Chrysler's Turnaround: Things are looking up compared to a Yr. ago.

[Brock Samson]

http://www.freep.com/article/20101107/BUSINESS01/11070474/1210/business01/New-models-help-scrappy-Chryslers-turnaround-effort

I know most all of us are old school guys, but I'm sure glad a profit is being posted and the products polished.
From the above Detroit Free Press article.

"Chrysler on Monday is expected to report its third straight quarterly operating profit, which excludes interest and taxes. Through the first half, Chrysler posted an operating profit of $326 million.

...Longtime Chrysler watchers don't doubt the company can make yet another comeback, as it always has before.
"Chrysler has always been the gritty little fighter,"

[Ghoste]

I agree.   I don't like the conditions but the alternative was worse.

[Charger440RDN]

Those profits will be even better when/if they ever design the new Charger like the old Charger  

[Todd Wilson]

I am hoping the quality goes up with Fiat running the show. Seems the bodys and mechanics of the vehicles the last several years have been just fine but the interiors are cheap and flimsy.
Every 2006 and up Chrysler vehicle I have looked at has ratty interior. These are 30-50g mile vehicles.



Todd

[Charger440RDN]

I am hoping the quality goes up with Fiat running the show. Seems the bodys and mechanics of the vehicles the last several years have been just fine but the interiors are cheap and flimsy.
Every 2006 and up Chrysler vehicle I have looked at has ratty interior. These are 30-50g mile vehicles.



Todd

  Chrysler interiors have SUCKED!! For a while now.

[Brock Samson]

I am hoping the quality goes up with Fiat running the show. Seems the bodys and mechanics of the vehicles the last several years have been just fine but the interiors are cheap and flimsy.
Every 2006 and up Chrysler vehicle I have looked at has ratty interior. These are 30-50g mile vehicles.



Todd

So, how's your caliber holding up Todd?.. that model has practically dissapeared from the Dodge lineup. 

[Todd Wilson]

I am hoping the quality goes up with Fiat running the show. Seems the bodys and mechanics of the vehicles the last several years have been just fine but the interiors are cheap and flimsy.
Every 2006 and up Chrysler vehicle I have looked at has ratty interior. These are 30-50g mile vehicles.



Todd

So, how's your caliber holding up Todd?.. that model has practically dissapeared from the Dodge lineup. 

The 2007 Caliber is doing fine. Its been a trouble free car. Gets less MPG in town then they say it will and gets more on the highway then they say it will.  The interior is a piece of shit deluxe.   We have had more troubles with plastic panels popping loose. Or they simply break tabs and stuff that hold them onto the car.   The seats and everything else are fine so far but the car is about to approach 20000miles. My only complaint is the interior. If they had used more quality stuff to build the interior and used some floor insulation to help cut down on road noise a little more it would be perfect.   I do not know why these cars have not sold more. They function great as far as hauling people and luggage. Seats fold down for more hauling room. Very handy car overall. I enjoy driving it. Does good in the snow and so forth.

I've looked at used diesel rams lately.  Both a 2006 and 2007 with 50xxx miles and the interiors were ragged out. Seats showing wear areas and thin spots. Places in the seats tore.     My 1995 Dodge Rams interior after 15 years is in better shape then most of the 2-3 year old used interiors. Shows what the old Chrysler was vs the new Chrysler.


Todd

[69bronzeT5]

I am hoping the quality goes up with Fiat running the show. Seems the bodys and mechanics of the vehicles the last several years have been just fine but the interiors are cheap and flimsy.
Every 2006 and up Chrysler vehicle I have looked at has ratty interior. These are 30-50g mile vehicles.



Todd

I quite like the interiors in the Challengers, 300s, Grand Cherokees and higher model Rams and Caravans but everything cheaper, the interior just SUCKS. I drove a 2009 Avenger at work the other day for about 2 hours and I hated the interior....all plastic junk.

[Todd Wilson]

I am hoping the quality goes up with Fiat running the show. Seems the bodys and mechanics of the vehicles the last several years have been just fine but the interiors are cheap and flimsy.
Every 2006 and up Chrysler vehicle I have looked at has ratty interior. These are 30-50g mile vehicles.



Todd

I quite like the interiors in the Challengers, 300s, Grand Cherokees and higher model Rams and Caravans but everything cheaper, the interior just SUCKS. I drove a 2009 Avenger at work the other day for about 2 hours and I hated the interior....all plastic junk.

