RE: WHATS REALLY GOING ON WITH DODGE AND THESE CHALLENGERS???
FATCAT, I am not mocking, I hear you. I really do hear what you are saying. I'm older too.
Try this angle. Chrysler just went through an acquisition. Have you ever been part of an M&A (merger and acquisition). They are hard. very hard. Few if any go smoothly. Cerebus is flexing its muscle, no douht. Chrysler is trying to assert itself, no doubt. Those two worlds could collide and manifest themselves in a number of ways, - production delays and communication problems not being the least. Neither are good, but they eventually resolve themselves. I think this is likely a part of the issues. Look at a fact, Chrysler has announced very few of its other 2009 models. Chrylser has made very few announcements at all. There are few R&D statements coming out (except for the recent announcement they are killing the ZC-D27 and ZC-D29). By now, you would see lots of R&D statements, the 2009 production year is upon us.
Also, there are many studies and advisory sessions going on right now. Chryslers is trying hard to listen and react. (Their new CEO is not known as the most congenial guy, so some of these "open forums" abruptly get squelched, but then re-appear like a pheonix.) Some of what you read is Chrysler "trying" to communicate to the community, unfortunately they are not the most adept Internet users and information gets "twisted". Something I am certain of is Chrysler is sharing more with the blogs and forums than it is internally. No one (ok, to be accurate, I don't know any one else "in" Chrysler) is more frustrated with the lack of internal communication than my cousin of 35+ years.
So I suggest, if you want to be in the know, or better, suggest what the know is - participate in an advisory forum.
I participate in several of these forums. I see Chrysler clawing for its life. It pains me to see the company I love going though this.
So, I suggest if you want to know what is going on, and you want to converse with the ear of Chrysler (reps), join a Chrysler advisory forum. Here's one, this one is a bit lame, but it is open to the general public: chryslerlistens.com