all 30 plants for a month starting friday! Not good I'm sure the dow will flip out tomorrow.

 

Question is will this make people back out of potentially buying Challengers off the lot or increase the odds. What say you!

 

I know that when I heard of the possible GM-Chrysler merger that really motivated me to buy sooner rather than later....lets hope people will buy them up. Any little bit will help them with their cash flow

 

Lets hope they make it thru the next couple of months. I'd really hate to see Chrysler go down-they are making the best looking cars on the road right now. Think of all the cool designs; Vipers, Magnums. Chargers, SRT8 jeeps, 300's, crossfires, and CHALLENGERS!

 

I have had the pleasure of knowing a few car collectors. Some have bought Challengers and moth balled them. Others have bought Challengers and immediately sent the, off for hot rodding (stroker engines, superchargers, cams and headers) which actually should hurt their collector value so you have to conclude that they are betting that the cars aren't going to be anything special. With this recent news I will be watching the remaining inventory at local dealerships to see if they suddenly evaporate. The Challenger is a very rare car on the streets. If they leave the lots but still don't show up in traffic, they are probably being warehoused. Also, if you only tend to see them in the higher end car shows but not being driven to small venues, again, they are being collected.

I think it is still too early to make the call. Shutting the plants down make sense because why make cars that aren't selling. Save the $1 billion a month and wait and see if you get tax money or not. Then you have to know if they file for bankruptcy/restructuring or will they fail. We've got a way to go before we know anything, really.

 

Sad thing is according to the news is that they have buyers but the credit market is killin 'em. I have a deep gut feeling these Challengers will be rare and collectable, just my gut but I hardly ever see any on the road and I'm near a major city noted for its motorheads/motorsports (Charlotte NC) I just may have to get another. I know the old argument; why buy it if you dont drive it blah blah, but if everyone thought that about the old Hemicudas/Challengers there wouldn't be the prestine examples left for us to enjoy today.

 

I know it all makes sense and everything, but I'm a little worried. I have $1,000 deposit invested in this car, and I may never see either. I wish I knew a little more about the future so that I knew what to do in this case, withdraw the $1,000, ride it out or maybe even get another car altogether.

For anyone who hasn't read it, which I'm sure it's very few, here's the story.


DETROIT (AP) - Chrysler announced Wednesday it is closing all its North American manufacturing plants for at least a month, the starkest move taken by U.S. automakers as they anxiously await word about government loans.

All three companies have been taking dramatic steps as they struggle to survive the recession and U.S. sales have dipped to their slowest rate in 26 years. Chrysler and General Motors fear they might not have enough money to pay their bills in a matter of weeks.

Attempting to cut costs, GM was halting construction of a plant tied to one of its most important projects, the Volt. Ford also said it will shut down 10 plants for an extra week in January because of sluggish sales.

Chrysler said it would extend the normal two-week holiday shutdown that begins Friday to at least Jan. 19 at all 30 of its factories due to slumping sales.

The lack of consumer credit is hampering sales and forcing the production cuts, Chrysler LLC said in a statement. Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers say they have willing buyers for vehicles, but they can't close the deals, Chrysler said.

"The dealers have stated that they have lost an estimated 20 to 25 percent of their volume because of this credit situation," the statement said.

The Bush administration is mulling ways to help the automakers after Congress failed to reach a deal on $14 billion in loans for GM and Chrysler. Ford has applied for a $9 billion line of credit but says it has enough cash to make it through 2009.

Funding for the loans is expected to come from the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund, but many Republicans have objected.

"It's clear that the automakers are in a very fragile financial condition and they're taking steps to deal with it," White house press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement. "We're aware of their financial situation and are considering possible policy options to provide assistance in an appropriate way."

House Democrats have encouraged Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to adopt accountability provisions included in a House-passed auto bailout bill - the product of a deal with the White House - as a condition to get the loans.

The measure would have given a Bush-appointed "car czar" oversight over any major business decisions by the automakers.

The Bush administration has signaled that concessions would likely be required of stakeholders in the deal - auto companies, the United Auto Workers , bondholders and others.

Chrysler spokesman Dave Elshoff said four plants will be temporarily closed beyond Jan. 19: two plants in Toledo, Ohio, and one each in Ontario and Detroit.

Toledo North, which makes the Dodge Nitro and Jeep Liberty, and Toledo Supplier Park, which makes the Jeep Wrangler, will be closed until Jan. 26. The Windsor, Ontario, plant, which makes minivans, and Detroit's Conner Avenue plant, which makes the Dodge Viper roadster, will be closed until Feb. 2, Elshoff said.

Chrysler sales were off 47 percent last month and are down 28 percent through the first 11 months of the year.

