Commentary: Chrysler will no longer exist

[my73charger]

This guy thinks Chrysler will eventually close up.

http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersComService4/idUSDIS14386220080801

[Mike DC]

 
It wouldn't shock me.  I've been waiting for the axe to fall to one degree or another ever since the 'krauts first took over several years ago. 


Whatever happens, it'll probably be ANYTHING other than just letting Mopar alone to try to rebuild itself to functionality.  ANYTHING but that. 

[bull]

Weren't we all saying this when Chrysler was sold? I'd be more surprised if Chrysler didn't get scuttled than if it did.

And all those lifetime warranties? Bye-bye.

[my73charger]

Weren't we all saying this when Chrysler was sold? I'd be more surprised if Chrysler didn't get scuttled than if it did.

And all those lifetime warranties? Bye-bye.

I never thought of that.  That would burn me up since I just a bought a 2008 Avenger with the lifetime powertrain warranty.   

[Mike DC]

Aren't there like a thousand ways to violate that warranty?  Like, if you meet all the terms, you've probably spent enough to have already bought a rebuilt motor by then?

[RallyeMike]

Lots of people think that is a possibility given Cerberus history, the downturn of the truck market which Chrysler counts heavily on, and not-stellar reliability ratings mixed with lifetime warranties.

That would suck, not because I am a big fan of today's Chrysler, but because parts support and resale values would tank. I think long-term, you would also start to lose the fan base for the old Mopar's as well.

[WingCharger]

Lots of people think that is a possibility given Cerberus history, the downturn of the truck market which Chrysler counts heavily on, and not-stellar reliability ratings mixed with lifetime warranties.

That would suck, not because I am a big fan of today's Chrysler, but because parts support and resale values would tank. I think long-term, you would also start to lose the fan base for the old Mopar's as well.

I hate to say it, but that sounds right. It would become just like good ole AMC. Never thought it would go under back in the day, and look at the AMX and Javelin fan base, and the repro parts, now!

[BB1]

GM will go first. 

[twenty mike mike]

GM will go first. 

If GM gets the battery issues in the Volt solved before next year, Commiefornia will keep GM afloat singlehandedly.   

[Magnumcharger]

Unfortunately, we (the North American population) only have ourselves to blame.
Somewhere, at sometime, people really started to believe that foreign cars were better built than stuff we could make here at home.
I'd almost believe it too....except for the Japanese/Korean vehicles.

An analogy: a couple of parents decide to feed the neighbour's kids, because they seem like they'll turn out better than their own.
Then their own kids starve to death in the process, and all the while they tearfully wail, wondering how much longer they'll have a family.

As a former autobody mechanic, I've had the displeasure of repairing all manners of vehicles, and I'll be honest here - Japanese/Korean cars are made out of substandard metal (all in the interest of weight savings/fuel economy, I'm sure). Not to mention: how often they change the design of their product.
Remember how easy it was to find engine parts for your 318 or 383? Or an axle seal for your 8.75 diff?

Here it is, 63 years after the end of WWII, and the Japanese and Germans are showing they really know how to win a war after all.

[Mike DC]

I'm sorry but Detriot has nobody to blame but itself for their troubles now. 

Everyone like us remembers the public defecting to Japan in 1975-85. 
And everyone remembers Detroit really matching Japan's reliability in 1995-2008.     

But what we WON'T face, is the fact that the American public gave Detroit round after round of repeated chances to match Japan's reliability from about 1980-1995.  And Detroit continually failed for their own short-sighted reasons.  Drive American compact cars from the 1980s and you find 100% of the boring-ness of the Japanese FWD econoboxes, AND none of the reliability.


I'm sorry that Detroit is currently making great cars and still can't get a break from the American public.  But they spent about 15-20 years making that mess themselves despite everyone in the country wanting to see them turn it around.  The reason they're currently can't get a break even making 200,000 mile cars, is because they wouldn't even make 120,000 mile cars for 15 years while the American public kept giving them another chance.  The public wanted to be patriotic but they just got tired of being burned. 

[rt green]

time once again to call up lee i.