ORIGINAL: Yankee
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.
Yes, I would consider it to be a new trend. The reason is currently muscle cars are in for right now. How old category of car is irrelevant, it is what is hot at the time. Wouldn't you consider hybrids to be a new trend? I would; however, that is not a new idea at all either. That idea has been around since before most car companies were even made. They started with the idea on Motorcycles. They have been working on that stuff for a long time. Trends come and go is all. Back in 2002, it looked like the muscle cars were dead and buried besides the Mustang with the demise of the Camaro and Firebird, now everyone is coming back. When I first heard about the 300C, I thought it was a mistake because I thought that people wanted to stick with FWD V6 cars, not anymore.
The reason why I stress the importance is that California is generally the trend setter for the rest of the country. They generally determine the technology route and are the first to get the latest and greatest stuff, they have a heavy influence in the fashion industry, and they are the entertainment capital of the U.S. These things are key to making a successful car. You need to know which electronic devices are the smart ones to go with based on what people are looking for in a car. The fashion trends also influence what styling characteristics are going to be in. The entertainment is where you can have product placement and getting popular actors and good writers to do good advertisements. This is all key to the marketing. If price is the top priority, then why not send this operation to East St. Louis? Land is very cheap down there.
The other reason why sending this out of CA is a bad idea is because many of the top rated universities for a lot of these things are in that area, you can either pay for the best or get the adequate, the styling is a very important thing and based off of some of the flops Chrysler has had lately in styling, I think they are getting too many adequate people. Back in the 90s, each model was distinguishable. You would never confuse a Neon with a Stratus or a Stratus with an Intrepid. Each was distinct with their own styling cues and each looked completely different from their predecessors. Now the Avenger looks like a cross between a Stratus, Charger, and Spirit. The Charger's had the rear styling based off of the 300M. They need better people.
The other thing is Chrysler needs to focus less on Detroit and focus more on the areas were they are losing customers. The Japanese are taking over the south and the coasts, the more they pull out of those ar