Do You Have FAITH in a CHRYSLER? (German, minivan, hybrid)

[KevK]

I often listen to Clark Howard who is a consumer radio talk host here in Atlanta and he has stirred a controversy with Chrysler by saying that he does not think they will be in business in a few years and that would make their warranty useless. Of course saying that might hasten the day it will be true! How do you feel about Chrysler? Do you have faith in its survival?

[wordsmith680]

I think there product offering is better now than when they were bailed out many years ago. I am not sure of their market share in other countries, but that will have more bearing on longevity / profitability. I don't know this Clark Howard, but does he have a bone to pick because of the previous sale to Daimler? I know the Germans have a knack of pissing off those they come to impose on.

[1970pelle]

Yea I think they will be around a long time.If you have and will notice,they are not trying to be in the race for the top 3 or 4 anymore.They are content to keep it small.So the can make a good product.I feel GM and Ford are on shacky ground they are spread very thin.Chrysler drop a few models not long ago that were falling off.The Pacifica was a dud right out of the box.The Crossfire was one of the best car deals out there.And people missed it.It was 100% MB.A great little car.I was really surprized they dropped the magnum wagon.So they aren't afraid to make changes to keep going.The new Challenger is cool but wih gas prices it also will be short lived.People have forgotten that chrysler brought out the K-car in the early 80's and the minivan completely changed the car market.Maybe they will do it again

[sean98125]

I would love for Chrysler to be what it once was, but every time I sit in a Chrysler product it just feels kind of cheap.

I can think of it in terms of stores. GM and Ford are like Walmart and Target. Both fairly decent stores. But Chrysler is like K-Mart. Kinda cheap, and even in newly remodeled stores there is still something that is lacking. And it has the stink of death on it, a sense that it is in decline rather than ascension.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by sean98125

I would love for Chrysler to be what it once was, but every time I sit in a Chrysler product it just feels kind of cheap.

I can think of it in terms of stores. GM and Ford are like Walmart and Target. Both fairly decent stores. But Chrysler is like K-Mart. Kinda cheap, and even in newly remodeled stores there is still something that is lacking. And it has the stink of death on it, a sense that it is in decline rather than ascension.

Keeping with the Wal-Mart/Target/K-Mart topic, I would say that if those stores represent the Big 3, then Hyundai would be Family Dollar, Dollar General, or Big Lots.

[jeepejeep]

Well by my own experience this is how I see it:
I bought a Frod Taurus because of all the rave reviews it got including Consumer Reports. By the time it had 64,000 miles on it Ford had replaced the trans 4 times and the last one was starting to slip. Plus it was literally falling apart. Needed over $3,000 worth of repairs just to keep it on the road. Piece of crap.
Bought a Chevy Impala. also got good reviews from the magazines, car programs on TV etc. Not a bad car but the front rotors arp every 3 th 6 months. GM will not replace thm so I had to buy replacements myself. Rear rotors rust because the brake pads hardly contact the rotors. My mechanic says it's a defect. GM denies it. Front wheel bearings NG after 60,000 miles. Had to replace the outer tie rod ends twice. Not good.
In this time, I have owned 3 Jeeps. Put over 150,000 miles on 2 of them, no major problems at all. Took them off-road towed with them and drove them pretty hard. Great vehicles. My current Jeep Grand Cherokee only has 25,000 miles on it and has had a few electrical glitches that seem to be OK now.
All these vehicles have been serviced by me and my mechanic. I take very good care of my cars and have to say that other than Jeep, I'll never buy another American car.

[FightinPhils]

Honda or Toyota is the way to go for the price and reliability. My Accord has 110,000 and the only thing it ever needed was a front wheel bearing just last month, and front brake pads/rotors last year. Runs like the day it was new.

[yo vanilla]

No faith, especially under the new, er, leadership.

[8 SNAKE]

Chrysler definitely isn't going to close its doors. Cerberus might end up slicing and dicing the current company, or selling out to the highest bidder at some point in the future. The Chinese are chomping at the bit to get into the US market, and the purchase of a company like Chrysler would give them a pre-established network to do so. Either way, the company isn't going under.

[mbuszu]

Originally Posted by KevK

I often listen to Clark Howard who is a consumer radio talk host here in Atlanta and he has stirred a controversy with Chrysler by saying that he does not think they will be in business in a few years and that would make their warranty useless. Of course saying that might hasten the day it will be true! How do you feel about Chrysler? Do you have faith in its survival?

There's no faith involved. It's a business - it's run by business people who will ultimately decide whether or not it can reach the level of success it once enjoyed, or beyond. To thrive again, Chrysler (and the other Detroit automotive companies) need to completely change their business models. For what they used to do, the foreign car companies do it much better. They thus need to do something completely new and different and shift with the times, as the times are changing for the automobile in general.

If I was at the helm I'd probably propose to do something so radical that the board would immediately let me go. If instead I was allowed to proceed, my vision would be to go full-throttle in a new direction, I'd cancel all existing production models, and open up new lines of production of alternative fueled vehicles... probably hybrid diesel/electric/solar powered. I'd force my engineers to design small, medium, and large sized vehicle models within 6 months. Gone would be the traditional 5 year time frame for design to production... 6 months is what I'd demand for the design and prototype mock-up, and another 6-12 months for suppliers to be enabled for creating parts not created in house and for factories to be set up for production. Within 2 years I would have vehicles for sale which would get the best fuel mileage, have attributes appealing to singles, couples, small families, and large families.

Will Chrysler do this today or anytime soon... I doubt it. I suspect they will eventually merge with another large automotive company instead.