FWIW, I was at the local Chrysler dealer this weekend (helping my mother-in-law buy a used Buick). They hadn't even heard of the latest news on the deal with Nissan. I can understand not having the inside scoop, but if you're going to be selling a product, shouldn't you at least surf the internet to learn what's going on?

 

Well, take the cost of the plant, divy up the cost of it according to the Titan's utilization of the plant, and then add in the development and tooling costs for the Titan. So, the Titan's share of the plant costs might have been "only" $250M, but then you've got engineering costs, validation, and tooling not just at Nissan, but at all of your suppliers.

I've seen what it costs to develop and tool something "simple" like a brake pedal for that truck. If someone says that it costs $1-2B to launch the vehicle into mass-production, I've got absolutely no reason to argue with such a number.

 

not if you could care less. most salespeople are numbers only.

 

Actually it was the finance manager.

 

Amen.

and F' a Nissan.

 

Hey, don't be so hard on Chrysler dealers...was it not for this forum, I wouldn't have heard of this, either! And I'm the GSM here for crying out loud.

One thing people need to realize about dealers is that there is enough stuff to keep us busy from the mother land that does NOT involve surfing the web looking up info on our beloved product. You wouldn't believe the stack of product emails I get on a daily basis. Unless you're a total car geek like me, surfing the web for the daily dish on Chrysler is a pure afterthought. All most dealers care about is the stuff in the IMMEDIATE pipeline, which is gonna affect business in the near future. Who cares about 2 years from now when I have so much other stuff going on? I sure don't. The companies barely give enough info on that, even.

As for the wise crack about sales and numbers, I gotta ask you...is your employer any different? I don't think your employer lets you surf the net for relevant car info, either...