Chrysler -- alive or dead?

[Bamadog]

Jeep- ruined by the faux Jeep Compass (no way that survives the Rubicon Trail, what a crummy pile of smoking turd that is actually a rebadged Caliber with a Jeep grill), two compact SUVs that are needless duplication (Patriot, Liberty) and the absolutely pointless Jeep Commander, a big, heavy white elephant of an SUV that is just a more squared-off Grand Cherokee.

The Patriot and Liberty are not the same vehicle. The Patriot is the more "manly" version of the Compass, and both are based on the Dodge Caliber. The Nitro and Liberty are platform-cousins; neither has any connection to the Caliber/Patriot/Compass vehicles other than by manufacturer.

And saying the Jeep brand was "ruined" by anything is a gross overstatement.

Dodge trucks also sell well to tradesmen, ranchers and farmers. They need the Hemi and diesel models for towing.

I'm not saying the brand is ruined completely, but building the Compass and its pointless twin doesn't help.

And the truck design will go elsewhere. Nissan's next full-size will be a rebadged Dodge Ram. Maybe they'll buy the factory and the design.

I think it's easy to see why I'd get confused on Chrysler-Jeep's model lineup. And I'm probably not the only one.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

And the truck design will go elsewhere. Nissan's next full-size will be a rebadged Dodge Ram. Maybe they'll buy the factory and the design.

Funny you should mention that ... :-X

 

[lono]

Jesus Chrysler Drives A Dodge [/1980s]

 

[User 1019]

Dead to me since I got rid of that POS Sebring.

 

[dixiehack]

I believe there is some time frame that if plants stay closed the union becomes decertifield. Perhaps this is Chrysler's plan.

Let them try. I think the USFL is still technically on hiatus also.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Uh oh. More quality-control problems for Chrysler.

http://tinyurl.com/77ufzr

Oh, the irony.

(With rarely-seen awesome user comments.)

 

[playthrough]

I've owned four Jeep/Chrysler products. Most recent one, a 2000 Concorde, is still humming along (knocking on wood as I type this). But I fully agree, the current product line is crap.

Begs the question though -- if Chrysler goes under, all those unsold vehicles gotta go somewhere. How low would the fire sale go? I'd absolutely buy one at a couple dimes on the dollar.

 

[OTD]

I've owned three four Jeep/Chrysler products. Most recent one, a 2000 Concorde, is still humming along (knocking on wood as I type this). But I fully agree, the current product line is crap.

Begs the question though -- if Chrysler goes under, all those unsold vehicles gotta go somewhere. How low would the fire sale go? I'd absolutely buy one at a couple dimes on the dollar.

They'd go pretty cheap, but not as low as 20 percent. At some point, they'd probably get as low as 50 percent of MSRP. See: Daewoo and Isuzu for experience with this.

 

[playthrough]

Did all those cars sell?

 

[heyabbott]

I've owned three four Jeep/Chrysler products. Most recent one, a 2000 Concorde, is still humming along (knocking on wood as I type this). But I fully agree, the current product line is crap.

Begs the question though -- if Chrysler goes under, all those unsold vehicles gotta go somewhere. How low would the fire sale go? I'd absolutely buy one at a couple dimes on the dollar.

They'd go pretty cheap, but not as low as 20 percent. At some point, they'd probably get as low as 50 percent of MSRP. See: Daewoo and Isuzu for experience with this.

Isuzu got bought, in this country, by GM. For a while they sold the Isuzu trooper, then merged the Trooper with one of their own stupid SUVs. I owned a Trooper and loved it for 165,000 miles. But GMs service sucked so bad that I sold it before it needed another timing belt.

Problem with a fire sale on Chrysler will be that the money you save on a product will be lost if no one is around to honor the warranty

 

[Inky_Wretch]

From my Dad, the Dodge dealer ... if Chrysler goes bankrupt, then the warranties are voided. If Chrysler is bought or merges, then those are honored. If you bought an extended warranty, that's usually done via a third-party and won't be affected by anything Chrysler does.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Fresh off its recent alliance with Fiat (and given the companies' quality histories1, that'd damned appropriate), Chrysler is now urging its dealers to order more new cars and trucks. If most Chrysler dealerships look like the local ones, there's no reason for dealers to order at this point.
------------
1Fix It Again, Tony!

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

At least the porn industry had the good judgment to ask for a bailout for something the American public still has a consuming interest in.

 

[lono]

Can't wait for Chrysler's new "halo" car:

 

[dixiehack]

My in-laws bought a new Grand Caravan this weekend. Once the guys at the dealership figured out that they were the last people in a three-state radius with a credit score high enough to let them finance a vehicle, they couldn't shovel enough discounts their way to get them to sign on the dotted line. At one point, my father-in-law was told that if he could provide the name and number of a prospect, they would knock an additional $650 off the price. When he declined to do so, the salesman filled in the number of one of his friends and shoved it on through.

 

[OTD]

Can't wait for Chrysler's new "halo" car:

About a million years ago, I worked for a Dodge dealership that had previously also sold Fiats. You could always tell when one was in for service because you'd hear a loud "****" followed by the sound of a wrench being thrown against the wall by a mechanic.

 

[derwood]

Fiat x1/9!

 

[MacDaddy]

Outside the van, they really made a ****ty product. GM is going through the same experience right now. Outside their truck, they had a ****ty product.

Ford had better products (small SUV and the Focus) and is in better shape.

The Volt might save GM.

Ford is by far in the best shape of the Detroiters. GM, assuming it can stay afloat for the next few months, is in decent shape, too. They have a pretty good lineup now and good things in the pipeline; their efforts to turn things around are starting to bear fruit (a lot of people don't realize how long it takes to develop a car). Chrysler's problem is that pretty much everything it makes now is ****, and the cupboard is bare. The Fiat deal gives them some hope, but we shall see. It gets a lot more intriguing, though, if the rumors of a Fiat deal with Peugeot are true.

The Volt is intriguing, but I don't think it's fair to say it's going to save GM. It'll end up being a relatively low-volume model that cost a ****load of money to engineer. It's great PR and an exciting technological development, but, at least in the short term, it's not going to be the savior.

 

[Bubbler]

None of it matters unless the credit markets thaw.

You can make a car that gets 900 miles to the gallon and gives you on-demand road head, but if it can't be financed, it can't be sold.

 

[Beef03]

None of it matters unless the credit markets thaw.

You can make a car that gets 900 miles to the gallon and gives you on-demand road head, but if it can't be financed, it can't be sold.

And, uh, where do I sign up for that?