VIPER Sports car
2. Inventor of the popular Minivan, still their current ones are the best in the market place
3. THE HEMI : Chrysler 300 SRT-8 AND Dodge Charger SRT-8
4. The Jeep Wrangler, Grand Cherokee and Commanders
5. Dodge Heavy Duty & Light Duty Trucks
6. The re-birth of the Dodge Challenger in 3 trim levels Incl. the 6.1 litre Hemi
A pretty impressive line-up ! Where they ARE weak, is the absence of a LUXURY car. In my opinion THAT is a big mistake ! To be a smashing success one needs a star on top of the Christmas tree for buyers to aspire to.
Think about it. GM has Cadillac, Ford has Lincoln, Honda has Acura, Nissan has Infiniti, Toyota has Lexus, Volvo has the S80 Premier Elite, and and...
Chrysler has_____________?____________.
That is where they are wrong, and what it is that they need.
1. Will likely be sold to generate revenue and isn't sold in enough volume to make a difference.
2. Their minivans are good, it is probably their most voluminous segment, but the quality, particularly interior-wise, is terrible. Honda Odyssey is a much better choice overall (although more expensive).
3. Good brand recognition on the Hemi, but a good motor doesn't make up for the rest of the shortfalls, and is almost overshadowed by the transmission it is attached to.
4. Absolutely agree, the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler are by FAR the strongest nameplates in the Chrysler line-up, and the Jeep brand is most likely to survive whatever ends up becoming of Chrysler. The Commander is being axed and the Compass and Patriot need to die a horrible death. They water down the brand.
5. Dodge trucks... Look great, but have always lagged behind ALL of their competitors and are known for transmission weakness. And *any* perceived weakness in this segment is a major pitfall.
6. Dodge Challenger is a HOT car. I personally LOVE it, this is definitely one of the best things to be churned out by Chrysler in along time. Again however, all of the positives at Chrysler don't make a DENT in the overall negatives.
Given the current economy, putting together any kind of upscale brand at Chrysler is probably a DISTANT possibility, if at all. If it were to happen, materials and engineering would have to drastically improve to make it even a worthy competitor for Cadillac. It isn't worth spewing a Lincoln out there just for the sake of having an upscale nameplate.
2003 Cadillac Seville STS 73k Miles, '90 Chevy 1500 Reg Cab
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The only 2 points on that list that I agree that Chrysler could consider an asset is the Minivan and the Jeep. GM doesn't make minivan's anymore, and Ford's Windstar isn't bad but not nearly as good as the Town & Country.
The Jeep in my opinion is the most valuable brand in the Chrysler group. They have great recognition, solid history, incredibly devoted following, with relatively low amounts of money needed to be spent on new product development as the base Jeep design has changed little in the last 25 years. GM has tried to buy Jeep multiple times in the last 30 years and I wouldn't be surprised if that actually happens in the next couple of years.
But I agree with the previous comments about the other 4 list items, the Viper is so low production and when you compare bang for the buck gets smoked by the Vette, the new Hemi is purely a marketing play, Dodge hasn't made a decent tranny in the last 20 years and their trucks suffer because of it, and the Challenger I think is at least a step in the right direction, but too late, no matter how great it is.
If the deal goes through, time will tell if the FIAT management team is up to the task of making a silk purse from a sows ear. I wish them well!
Aside from the 2009+ Rams and 300M's, I haven't liked any of the products Chrysler has made since the early '70s, and by that I mean their beautiful and potent muscle cars and extremely well engineered Imperials, so I'm not exactly worried about not seeing any more Dodges, Chryslers or Jeeps (no offense to any owners/enthusiasts, it's just my humble opinion), but what excites me is the thought of cheap Italian cars offered across the country, and with many dealerships bringing cheap and easy parts and service.
I've always wanted an Alfa Romeo (or other mainstream italian car), but feared costs and service nightmares...now it's attainable!
I've always wanted an Alfa Romeo (or other mainstream italian car), but feared costs and service nightmares...now it's attainable!
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