Chrysler Goes Down in Flames?

[Nethead]

From www.leftlanenews.com comes this article, which pretty much shows Chrysler will no longer be in business by 2010, and maybe won't be in business by the Summer of 2009.  The desperation in this article shows the bow awash and the propellers lifting out of the water at the stern.  The orchestra is already queueing up for "Nearer My God to Thee" as the last lifeboats cast off:

Press to dealers: ?You can either help us or burn us all down?

Chrysler?s January sales dropped by more than 50 percent ? with the Chrysler brand seeing an even bigger 69 percent plunge in sales ? but Chrysler co-president Press is urging dealers to order more vehicles this month. In all, Press wants dealers to order 15,000 more vehicles by Monday.

Press announced an initiative last month for dealers to order 78,000 vehicles for the month of February, with about 70 percent of Chrysler dealers complying so far. However, the last 30 percent has been hard to come by, with Chrysler now basically demanding dealers order up the remaining 15,000 vehicles.

?You have two choices,? Press said to dealers. ?You can either help us or burn us all down.?

Chrysler says it needs the cash flow of the vehicle orders to ?keep the doors open?. Without fulfilling all 78,000 orders, Chrysler is in serious jeopardy of falling short of its government-submitted viability plan, meaning Congress would likely call back its $4 billion bailout loan ? a move the would ensure bankruptcy for Chrysler.

However, the decision to order more vehicles isn?t any easy one for many of Chrysler?s dealers. Chrysler currently has a 151-day supply of vehicles, according to Automotive News, which is about twice the ideal level. Moreover, Chrysler?s sales have dropped by more than 50 percent the last two months, giving dealers little confidence in the ability to sell an additional 15,000 vehicles.

Chrysler?s situation is a delicate one, for sure, but the automaker isn?t mincing words on the subject: Dealers must buy cars or the company will go belly up. ?If you decide not to do that, we?ve got a good memory of who helped this company make it,? Press added.


So, how does that famous spiritual go?

"Nearer my God to Thee
Oh, let us ever be
Nearer my God to Thee
Nearer to--glub glub glub.............."

Fade to black.  The End.  Roll the credits.

[280Z Turbo]

Chrysler needs to die. That's what should happen to companies that only have 3 competitive products.

[S204STi]

Ok, so Jim Press wants their dealers to go even further into debt by having a huge oversupply of cars that aren't moving, but which they will still have to pay interest on to the banks.  What a dumbass.

[NomisR]

Chrysler needs to die. That's what should happen to companies that only have 3 competitive products.

Would you even take any Chrysler product over any of it's competitors?  Especially now???

[Tave]

This is glorious. Have the feds completely nixed the Fiat deal?


"We want to bail out Cerb...er...we mean Chrysler"

"Fuck you, Chrysler sucks."

"We're going to do it anyway."

"Oh-OK. Well, I hear Fiat is interested. That might work."

"WHAT!? Fiat is Italian, not American. NO DEAL!"

"but, but then the American company will die anyway..."

[giant_mtb]

Force the dealers to buy more cars that won't sell? 

[Payman]

I guess I better hurry to get that Challenger R/T.

On a serious note, I really think that Jeep should somehow survive.

[280Z Turbo]

Would you even take any Chrysler product over any of it's competitors?  Especially now???

If I wanted a minivan, I'd probably get a Mazda 5.
If I wanted a big truck, I'd probably get the Ford.
If I wanted an expensive sports car, I'd probably get a 911.

I guess the answer is no.

[280Z Turbo]

Obama should pass out Vipers to poor people like me when the company goes under.

[Colonel Cadillac]

I guess I better hurry to get that Challenger R/T.

On a serious note, I really think that Jeep should somehow survive.

You should wait for Chrysler to die, then the prices will be super low

[Rich]

The feds nixed the Fiat deal?

damn

[Tave]

The feds nixed the Fiat deal?

damn

I don't know. I think so. They didn't sound too happy about it, but I haven't heard any new news.

[Soup DeVille]

"The desperation in this article shows the bow awash and the propellers lifting out of the water at the stern.  The orchestra is already queueing up for "Nearer My God to Thee" as the last lifeboats cast off:"

Congrats Nethead on the most arcane Titanic reference I've seen in a long time...

[Soup DeVille]

I guess I better hurry to get that Challenger R/T.

On a serious note, I really think that Jeep should somehow survive.

Historical death knell: redesigning the Jeep CJ/Wrangler. No company that has ever done it has survived for more than a couple years after in their current form.

Jeep itself however, will survive.

[TBR]

Historical death knell: redesigning the Jeep CJ/Wrangler. No company that has ever done it has survived for more than a couple years after in their current form.

Jeep itself however, will survive.

Did Chrysler design the previous variant as well?

