JJMPB

yes looks like GM will be to busy tryin to save there own company to destroy ours

05flhtcse

A news source on Yahoo says that Cerberus had also talked to Hyundai. Hyundai said that they were not interested right now because they had their hands full building plants in other overseas locations. The source also said that Cerberus would try to open talks with Renault again. They are definately shopping Chrysler around.

iwantmyT/A

My my... you really don't like un.ions do you? Chances are you would have done better for yourself had you taken a un.ion job. You wouldn't work for Magna now would you? I am really unconcerned as to how this all plays out in regards to large corporations and whether or not someone continues to make certain models of cars. The loss of jobs is very sad, but humans are very resilient and I know workers will get other jobs and survive. To those that worry about warranties from a bankrupt or obsolete company, I think you put way to much faith in warranties. I put my faith in in the passion of the people who design and build the vehicles. They are the best chance at having a trouble free ownership with a vehicle. Aftermarket warranties are available if it is a must have though, I just consider them a waste of money. The domestic verses Japenese vehicle debate...they both have good and bad points. A car manufacturer shouldn't have to rely on the exclusion of other manufacturers to stay in competion. There are a lot of factors at play here, don't put it all on the un.ion. Have you looked at the salaries and bonuses of executives in the last 20 years? Open your eyes people. Who makes the products? Executives get paid regardless of performance in most cases and then they'll lay workers off when the company is in trouble rather than doing the honourable thing and resigning as a Japanese executive would do.

Jeremiah 29:11

Un.ions were great in their day as they protected from bad working conditions and they made sure companies didn't take advantage of people. However in our global economy they are out dated as US companies are having a difficult time competing with foreign companies that don't have s. Laws now protect employees from bad working conditons. I believe the US is losing and has lost industries because of Un.ions. Look at the steel industry.

I have used extended 7 year warranties on 2 vehicles and am glad that I did. Anything with moving parts should have extended warranty. Another thing is large TV's should have extended warranties because they are expensive to repair and the usual warranty more than pays for a 1 time repair bill.

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I agree with that. The American companies have not put out products that have been reliable, good qualtiy, and have a wow factor.

I agree that executives should be held accountable and they should have performance based pay.

Just my 2¢ .

lear4406

I do just fine with the line of work I'm in and it isn't U.nion. I'm not rich but I will make 6 digits this year. As far as interaction with U.nions, yes and they slow the whole process down. Just look at where the auto industry is today. $65.00 to $75.00 and hour. Get real! I stated my opinion and I believe the results speak for themselves. If I have insulted you in anyway... it was not intended. Just stating my own opinion and you are intitled to yours. And yeah the execs are just as much to blame for their greed too. Now what are they going to do as well as the regular workers. Seems too late to get together for the good of all involved. Salary cut across the board. But they will more than likely go down with the ship. Then harsh reality of where you are as to where you were just 10 years before. If folks would be honest with themselves... but its too late. Once you go down that path, seems to be a path with no return. As far as products for the late model Challengers. After market has done just fine for my 71. Factory has not produced anything for them in over 25 years. And yet I have a completely restored Challenger sitting in my garage. So no concern there. We'll be just fine

mot250

We are also not hearing about the imports and their troubles. In some cases some of them are doing worse than our domestics in the last month or so but no one is reporting that. Damn media, you can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em...

Jeremiah 29:11

Actually that is not true, I have been reading that Toyota is certainly having it's problems lately with poor sales.

RLSH700

The un.ions are part of the problem as the Japanese have lower labor costs even from their factories in the U.S. The executives being overpaid for being the failures that they are is also part of the problem, but ultimately the issue is having a long period of making junk and the wrong models has eroded their reputation and not making efforts to correct their mistakes to the customers who were burnt by these mistakes. GM and Ford pretty much have resolved their issues but the issue is regaining the lost trust. The sad thing is Chrysler didn't deserve what happened to them. Before the merger, they were making the right models and although their quality wasn't perfect, it was certainly better in many aspects compared to GM and Ford and many of their foreign competition.

Billionare, why do you think that having Chrysler taken over by a foreign company is going to fix anything? It was exactly that which has put Chrysler in this state. How many examples do we need to finally prove that badge engineering doesn't work? On top of this, Chrysler has already accepted a Japanese company's technology and platform for several of these models and with the exception of one model they are not selling and the quality ratings are doing worse than the previous models.

