Chrysler to be bought by Fiat

[denim 5,000+ posts]

Maybe they want to get back into the american market? It's not been since the 80's that Fiat's were sold in America.
They were actually ahead of the times on the gas guzzlers, hell my Fiat Spyder got like 30 mpg.

And lets not forget the Fiat Dino, who still gets well over $60k at Barrett Jackson.

You have a good point. I know Alfa has been working on making a return, but had not heard much about return intest from Fiat.

 

[Propimp 10+ year member]

American companies did more for the automobile than the rest of the world combined. That is all you need to know.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

Thank union labor for making it impossible for the American Auto industry to succeed, better products or not. Assembly line workers making $25-$40 an hr, full benefits, retirement, etc... it was only a matter of time. Everyone acts like its a surprise, this was predicted 20 or more years ago for no other reason than retirement payouts.
edit: Every year markets and economies become more global. As this happens, the deleoped nations will have a hard time competing for labor rates, as exactly what we see now in the US vs China or India. Simply throwing money at a failing and antiquated business plan will not work. But then, our politicians show no signs of having the intelligence, ability, or even desire to actually steer us in the right direction. Personal gain coming before the public's best interest. And yet we just keep electing them, thinking if we try the other party this election we will see any form of real change. Sheeple.

Seems like the circle of corruption is centered around Detroit and Chicago. Oh whoops did not mean to go that political. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[EpicAudio 10+ year member]

American's buying Fiats?

Some how that just doesn't compute.

Maybe some yuppies from Malibu?

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

See? That's a prime example of what I am referring to. Forget the price of fuel for a second. Forget the other factors whether they are accurate or not. Look at the K - not because of the fact that it was smaller, cheaper, more fuel efficient than its counterparts, etc. - but because Chrysler marketed the shit out of it. Chrysler created a need that really wasn't there to begin with at the time.
EDIT: Let me rephrase that - Chrysler didn't create the need, but rather jumped on the whole energy crisis paranoia bandwagon that was present at the time. Lee Iakoka was a marketing genius and he took Chrysler to heights that it will never see again.

You could say the exact same things about the George Forman Grill. That doesn't mean that's how most people eat thier dinner everyday.

I disagree with every thing you just said. The k was a piece of shit. It would have failed early, if the gov't hadn't bought millions of them, because they were not allowed to buy foriegn cars, and because they were trying to keep chrysler alive. Artificially.

This is not smaller, cheaper or more fuel efficent than what the japanese, and others were doing.

This is what Chrysler was offering in 1995:

This is what Honda was offering in 1995:

Better fuel economy, better perfomance, better reliablity, better cost, better quality, better, better, better, etc.

Lee Iakoka was a con man who scared the gov't to give him a giant, and illegal, bail out because Chrysler was "too big to fail". Sound familiar?

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

Aw, c'mon. I'm referencing the year(s) of the K that you posted - not 1995. Calling the K a piece of shit when thousands of them were purchased (and no, it wasn't just the government that bought them) is simply bunk. It would be no different than me calling the F150 a POS despite the fact that, what, millions of them have been purchased?

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

Chrysler really dug their own hole on this. They got into the SUV game waaaay too late. They have something like 13 SUVs in their lineup now. Not everyone wants one. The gas prices really killed their sales on that. They dont have any small cars at all. They have some midsized and the rest are small SUV/hatchback looking things. They got rid of the Neon which was one of their top sellers. They need another small 2dr or 4dr car.

They also have way too many different models that have a different chassis and require different parts. The K car saved them in the 80s. EVERY car in the 80s/early 90s was based on a K chassis except for the L body (omni and charger). It was just stretched or shortened. Even the Caravan. Parts are cheap and they were cheap to make. Easy to work on.

I was a Chrysler parts advisor for 9 years before i got laid off last year. I have seen them slowly go down hill. Then when they merged with Daimler they tried to adapt all the Mercedes technology and sell fancy cars which cost too much and nobody bought. Then they dropped all their cheap low line cars in favor of goofy 5 dr hatchbacks that were popular for about 5 years.

They need to go back to simple reliable cars with their solid trucks and a few of the high line cars. Yea the Challenger and all the other SRT8 vehicles are cool, but its not going to save their business.

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

Chrysler really dug their own hole on this. They got into the SUV game waaaay too late. They have something like 13 SUVs in their lineup now. Not everyone wants one. The gas prices really killed their sales on that. They dont have any small cars at all. They have some midsized and the rest are small SUV/hatchback looking things. They got rid of the Neon which was one of their top sellers. They need another small 2dr or 4dr car. They also have way too many different models that have a different chassis and require different parts. The K car saved them in the 80s. EVERY car in the 80s/early 90s was based on a K chassis except for the L body (omni and charger). It was just stretched or shortened. Even the Caravan. Parts are cheap and they were cheap to make. Easy to work on.