I dont dislike the design of the interiors its the quality of it that they need to improve on.


Todd

[runningman]

It's coming guys, that is one of the first things that Fiat did when they took over...check out all the new models coming out later this year and next...the interiors are fantastic!!

[Brock Samson]

see the other 2011 charger thread.

[moparjohn]

I would like to ask a question, related to interiors of modern cars since this thread is somewhat going that way.  If you by a car/truck with a floor shift, WHY is there a shift indicator on the instrument cluster.  This is another "new car thing" that annoys me. BTW I do like the direction the quality of Chryslers interiors is going, yeah it's about time. I don't think the Germans did a good job of keeping up in that department. MPJ

[Brock Samson]

  Well the Germans swiped all of Chrysler's "war chest" money (approx. $5 billion) in 2001 to develop the Mercedes line up and that's why they have so many new models and engines today... their vans (replaced the recently modernized B-Class Ram Van with Mercs. own Sprinter model for more American market share). Two new SUVs, a new sports car (biased on the Viper which has just come to market), the $800.000 Maybach luxury model and a host of niche vehicles and specialized AMG Hi-performance derivations. Sometime have a look at their lineup I think their are approx. 50 different Mercedes Vehicles.
    Meanwhile they decontented all of the Chrysler models across the board, yeah, they contributed some pieces from the ten year old E Class for the LX series a floor pan stamping, seat frames, and a turn signal indicator that was universally panned by the motoring press,.. They didn't actually want Chrysler competing with Mercedes they wanted them decidedly second tier at best. As soon as Daimler signed the paper work, features and leather began to disappear from the High End Chrysler models, even windshield tinting went away...   radios got cheapened,.. hard plastics, right angles on dash pieces. yep it went from bad to worse when the "New" models were introduced.
Chrysler Design and Innovation in Design was a hallmark of the company, but that was watered down considerably once the design staff was paired down and someone else from northern Europe was calling the shots, Chrysler's chief Lutz went to GM where he began to broaden GMs market share with Opels and Holdens for Pontiac and even Cadillacs and Buick, but alas - it was too late for poor Oldsmobile.
The way I read the story, When the Third Gen. LH class was introduced at the Berlin Auto Show in 1998 The Mercedes Management was totally surprised with the "Cab Forward" Concord and 300M and began to formulate plans to acquire Chrysler in what they called a "Merger of Equals", but was in reality time would show, a hostile takeover.

As for the Shift indicator moving to the dash, that's where your eyes are supposed to remain near the road - not down between the seats. Though Chevy's new Camaro has the four Aux. gauge's down there where God intended.  

[moparjohn]

Your'e info on the takeover seems right on.  Years ago at a car meet, I and others listen to an employee talk of how the Germans wanted to know why an American car had less welds per car with greater torsional rigidity than their counterpart, they took the money and some of the engineering and threw the underloved, undervalued carcass away.  IMO the merger should never had been made, Hell in 98 Chrysler was doing very well.  I do belive the company can rebound yet again, as long as Fiat respects the American buyer that has seen Chrysler through the good and bad, K-cars, no performance cars, outdated trucks, and back again.  I don't care what sells in Euope, I want a distinctive American car, hopefully made here! LOL. MPJ

[Brock Samson]

  A  little known fact is that the entire LH line was designed in France on the then brand new CAD CAM process now in use industry wide,.. The first in the series was the late '80s Monaco/Concord twins - also known as the last AMCs as the Concord and Eagle.
 The second Generation was the "Cab Forward"  Intrepid, Eagle Vision, Concord triplets,.. So when the Eagle brand went away the Eagle became the 300M and the longer trunk LHS was added.
BTW: I have read in more than one place that the Eagle Vision TSI was the best handleing American sedan of it's time. They are still succesfully raced today in autocross events.
Most front wheel drive midsized Japanese cars have gone to the Cab-Forward design platform since the Yr. 2000, look at the Nissan Altima for example. It also has French Renault design input courtesy of Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of both Renault and Nissan. Nissans are far superior to what they were prior to their European influence.
I feel Ma Mopar is in much better hands with Fiat and Sergio Marchionne then it ever could have been in Daimler's control. Sergio hasn't deligated Chrysler's fate to an understudy,.. he's taken it on himself to stabilize Chrysler.
He seems to have turned FIAT around quite well indeed and in a short amount of time.
For example I aspire to a new Grand Cherokee but I sure didn't like the last one.  