[3.0L V6]

Historical death knell: redesigning the Jeep CJ/Wrangler. No company that has ever done it has survived for more than a couple years after in their current form.

Jeep itself however, will survive.

The Jeep curse works its magic again.

[3.0L V6]

Did Chrysler design the previous variant as well?

No. They inherited it from AMC/Renault. Only AMC engines (the 2.5L pushrod 4cyl and 4.0L inline six) fit in it.

[TBR]

No. They inherited it from AMC/Renault. Only AMC engines (the 2.5L pushrod 4cyl and 4.0L inline six) fit in it.

Ah, I was thinking of the facelift as a redesign.

[Soup DeVille]

Did Chrysler design the previous variant as well?

AMC/Renault designed the YJ, Chrysler designed the TJ, DaimlerChrysler designed the JK.

[3.0L V6]

AMC/Renault designed the YJ, Chrysler designed the TJ, DaimlerChrysler designed the JK.

I stand corrected.

[TBR]

AMC/Renault designed the YJ, Chrysler designed the TJ, DaimlerChrysler designed the JK.

Now you have me really confused, I guess the TJ is what I was thinking of as the facelifted YJ.

However, seeing as how it has been more than 10 years since Chrysler redesigned your rule isn't really applicable.

[Soup DeVille]

Now you have me really confused, I guess the TJ is what I was thinking of as the facelifted YJ.

However, seeing as how it has been more than 10 years since Chrysler redesigned your rule isn't really applicable.

The TJ was much more than a facelift. it was the round headlight/coilspring model introduced in '97

One year after AMC introduced the YJ, AMC was sold to Chrysler. Two years after Chrysler introduced the TJ, it became DaimlerChrysler. One year after the JK was introduced, Chrysler was bought by Cerberus.

[Vinsanity]

I think the curse goes like this -- every time the Wrangler/CJ is redesigned, its parent company gets bought out/absorbed by another:

1987 YJ: AMC gets bought out by Chrysler
1997 TJ: Diamler acquires controlling stake of Chrysler
2007 JK: Cerberus acquires Chrysler from Diamler

I remember Soup posting this whoe story a while back that dated back to the Willys days.

[Vinsanity]

...and he re-tells the story just as I was trying to remember it myself...

[S204STi]

LOLLOLOLOLOLOL

[Soup DeVille]

...and he re-tells the story just as I was trying to remember it myself...

Nash/Kelvinator who owned Kaiser designed the original CJ5 and introduced it the same month in 1954 as that company became part of the original form of AMC. Renault entered into the Renault/AMC partnership a year after the CJ7 was introduced.

[SVT666]

Would you even take any Chrysler product over any of it's competitors?  Especially now???

Each category has my top pick vs. the Chrysler product and which one I would buy.

Minivan - Odyssey vs. Grand Caravan = Grand Caravan wins on price.
Small truck - Ranger vs. Dakota = Ranger wins because if I want a small truck, I want a small truck.
Full size truck - F-150 vs. Ram = Ram
Compact car - Mazda 3 vs. Dodge Caliber = Mazda 3
Sport Compact - Cobalt SS Turbo vs. Caliber SRT-4 = Cobalt SS Turbo
Mid-size car - 2010 Ford Fusion Sport vs. Sebring = Fusion Sport
Large Car - Pontiac G8 GT vs. Charger R/T = G8 GT
Muscle Car - Mustang GT vs. Challenger R/T = Challenger R/T
Super Muscle Car - Shelby GT500 vs. Challenger SRT-8 = Shelby GT500
4x4 Truck - Xterra vs. Wrangler = Wrangler
Small SUV - Escape vs. Patriot = Escape
Mid size SUV - 4Runner vs. Grand Cherokee = 4Runner
Large SUV - Expedition vs. Durango = Expedition
Sports/GT Car - Vette Z06 vs. Viper Coupe = Viper Coupe

That's 5 that I would take over the competition.  The rest is crap though.  There is no in between.

[TBR]

I would take the Challenger R/T over the Mustang GT and the Grand Cherokee over the 4runner (and the Pathfinder over both), but other than that Chrysler loses all of those for me.

[ifcar]

The Durango is an underrated product that I'd pick over the competition.

But Chrysler's problem is that it doesn't sell a viable product in either of the market segments that represent the bread-and-butter of many manufacturers: compact car and midsize car.

[the Teuton]

Chrysler deserves to go belly-up, and we deserve an apology from the federal government for wasting our money.

Let's see where everything will end up:

Minivans - VW
Viper - "Interested buyer," probably SMS
Ram - Nissan
Jeep - My best guess is Renault
Lots of plants - Fiat (and for dirt cheap)
Sedans - Volga of Russia might buy the tooling again

Otherwise, the rest of the company is junk.  They might be bought up by the Indians or Chinese.