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[viperbilliam]

There's a good short article about the new Chrysler team running our car company. You'll get an idea of what's motivating the new power players at Cerebrus/Chrysler. http://www.businessweek.com/index.html

 

[mike & juli]

Thanx for posting that article--I will say it again, all of this 'acquired' talent can ONLY be a good thing for Chrysler/Cerberus...bring back quality cars once again and the good name of Chrysler. We can only hope...and wait and see, I guess!!! ~juli

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

I think Chrysler should go for a name change or some new brands. Shake off any bad stigma held to the Dodge, Plymouth, Chryslers names.
ala, Datsun/Nissan, Toyota/lexus and Honda/Acura.

 

[MikeR]

I think Chrysler should go for a name change or some new brands. Shake off any bad stigma held to the Dodge, Plymouth, Chryslers names.
ala, Datsun/Nissan, Toyota/lexus and Honda/Acura.

Not necessarily, they can re-build the name, they just need to know it will take some time. I dont think a Viper would be the same without calling it Dodge Viper.

Auid had a terrible name back in the 80's, even early 90's. They are becoming one of the strongest automakers right now. They are starting to take away BMW's market share. They have something like 22 models in their lineup for 08. Just got to build fun,exciting cars and have all the gadgets in them. Maybe not for the Viper, since its a race car in a sense, but the other Srt vehicles or at least rest of Chrylser lineup needs to not look so cheap inside.

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

Not necessarily, they can re-build the name, they just need to know it will take some time. I dont think a Viper would be the same without calling it Dodge Viper.

Auid had a terrible name back in the 80's, even early 90's. They are becoming one of the strongest automakers right now. They are starting to take away BMW's market share. They have something like 22 models in their lineup for 08. Just got to build fun,exciting cars and have all the gadgets in them. Maybe not for the Viper, since its a race car in a sense, but the other Srt vehicles or at least rest of Chrylser lineup needs to not look so cheap inside.

Auto Union/Audi has roots going back to1901, when they were kicking MB ****. They had that bogus lawsuit in the 80’s about the car accelerating by themselves and that hurt them for a while in the US. But, Plymouth, Dodge and even the old AMC company have a long standing reputation of being 3rd in quality of the big Three.
Don’t misunderstand me. I think Chrysler make all the best looking cars in America and their quality is fantastic. But you still can’t shake that “poor quality” stigma to the name Dodge. IMO

Today, I make a bigger deal explaining to people the quality in the Vipers than I do their performance.

 

[klamathpro]

I may get a beating for this, especially because I live in Motor city, and contracted for Phord years back, but from what I have seen in person, the #1 problem of the Big 3 is the UAW. That's what the Big 3 doesn't have in common with Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Audi, etc. Those successful companies don't let a Union control what goes on behind closed doors. Once again we have Union talks going on this very moment that decide whether next year's cars are going to cost 5% more than this year because of increased wages and medical coverage. Good for the fulltime blue collar worker only working like a part-timer, bad for the consumer who pays more for less. Because of lackluster performance from UAW controlled supply chains, Chrysler had to buy parts cheaply made from Mexico and third world countries just to make enough to offset it's deficits from the previous year. They all do it, but Chrysler had to do it more often, at the cost of quality. I understand the benefits of a Union, but the UAW has cost the auto industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year. If Chrysler could do the impossible and oust the UAW out of power, quality would go up. But who ever thought a lifetime warranty was not impossible.

Just a case in point: If you spill something on the factory floor and there is a UAW janitor on duty, you can't clean it yourself... you must wait for him to get off his sorry butt and do it himself, UAW rules. The same goes for tooling and the supply chain. But who am I to complain, I'm just a consumer, the very person the Big 3 seem to ignore.

 

[dave6666]

I may get a beating for this, especially because I live in Motor city, and contracted for Phord years back, but from what I have seen in person, the #1 problem of the Big 3 is the UAW. That's what the Big 3 doesn't have in common with Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Audi, etc. Those successful companies don't let a Union control what goes on behind closed doors. Once again we have Union talks going on this very moment that decide whether next year's cars are going to cost 5% more than this year because of increased wages and medical coverage. Good for the fulltime blue collar worker only working like a part-timer, bad for the consumer who pays more for less. Because of lackluster performance from UAW controlled supply chains, Chrysler had to buy parts cheaply made from Mexico and third world countries just to make enough to offset it's deficits from the previous year. They all do it, but Chrysler had to do it more often, at the cost of quality. I understand the benefits of a Union, but the UAW has cost the auto industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year. If Chrysler could do the impossible and oust the UAW out of power, quality would go up. But who ever thought a lifetime warranty was not impossible.

Just a case in point: If you spill something on the factory floor and there is a UAW janitor on duty, you can't clean it yourself... you must wait for him to get off his sorry butt and do it himself, UAW rules. The same goes for tooling and the supply chain. But who am I to complain, I'm just a consumer, the very person the Big 3 seem to ignore.

My opinion of unionized labor has always been lower quality product at a higher price.

Looks like we both ought to avoid the local tavern with that t-shirt...

 

[GTSjbud]

Bring back Lee Iaccoca! Just my $.02

 

[Warfang]

I may get a beating for this, especially because I live in Motor city, and contracted for Phord years back, but from what I have seen in person, the #1 problem of the Big 3 is the UAW. That's what the Big 3 doesn't have in common with Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Audi, etc. Those successful companies don't let a Union control what goes on behind closed doors. Once again we have Union talks going on this very moment that decide whether next year's cars are going to cost 5% more than this year because of increased wages and medical coverage. Good for the fulltime blue collar worker only working like a part-timer, bad for the consumer who pays more for less. Because of lackluster performance from UAW controlled supply chains, Chrysler had to buy parts cheaply made from Mexico and third world countries just to make enough to offset it's deficits from the previous year. They all do it, but Chrysler had to do it more often, at the cost of quality. I understand the benefits of a Union, but the UAW has cost the auto industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year. If Chrysler could do the impossible and oust the UAW out of power, quality would go up. But who ever thought a lifetime warranty was not impossible.

Just a case in point: If you spill something on the factory floor and there is a UAW janitor on duty, you can't clean it yourself... you must wait for him to get off his sorry butt and do it himself, UAW rules. The same goes for tooling and the supply chain.

Don't get me started on unions. With what I do, I interact with union guys a lot. While some are probably the best people I've ever met, personally and in skillsets, the mass majority of them are lazy bums making money off the few hard workers. The union leadership are by far the most corrupt groups of people I know... part lawyer, part mobster, part politician... ALLLL BAD.

Any yes, the union IS the #1 problem with the Big3. It's certainly not the brand, designs or the use of US citizens for labor. Many "imports" are now built in the US, and they're not any better or worse than ones built in their home countries.