Chrysler to be bought by Fiat

[wu36ca 10+ year member]

Keep buying foreign vehicles, we've almost irradicated our country of the nasty pariah known as the "American Auto Industry"!

Ironically the US economy receives more benefit from buying foreign cars since foreign cars built in America outnumber domestic cars built in America by quite a bit.
Fiats ****. My parents had one back in the day and it sucked and the Fiats I saw in Italy over the summer reminded me why they are garbage. There is a reason why they are called Fix It Again Tony.

Sadly the Big 3 are in their worst trouble at a time when they were starting to develop models people actually wanted to drive.

 

[EpicAudio 10+ year member]

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.

Ahhhh ok.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

The japanese don't pay for labor?Maybe they don't pay for benefits, retirement, etc? I think they do.

Of course they pay for labor. But at what rate? What retirement plans? Benefits? Medical? Its no secret american union labor is one of the highest labor rates in the world.

Automation in the american auto manufacturers was not a big factor. I worked in that field for years. Many times foreign auto makers came to US companies for their automation. The US has the technology and quality, but its labor rates kill us competitively.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Ironically the US economy receives more benefit from buying foreign cars since foreign cars built in America outnumber domestic cars built in America by quite a bit.

There is a big difference between 'made in america' and 'assembled in america'. The vast majority of the cost of making a vehicle is not in the final assembly, its in making all those parts those foreign manufactuers ship over here to assemble.
This practice started many years ago when foreign manufacturers realized there was signnificantly less import taxes to be paid on a pile of un-assembled parts than there was on a completely assembled car. Add to that the fact that they can then sprout up an assembly plant in Tennessee, fill it full of automated robots, and claim 'made in america' is just icing on the cake. Look how many people think they are helping our economy by chosing a Toyota these days. A huge marketing scam that the average american swallows hook, line and sinker.

 

[funkyab 10+ year member]

Of course they pay for labor. But at what rate? What retirement plans? Benefits? Medical? Its no secret american union labor is one of the highest labor rates in the world.

Benefits, Medical, Retirement would be provided by the state and therefore little need for a company to provide that. Remember, we are basically the only developed country that does not have this system.

and labor costs here being high? No where close to northern european countries where basically everyone is in a union in every industry and minimum wages even for McDonalds workers can be 30 dollars (usd) per hour.

I highly doubt that any average assembly line worker in Germany working for BMW makes any less then 30 dollars per hour.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Benefits, Medical, Retirement would be provided by the state and therefore little need for a company to provide that. Remember, we are basically the only developed country that does not have this system.
and labor costs here being high? No where close to northern european countries where basically everyone is in a union in every industry and minimum wages even for McDonalds workers can be 30 dollars (usd) per hour.

I highly doubt that any average assembly line worker in Germany working for BMW makes any less then 30 dollars per hour.

Yes some of the socialist societies known as European countries have as high, or higher labor rates... guess why... unionization.
When Mercedes tries to break into the US economy car market, we might have a debate on our hands. Otherwise, you are talking about labor rates of some of the most expensive cars sold on the market today. Not to mention, Germany is EXTREME when it comes to autoation.... again guess why... unionized labor rates.

 

[DarkFire 10+ year member]

So basically chrysler is still going to go under, but now they are going to drag FIAT down with them by the ankle.

Sweet...

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

Ironically the US economy receives more benefit from buying foreign cars since foreign cars built in America outnumber domestic cars built in America by quite a bit.
Fiats ****. My parents had one back in the day and it sucked and the Fiats I saw in Italy over the summer reminded me why they are garbage. There is a reason why they are called Fix It Again Tony.

Sadly the Big 3 are in their worst trouble at a time when they were starting to develop models people actually wanted to drive.

My heart will not bleed when Asian car companies begin losing money like the big 3 are.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

My heart will not bleed when Asian car companies begin losing money like the big 3 are.

It will if we all end up slaves in Chinese auto manufacturing facilities of the future.

 

[bumpweLL.nYc 10+ year member]

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

yeah fooo!

we could start with the assembly line. or all the military technology that translated into the auto.

a new Mini-S is head to head with a 1986 Omni GLHS

Grand National

Syclone

GT

ZR1

CTS-V

legends

shit a Z06 with leaf springs placed top 10 on Clarksons supercar track test. tried and true

 

[funkyab 10+ year member]

yeah fooo! we could start with the assembly line. or all the military technology that translated into the auto.

a new Mini-S is head to head with a 1986 Omni GLHS

Grand National

Syclone

GT

ZR1

CTS-V

legends

shit a Z06 with leaf springs placed top 10 on Clarksons supercar track test. tried and true

ummmmm. ok. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[atoz350 10+ year member]

The deal is done:

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2009/03/chrysler-solidifies-deal-with-fiatthat-was-quick.html

 

[blackman 10+ year member]

lmao.....I just pictured a challenger-ricer style

 

[collegiate89 10+ year member]

Sweet! I'm hoping this means they'll bring the new Fiat 500 to the US soon...

 

[Sacto8128]

Putting in my 2¢:

1) Ford is surviving because they really lucked out in 2006 getting some US$23 billion in new financing for new product development. The result is the much-liked 2009 F150 truck (which I hope will get a clean turbodiesel engine within a few years!) and this very stylish small car that has become a huge success in Europe:

The new Ford Fiesta literally stands out against all its close competitors with its daring, very stylish design, something you normally associate with Citroën! Even the front dash is very stylish:

Almost no other small car has such as daring front dash design.

According to those who've test driven it and owners in Europe, the new Fiesta is decently roomy, has reasonable power and sport the type of handling that would shame most "sports" cars of just even ten years ago! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif If Ford decides to offer their 1.6-liter TDCi Duratorq turbodiesel engine in the USA, the new Fiesta is capable of Pirus-like fuel economy, too. (This is not as far-fetched as some think. The Ricardo Company in the UK (a well-known automotive engineering firm) recently demonstrated a turbodiesel engine with special combination turbocharger/exhaust gas recirculation system that makes a turbodiesel engine capable of meeting even the ultra-stringent CARB Super Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle standard, essentially the same as a hybrid vehicle!)

Ford plans to start building the new Fiesta in early 2010 from one of their assembly lines in Mexico for the North American market, though it's possible we could see some Fiesta production in the USA if the demand is strong enough.

2) As for Fiat partnering with Chrysler, because Chrysler has some of the most modern assembly lines in the world, Fiat could use them to build the Nuova 500, Grande Punto, Linea and Bravo models. Since Fiat owns Alfa Romeo, they could also build the MiTo sports hatchback here in the USA, since it is based off the Grande Punto platform.

What is ironic is that since both the new Ford Ka and the Nuova 500 share the same platform, we could actually see Fiat use one of Chrysler's assembly line to build the Nuova 500 for Fiat/Chrysler and the Ka for Ford dealers, just like they're doing now at the Ka/Nuova 500 assembly line in Poland.