[moparjohn]

My brother has the previous generation GC Jeep. It has been trouble free, it's quiet and handles nice (better than my friends 99, which has 250k on it) but like we have said, it's got a lackluster plastic interior. IMO that was the weakest link on our Daimler years products.  I always liked the LH sedans, they were Chryslers first and last refined vehicle, because after that Daimler took over. (modern 80-90's) My 98 Ram has a plastic interior, but it's a truck, and at the time it was new, it was on par. Looking at the new Ram makes my interior look.....inexpensive. MPJ

[Brock Samson]

 BTW Daimler got their mitts on the Company in 2001 that's when stuff started going away... Plymouth would be a good example...
they moved Dodge down to the entry low cost position Plymouth was known for and Chrysler slightly above Dodge to the position Dodge had occupied Cheapening the entire brand.

[Silver R/T]

I am hoping the quality goes up with Fiat running the show. Seems the bodys and mechanics of the vehicles the last several years have been just fine but the interiors are cheap and flimsy.
Every 2006 and up Chrysler vehicle I have looked at has ratty interior. These are 30-50g mile vehicles.



Todd

So, how's your caliber holding up Todd?.. that model has practically dissapeared from the Dodge lineup. 

The 2007 Caliber is doing fine. Its been a trouble free car. Gets less MPG in town then they say it will and gets more on the highway then they say it will.  The interior is a piece of shit deluxe.   We have had more troubles with plastic panels popping loose. Or they simply break tabs and stuff that hold them onto the car.   The seats and everything else are fine so far but the car is about to approach 20000miles. My only complaint is the interior. If they had used more quality stuff to build the interior and used some floor insulation to help cut down on road noise a little more it would be perfect.   I do not know why these cars have not sold more. They function great as far as hauling people and luggage. Seats fold down for more hauling room. Very handy car overall. I enjoy driving it. Does good in the snow and so forth.

I've looked at used diesel rams lately.  Both a 2006 and 2007 with 50xxx miles and the interiors were ragged out. Seats showing wear areas and thin spots. Places in the seats tore.     My 1995 Dodge Rams interior after 15 years is in better shape then most of the 2-3 year old used interiors. Shows what the old Chrysler was vs the new Chrysler.


Todd

That's why I went with older Cummins, besides the fact that it was more affordable than late model rams. I just don't like Ram interiors (03+) They look so cheap and brittle.

[stripedelete]

"Phil Jansen, Grand Cherokee Chief Engineer, said that the front limited slip differential was dropped because "we developed our Quadra-Drive II system with a variable transfer case, rear electronic limited slip differential, better brake limited differential performance, and larger brakes to provide better traction performance than our prior system with electronic limited slip differential. He also said that the Grand Cherokee was both designed and developed before the Fiat partnership."

I think credit for the new grand cherokee goes to the Germans.  Along with most of the models that are actually moving.  I know public perception is that the Germans brought Chrysler down, but the truth is they were trying to catch a falling knife.  Eaton and Lutz did a great job bending sheetmetal and pulling Chrysler back from the brink.  But they never licked the forever quality issue and Chrysler was once again headed in the wrong direction, FAST.  Cab forward was great engineering, but they were still falling apart at 40K miles.  And the millions the Germans stole - Freightliner and Western Star were not acquired with baseball cards.  The better question is why? (can you say Gulfstream and Maserati?- talk about groundhog day)

I know this isn't a popular viewpoint, and it did not get a lot of press, but it's not a conspiracy theory either. Do you remember Schremp(?) on the front page of Automotive News  saying, "we bought a pig-in-a-poke"?   Eaton and Lutz may have pulled off the greatest pump-and-dump of all time.   At the time I questioned all of this. I was in Mopar (and sometimes Auburn Hills) about three days a week during that time period and behind closed doors the Americans very much backed up the Germans postion.  Chrysler had very serious problems before the germans (some claimed worse than '79 and '90 put together.)

As far as Chrysler's latest turnaround, the interiors do have to be addressed.  They just look cheap.  But they really need to keep a laser focus on quality and get this monkey off their back once and for all.  On paper they have the right plan, now it's about execution (unless execution is dependent upon more money from us - then they may be out of runway).  In the end, the more I read about this guy, the more I think I may be buying a copy of his book some day.

I would be interested in reading our european members observations on the effectiveness of the Fiat turn around.

[Brock Samson]

 Great Post!