http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...10310361/1148/

 

Read the same article this morning.

It is a rather odd conversation, to say the least.

 

I'll say. A seperate stock listing would be intriguing. I'm not sure of what the unexpected consequences though.

 

Hmm ... isn't there a company currently on the prowl for a North American partner? One that badly needs NA capacity? One that is strong in cars but weak in trucks (the opposite of Chrysler)? One that's headed by a CEO that specializes in turnarounds?

Mr. Ghosn, please pick up the red courtesy phone ...

 

Daimler Chrysler's US wing has some of the poorest management I have ever seen. Why do I say this??

1) The company made 110,000 2007 models THAT HAD NO HOMES. They've been trying to pawn them off on dealers since around 9/1, and have only made homes for a little more than half of them. I'm staring right now at 4 Libertys I ate, and did not want, but I got anyway.

2) They do not listen to the dealer body at all. We did NOT want EP pricing. My new car net went from black to severe red this past summer with it...and I have to say, it didn't help us sell one extra car, either. Nobody gave a **** about it. At ride and drives, everyone bitches about the plasticky interiors in every new vehicle...I bitched about the Sebring at one last week. Know what the idiot rep said? "Well, harder plastics are more durable and easier to clean..."

Do you think a Honda dealer was ever told that about his Accord??

3) "We can't sell Durangos...so why not make a Chrysler version of it?" They should have spent that $$$ on better materials in the Caliber, or certifying a high MPG diesel for it.

Sorry for my rant...I'm just not surprised by this news...at all.

 

DCX should probably spin off the Chrysler part into its own stock. I worry about where they will get quality RWD automatic transmissions if they separate from Mercedes. Maybe GM will sell them some 6 speeds.

 

How about Kerkorian buys them?

 

Jason, you aren't the only person I've heard these complaints from.

It's bizzare. It seems Chrysler's product team is hitting home runs, upper management is giving Chrysler all the money it needs to develop new product. Yet it the people who pick interior materials and the guys responsible for marketing who dissappeared when the LX cars were in the pipeline & hit the streets seem to be back in force.

Chrysler has a maddening history of boom/bust, where it seems the sky is the limit, and then they go & shoot themselves in the foot.

Well, it's happened at least once every decade since at least the 1950s, so I guess they're due again.

 

Just theorizing here but it might well be that making the vehicles and keeping the plants running, even to make vehicles that aren't selling, is less expensive overall than cutting production. However, that isn't an excuse for pushing off those vehicles onto dealers who don't want/need them...there are other ways to handle excess inventory (at least in the short-term)

 

And that's the key problem...we (as in the dealer body) KNOW what they're doing...we just can't afford it. I have lost money 6 of the 7 months I've been here on new cars. When most dealers are paying 9.25% interest on several million dollars of new inventory (I'm down under $3M FINALLY), and everyone and their mother has been taught by CR to pay no more than invoice for a car, how are you supposed to make money on new cars??

I know they need to keep the plants running, but alienating 4,000+ dealers is an asinine plan, too. Chrysler is definitely trying to downsize its dealer network, whether it cares to admit it publicly like Ford did or not. We're all being crushed by the weight of interest costs we cannot afford.

In light of that, the 4th quarter production cuts DCX announced are no surprise to ANY dealer I have talked to. Automotive News did a recent survey...NINETY ONE PERCENT of DCX dealers surveyed said they'd felt significant pressure from DCX to take more cars. By comparison, I think 55% of Ford, 51% of GM and 18% of Toyota dealers were feeling pressure.

guion,
Think about it...I just got my first new Nitro and Sebring yesterday. Haven't seen an ad for either one yet. How pathetic is that?????????????

 

FWIW, Nitro adds have been running during the NASCAR races for the last three weeks.

 

Yea a close frind of mine is a line manager at the Ram/Dakota plant in Detroit. He has not worked for that plant in 2 months. They claim that sales are down and they need to work on the plant while they have time. They move employees to other plants (against their will) like they dump cars. He's been stationed at a supplier plant for most of his "off" time near Chicago. So I hear you that Chrysler is in disaray.

 

Yea a close frind of mine is a line manager at the Ram/Dakota plant in Detroit. He has not worked for that plant in 2 months. They claim that sales are down and they need to work on the plant while they have time. They move employees to other plants (against their will) like they dump cars. He's been stationed at a supplier plant for most of his "off" time near Chicago. So I hear you that Chrysler is in disaray.