I'm not sure what the best solution is but I have doubts about any of the listed options. I think the best would be to give Chrysler time to correct itself from years of mismanagement.

Dr. Z deserves a lot of credit for Chrysler's current state. He killed off the Neon, he killed the 3.2 and kept the 2.7L alive and expanded its use to remind buyers of Chryslers largest engine blunder ever, he froze Chrysler's fuel economy numbers and made little to no effort to help improve it, he let the once best in the market SOHC V6 line grow old and uncompetitive due to lack of updating it at the proper time, he let interior quality slide significantly, he set the ground work for Chrysler to become more reliant on Mercedes and Mitsubishi, he made fast profit decisions by not investing in things that were needed to remain competitive (engines, transmissions, platforms, interior, etc.).

Tom LaSarda deserves some of the blame as well. Although he did manage to improve on some of Chrysler's weaknesses by getting a 6-speed automatic in production and offered in some models, he didn't go far enough in its use. His taste in what looks good is very, very, very tacky and out of touch. His solution is badge engineering models between Dodge and Jeep.

A lot of blame goes to Bob Eaton for thinking only of himself in the whole situation. Also he deserves blame for allowing that 2.7L to ever be produced in the first place. He didn't test the Neon engine enough and let the engine also damage Chrysler's reputation. He made the finishing blows to Plymouth by allowing the Breeze to be so uncompetitive compared to its competition by not even offering a V6, that it failed to catch on especially lacking the larger 2.4L for a while. He allowed it to grow weaker by allowing Plymouth to be without a sporty model when he dropped the Laser in 1994 and didn't have another model until 1997 & 1999 to fill in the gap (the Prowler) and it didn't fit Plymouth's mission.

But I believe Lee Iacocca deserves the most blame. He did a horrible job in resolving the transmission problems that began in his tenure and never adequately educated the public on the underlying problem and lacked the guts to admit defeat and try again with a design that was bulletproof. He let person feelings get in the way of choosing the right person to run the company and demonstrated that he has poor skills in picking a leader which to me proves his book should be ignored as he lacks the instincts on how to choose a leader. He did not make sure that the models replacing his K cars were perfected before releasing them. He lacked the vision to make proper use of Plymouth constantly attempting to get rid of them by making cheapening Chrysler instead of giving the cheaper Chrysler models to Plymouth (look up the E-Class that became the Caravelle, then the Concorde). He let Plymouth's identity die. He criticizes the Taurus for its styling after it was obvious it was an outstanding success and proudly displayed the ugly Dynasty that was styled after the long in tooth Diplomat that at least looked correct for its time. He lost the large RWD market by not getting it that he needed to improve the fuel economy and get it transfered over to EFI. He depended way to much on Mitsubishi after they reached a stage when they could be self reliant (kept using the V6 engines even though they had a their own that were more powerful and not as many oil leaks). He let the K engine go way to long without an update. He waited too long to release the Grand Cherokee and didn't at least use the time to make sure it had all the bugs worked out of it to justify the late entry. He put no effort into making the Grand Wagoneer competitive in a segment that would have been successful for the following years.

BLK 6050

It's really hard not to fault the Auto Un*ions when you see how much the benefits their membership receive add on to each and every car. The UAW is hard nosed and is unwilling to work with companies, even as they face possibly going under....Lets see, stand our ground even at the cost of losing all jobs and the company, or perhaps working with the company in hard times to everyone's benefit....(guess which way the UAW usually goes). I grew up in a Un*ion family, and they have their good points and bad, but there is a time to backoff on demands when the company is facing the very real chance that they could go under. Better to make a nice salary, even if it's a bit lower, than to be out on the streets.
AND, why did our Government give "bailout" money to companies "without" any conditions?????? Look at the banks...they have money to loan, and what are they doing.....buying other banks and NOT loaning out money....Unreal, if car companies want money, it should come with strings....it's my money, don't throw it away. If a company really wants to help themselves, great..they should be willing to accept some conditions...if not....don't ask...
(Looks as if GM will go under by early next year without some government money...Bush asked them the first time if they were going to disassembly Chrysler...they said yes...Bush said no to the the loan and large unemployment that would come with Chrysler going under...good for Bush)
What times we are living in......glad I got my Challenger when I did.....