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- - Let's buy Chrysler (https://thetfp.com/tfp/tilted-motors/113461-lets-buy-chrysler.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by desal75

You can still buy a Silverado SS but production stopped on them a number of months ago.

In some areas, the cars built by Detroit have slumped. There have been duds in terms of styling and, to a lesser extent, engineering. There is a good case to be made though that the financial woes of GM and Ford especially don't have too much to do with their product lines. Other financial factors come into play strongly. Ford lost $12B last year while the Explorer is one of the best selling vehicles in the world, GM lost $10B in 2005 while outselling every other manufacturer both in the US and worldwide. Much of this can be blamed on miss management and outdated labor agreements.
For every vehicle GM sells, almost $2000 goes towards the health benefits of retired workers. For Toyota this cost is a little over $200 in their US plants.

Okay and while Ford and GM were starting to dig their graves, Mr. Iaccoa designed the minivan for Chrysler, a veritable cash cow. A crown they slowly lost to Honda and Toyota. What happened? They stopped innovating and developing this line with quality and performance. Now Chrysler also doesn't have this same type of worker overhead. Why not? Unions surely have a foothold there too.

I'm sure DaimlerChrysler has very much the same labor expenses as GM and FoMoCo. The UAW controls the work forces of all three. I just don't know enough about their sales figures to have cited them in my post.

I could be wrong but I think I heard that half of the minivans sold are still Chryslers. Ford and GM have never perfected them so are getting out of the market at the end of this model year.
It seems like most of the larger manufacturers have found one or two niches where they can do things better than most. Toyota builds successful and excellent commuter cars. Honda caters to midsize and compact buyers looking for more handling/performance. Chevrolet leads the pack in full size trucks. Ford seems to be struggling in terms of engineering and styling except for teh stellar Mazda lineup.

Just saw a car show report that stated that the Chrysler mini-van is the most popular selling in the US.