ORIGINAL: RLSH700
Well, its that way for a good reason. California tends to be the leader when it comes to new trends. You have to spend money to make money. Ever since the merger, Chrysler keeps trying to find new ways to save money and look at the results. They are struggling. Before the merger, they were spending more money and look at what was happening, they were making lots of money. If you want to be the best, you have to spend money for the best things. You need to best designers, not the left overs, you need the best engines, not the 9 years and still running designs, you need the best transmissions not the, hey we just fix the problem we've been dealing with for ten years transmission. That was how the Japanese caught us and unless we put in similar effort, we will continue to fall.
Would you really classify the Challenger as a "new trend"? I agree with everything you said... except that I don't think
where a car is designed really has anything to do with anything, unless you're looking for some sort of "prestige" factor. I have no doubt the Challenger would look just as great if it were designed in Detroit or Katmandu - they may not sound as glamorous as California, but if it gets the job done, I don't care if it's California or North Dakota.