At Ford, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday it will shut down 10 of its North American assembly plants for an extra week in January, also due to lower U.S. sales.

Spokeswoman Angie Kozleski says the normal two-week holiday shutdown will be extended to Jan. 12 at all operating assembly plants except those in Claycomo, Mo., near Kansas City, and the Dearborn, Mich., truck plant.

Ford will also extend the shutdown at some engine, transmission and parts stamping plants, or temporarily shut portions of them to match cuts at the assembly plants, she said.

The extra week of down time has been planned for several months as part of the company's first-quarter production schedule, Kozleski said.

Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales were down 31 percent in November and are off 20 percent through the first 11 months of the year.

Laid-off workers at Ford and Chrysler get vacation pay for the normal holiday shutdown, then will receive unemployment benefits and supplemental pay from the company that total about 85 percent of their normal pay.

General Motors Corp. said last week it will temporarily close 20 factories across North America and make sweeping cuts to its vehicle production. Many of those plants will be shut down for the entire month of January.

GM said Wednesday it was delaying construction of a new engine factory in Flint, Mich., in an effort to conserve cash. The plant is to make 1.4-liter engines for the Chevrolet Cruze and the Chevy Volt plug-in electric car, two key products in the century-old automaker's plan to turn itself around after relying on highly profitable truck and SUV sales.
By extending the traditional two-week holiday shutdown period, the struggling Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automaker can adjust production to slowing demand and conserve cash.

In a statement Wednesday, Chrysler said tighter credit markets are keeping would-be buyers away from its showrooms. The company said its dealers are unable to close sales for buyers due to a lack of financing, and estimate that 20 to 25 percent of their volume has been lost due to the credit situation. Sales in November slid 47.1 percent.

Chrysler and larger rival General Motors Corp. have warned they could run out of cash within weeks without financial aid from Washington. Chrysler has said its cash will drop to $2.5 billion by Dec. 31, the minimum needed to meet payroll, pay suppliers and run the company. It would have trouble paying bills after the first of the year.

Operations will be idled at the end of the shift on Friday, Dec. 19th shift. the earliest plants will reopen is Jan. 19, 2009. A few plants will reopen on Jan. 26.

Chrysler is seeking $7 billion in government loans as it tries to survive the recession and the worst U.S. auto sales slump in 26 years. For the first 11 months of this year, Chrysler sales are down 27.7 percent to 1.4 million vehicles from 1.9 million for the same period last year.

With the U.S. sales slump expected to continue into January, traditionally one of the slowest sales months of the year, the company has little revenue coming in and must pay suppliers $7 billion every 45 days.

In the case of some plants, such as the Toledo Jeep plant in Ohio, operations will resume January 26, but with one less shift. More than 750 workers are being cut on the second shift at the Toledo North plant, said Dan Henneman, United Auto Workers official for Local 12.

Chrysler's Jeep Liberty, Nitro and Wrangler are assembled at the Ohio plants. Sales of the company's Jeep-brand vehicles fell 41.8 percent in November to 20,302 units.

Henneman said 755 people worked the shift. About 550 workers took a retirement package and 200 will be indefinitely laid off.

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have announced extensions of their holiday shutdowns as well.

Chrysler is privately held, with 80.1 percent owned by New York private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP.


(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

 

My prediction is that in like 2035 an all-original, heavily optioned, limited edition (2008), low mileage Challenger that was used specifically as recreational vehicle will absolutely be among the most elite collector cars out there.

If you don't have one and still want one (like me), I would suggest buying one off the lot rather than trying to order one and then have it never show up...

 

These are tough times and call for tough measures. These car Co. have options and they are trying to keep from using the ones that will help in the long run. They are looking at the short term and quick fix. For them to be competitive they need restructure and deal with the pain today. UAW needs to go and a more realalistic structure remain. Look at the bloated car prices and tell me that is a fair price. We live in a capitalistic society and we have rules and checks and balances. Lets use them. Or we could continue to go towards socialism and let the Gov. run the show. I hope we choose private industry... they are so much better without Government intervention. The Gov. can't run what its got and for a fact will screw this up too. Face it, American run auto co. are not going to continue if something does not change. They cannot compete with the burden they now have and a change is what they need.

 

I saw this in teh news about one hour ago:

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration is looking at "orderly" bankruptcy as a possible way to deal with the desperately ailing U.S. auto industry, the White House said Thursday as carmakers readied more plant closings and a half million Americans filed new jobless claims. With General Motors, Chrysler and the rest of Detroit anxiously holding its breath and waiting for a federal rescue, White House press secretary Dana Perino said, "There's an orderly way to do bankruptcies that provides for more of a soft landing. I think that's what we would be talking about."