I was a Chrysler parts advisor for 9 years before i got laid off last year. I have seen them slowly go down hill. Then when they merged with Daimler they tried to adapt all the Mercedes technology and sell fancy cars which cost too much and nobody bought. Then they dropped all their cheap low line cars in favor of goofy 5 dr hatchbacks that were popular for about 5 years.

They need to go back to simple reliable cars with their solid trucks and a few of the high line cars. Yea the Challenger and all the other SRT8 vehicles are cool, but its not going to save their business.

Frankly, I don't think anything will.

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

You could say the exact same things about the George Forman Grill. That doesn't mean that's how most people eat thier dinner everyday.
I disagree with every thing you just said. The k was a piece of shit. It would have failed early, if the gov't hadn't bought millions of them, because they were not allowed to buy foriegn cars, and because they were trying to keep chrysler alive. Artificially.

This is not smaller, cheaper or more fuel efficent than what the japanese, and others were doing.

This is what Chrysler was offering in 1995:

This is what Honda was offering in 1995:

Better fuel economy, better perfomance, better reliablity, better cost, better quality, better, better, better, etc.

Lee Iakoka was a con man who scared the gov't to give him a giant, and illegal, bail out because Chrysler was "too big to fail". Sound familiar?

you are not comparing the same cars though, you are comparing an imperial which was a fwd luxury car to a civic, comparing to a neon would be a better choice

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

Frankly, I don't think anything will.

I dont think so either, they dug too deep, tried to sell a certain type of vehicle after the fad died out and just didnt make anything that the cinsumer wanted, other than the trucks, which alot of contractors are dumpin now for vans due to gas mileage, not everyone can afford to drive a quad cab dually diesel that gets 12mpg 200 miles a day. Of course what do they do? Discontinue their full size van, and bring on the giant peice of garbage (mercedes built) Sprinter.

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

The k was made till 95'. I used that to show why chysler is in the mess their in now. Go back as far as you like. American auto has been in a toilet bowl swirl since 1970. Shit in need of a good flush.

Had chrysler been allowed to fail in the 70's, then the other auto maker would have been forced to compete or die. GM/Chrysler would now be a better company or they would be dead. Now we have weak shitty companies that still want more tax-payer lifesupport.

People who fall for that "Buy American" crap have made the problem worse. Anyone who bought a K car over a Honda was an idiot seduced by the American marketing BS. Without gov't purchases the k, and most other American cars, would have been forced to get better or die.

That's called market manipulation. It's the opposite of free market. Capitalism works. Stop the socialist style gov't car industry. Compete or die. Pull the plug and let these companies die.

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

Ha, I remember riding in my in-law's Honda Civic. It was the last and only time I'd ride in an Asian car...

 

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

Ha, I remember riding in my in-law's Honda Civic. It was the last and only time I'd ride in an Asian car...

you should try it with asian driver //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

The k was made till 95'. I used that to show why chysler is in the mess their in now. Go back as far as you like. American auto has been in a toilet bowl swirl since 1970. Shit in need of a good flush.
Had chrysler been allowed to fail in the 70's, then the other auto maker would have been forced to compete or die. GM/Chrysler would now be a better company or they would be dead. Now we have weak shitty companies that still want more tax-payer lifesupport.

People who fall for that "Buy American" crap have made the problem worse. Anyone who bought a K car over a Honda was an idiot seduced by the American marketing BS. Without gov't purchases the k, and most other American cars, would have been forced to get better or die.

That's called market manipulation. It's the opposite of free market. Capitalism works. Stop the socialist style gov't car industry. Compete or die. Pull the plug and let these companies die.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

Ya know, taking the content you write into context and looking at your avatar makes me think it is actually *that* guy saying it...

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

x2
How the **** is a company like Fiat going to save Chrysler when Daimler couldn't.

Fiat has no intention of "saving" chrysler. They aren't buying stock or taking on any of chrylsers' debts. Chrysler will simply be a sub contractor to Fiat. Helping build some cars, parts and distrobution thru chrysler's retail outlets. That income may help keep chrysler alive, but there is no guarantee.

Fiat doesn't care if chrylser folds. They will show up to the liquidation auction and try to buy the parts of the compnay they want. They may lose those bids against the japanese, chinese or others, so it's smarter to try it this way first.