Chrysler on the Block?

[whitey]

OK, I got my new Hemmings Muscle Machines (Jan 07)
on page 10 at the top:

"A decade after the so-called merger of equals, which turned out to be a takeover after all, is there a plan afoot to make Chrysler independant again?"

I don't know, can Chrysler surrvive not being part of a global organization? I work for a company that has a famous name "Mack Trucks", and we were aquired by Volvo from Renult. I don't think we could go back to being independant again, customers would not be able to afford the trucks, the price would soar.

What's your opinions guys????? If they did separate would Plymouth come back.

 

[BJS racing]

I don't think that there is any company except for Chevy that would be able to survive out on its own the way the business world it anymore. I am kinda wishing that the merger would have never happened and at the same time it probably saved Chrysler. I don't know if the team up with Dahmler made operating any cheaper but they did bring some of the technology to some of the vehicles that Chrysler needed to add to keep up with the demand of emissions and fuel economy. At the same time they took away some of the things that made Chrysler what it is. For example like you said Plymouth and also took some of the power cars out of the line up and then to top it all off did a (IMO) bad job of bringing back some of the old names. I am thinking that the Challenger would do better than the Charger and Magnum if they can manage to keep the price reasonable. The problem with all the manufacturers is that they have all driven the price of cars and trucks up to the point that most can't afford to buy new. I didn't say we dont but alot of us shouldn't. A guy I work with was looking at new Chevy's and was looking at a sticker of $32,000. This was a not fully loaded gas motor truck. I mean damn. Get real.

 

[340mopar]

They haven't driven the price up for the sake of driving it up. They aren't making any money so they can't lower the prices. Labor cost is the single highest cost for an auto manufacturer. That's why they were looking to ship some of the manufacturing over the borders, lay people off and asked people to retire early. I assume when you say chevy you really mean GM because chevy is just a division not the parent company. Alot of the proplems with GM is because of chevy. I changed from GM (Buicks) to Mopar in the mid 80's because of chevy's cry baby attitude. The Buick turbo program (GN and GNX's) were killed because chevy cryed to GM that Buick's cars were faster than the corvette. Instead of chevy making a car that was better (which would be forward thinking) they had the Buick's killed which is backward thinking. GM is going under fast, they have lost in the billions of dollars quarter after quarter. If you pay out more than you take in you are bankrupt (or the US government, but that's another story). They keep lowering prices to generate sales which forces Chrysler and Ford to follow suit which hurts all three while the foreign companies, namely Toyota is taking advantage of it and getting bigger while the "big" three get smaller. Actually a new vehicle today is less than it was 25 years ago when you compare then to annual salary dollars.

Can't tell I have a little animosity towards chevy or GM can you?

Chuck

 

[BJS racing]

When I was saying that chevy is the only one that could support its self I was just trying to say that if you take one name and make it go out into the market without any other backing they would be about the only one with the sales history and product base to cover enough that they would at least be the longest lasting on the market. And as you said about the cost of a car in comparison to the wages made now you are very right. The only problem is that everything else (houses and food and what not) have inflated alot too. I don't know about most of you but I can't afford to go out and have a $600 and up a month car payment and be able to live.

 

[340mopar]

If you are right and chevy is the only domestic brand left, I will definetly be buying an import. Because of chevy's business practices I would buy a new one for any thing in the world.

Chuck