Yes I can......see image below. Q - What do you call 4 Pontiac Azteks sitting on a dealer's lot? A - A lifetime supply....
Walter P Chrysler's great grandson "letter to the people, saving Chrysler, a call to action" is Chrysler at risk of going under?
- Thread starter wemay
- Start date
Really only one, the Pacifica.
They stopped making the 300, last model year at the latest.
Assuming they had an awesome plan, where does Chrysler the brand go?
They don't do trucks.
The US minivan market is very small now. They had to kill one product. They likely should have kept the Dodge one but all manufacturers have been pushing the higher dollar products so here we are.
Sedans in the US are a very niche business at this point, with many segments the foreign manufacturers seem to dominate. I give kudos to Dodge for doing as well as they have with the Challenger / Charger product - but again that isn't the Chrysler segment.
That leaves SUV's - the most contested segment in the business. As mentioned by @OVERKILL Jeep seems to do well here, so why muddy the waters.
Where do they go from here. Into the sunset I think. We have too many brands already. They won't be the only one. Ford and GM sunsetted their off brands in 2008. The mighty Toyota ditched the Scion. Nissan needs to go back to calling an infiniti a Nissan like they do in Japan before they go out of business also.
They don't do trucks.
The US minivan market is very small now. They had to kill one product. They likely should have kept the Dodge one but all manufacturers have been pushing the higher dollar products so here we are.
Sedans in the US are a very niche business at this point, with many segments the foreign manufacturers seem to dominate. I give kudos to Dodge for doing as well as they have with the Challenger / Charger product - but again that isn't the Chrysler segment.
That leaves SUV's - the most contested segment in the business. As mentioned by @OVERKILL Jeep seems to do well here, so why muddy the waters.
Where do they go from here. Into the sunset I think. We have too many brands already. They won't be the only one. Ford and GM sunsetted their off brands in 2008. The mighty Toyota ditched the Scion. Nissan needs to go back to calling an infiniti a Nissan like they do in Japan before they go out of business also.
This is getting to be deja vu .. anyone read "Iacocca, an autobiography"?
Yes I can......see image below. Q - What do you call 4 Pontiac Azteks sitting on a dealer's lot? A - A lifetime supply....
View attachment 236998
It sure served WW well!
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
No. I recall wanting to read that book way back when it first came out. Never did get around to it. I imagine that is a good read. Since u reminded me I will have to put that one back on my future list. Isn't he the main one responsible for the creation of one of the greatest U.S. sports cars of all time.... the Ford Mustang?
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SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
What is happening to Chrysler is no different than what happened already to several auto companies / divisions and also many other North American manufacturing businesses.
Chrysler was a great company from, say, 1970 - 1998? Easily the worst of the in 3. Please remember the era of Dodge Omnis, KCars, “Fuselage Bodied” full size cars, et al.
Exactly. He then got into a personality clash with Henry Ford Jr and joined an almost bankrupt Chrysler, turned it around. And meanwhile, Henry Ford Jr's greatest contribution to the car world was the Edsel, named for his son. Made the Pontiac Aztek look like a bestseller, to put it mildly - and as far as I remember, unlike the Edsel, no Aztek ever caught fire because the gas tank got alight when you rear ended it.
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Suresh, production numbers for each were about even. Ford built 118,287 Edsels during its production life. GM built 119,000 Pontiac Azteks.
Iaccoca was fired by Henry Ford II (aka The Duece) primarily for not getting the Pinto into production fast enough.
Consequently, John Delorean was asked to take over the General Manager position of Chevrolet because GM brass at the time did not think the Chevy Vega was moving towards production fast enough. Both cars left their marks with the driving public as 2 cars that were not yet ready for prime time when they were launched by their respective makers.
The Edsel was the namesake for Henry Ford II father, Edsel Ford.
Much appreciated. I last read that book sometime in the 1980s so clearly need to read it again.
No worries at all. FYI, by self admission, my first car was a used 1974 Chevy Vega GT with 4 speed and posi axle, that I bought from the original owner. I had to replace the passenger side front fender due to rust perforation and had to do a valve job at 60,xxx due to faulty seals which caused excess oil consumption. By this time in the Vega production history the aluminum block bore scoring issues had been mostly solved and it was a good car that served me well.
Chrysler's problem is that there is more profit if Stellantis designs and sells a Maserati vehicle instead.
So why spend money on Chrysler?
No one needs 2 luxury marques in the same portfolio, and the Maserati name is worth much much more for the same vehicle than Chrysler is.
Hell, even Alfa Romeo would be worth more if Chrysler sold a version of the Giulia or the Stelvio, and those are already being discounted decently.
No reason to keep Chrysler alive, honestly
So why spend money on Chrysler?
No one needs 2 luxury marques in the same portfolio, and the Maserati name is worth much much more for the same vehicle than Chrysler is.
Hell, even Alfa Romeo would be worth more if Chrysler sold a version of the Giulia or the Stelvio, and those are already being discounted decently.
No reason to keep Chrysler alive, honestly
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
Has not been any reason for Chrysler since the early 80's
instead we get a Rebadged Tonale in the Hornet.
but the Current Grand Cherokee is based on the same platform as the Stelvio....
Both DeLorean and Iacocca are portrayed in the best possible light in their ghosted autobiographies.
Another take on Delorean can be found in Dream Maker which portrays the ill-fated Delorean car venture in Northern Ireland which was accompanied with heavy government subsidies, and is not nearly so flattering.
A brisk and entertaining read.
Another take on Delorean can be found in Dream Maker which portrays the ill-fated Delorean car venture in Northern Ireland which was accompanied with heavy government subsidies, and is not nearly so flattering.
A brisk and entertaining read.
And the Tonale is built off of a modified Jeep Renegade / Fiat 500X chassis.
Personally, I believe the Hornet should have been a Chrysler vehicle, not a Dodge.
And the JGC is built on a highly modified Stelvio chassis.
On the other hand, the Maserati Grecale is built on the exact same Stelvio chassis.
Again, a vehicle that would make a fantastic Chrysler product, if anyone at Stellantis cared even slightly about that brand.
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For Chrysler to work under Stellantis, They need to figure out different flavors of luxury for the modern market. Maserati and Alfa Romero are more the performance luxury. Chrysler needs to be in the near luxury market which is more focused on comfort has the primary objective. That is the biggest gap in the market today because most of the car is made today are really terrible from a comfort standpoint. Volvo used to be a lot more comfortable than what they are today. Cadillacs used to be fantastic now they are rough and firm. The Grand Wagoneer's seats feel like you're sitting on plywood. The company needs to start to learn how to use these divisions correctly. Jeep needs to be focused on being an off-road brand first and foremost. Models that do not lend themselves to that direction need to be dispersed to the other divisions. Chrysler needs to have puffy soft seats like they had before daimler got involved which was more or less a Dodge seat than throw on an extra layer of soft padding. Use a softer suspension. And dress it up a bit. Dodge needs to be performance with a firm suspension, aggressive styling, and fast performance.
Chrylser has been in dire straits for decades. Read Iacocca's books and find out how effed up Chrysler was when he took over. Chrylsers were never big in the Deep South and my dad always said "Dodges, Chrylsers and Plymouths always had good motors and transmission but their interiors and bodies wers crap". Now, non of that is true!
Never should have phased out the Rich Corinthian Leather.
