Posted on 05/30/2018 2:53:18 PM PDT by tcrlaf
Swirling rumors suggest that one of America's oldest remaining automakers could be on the chopping block.
Sergio Marchionne will hold an investor's meeting in Italy on Friday, June 1, in Balocco, Italy, where the CEO will possibly kill one the corporation's most historic brands. FCA specialist Larry P. Vellequette of Automotive News reports that "a source told a European colleague" that Marchionne would declare the end of the Chrysler brand in the speech to investors.
In addition, Marchionne could detail plans to pull Fiat out of the United States and China, according to Automotive News. The brand would re-focus on building vehicles for Europe, Brazil, and emerging markets.
FCA's big strategic pivot would free up money to invest even more into Jeep, which is already the corporation's most profitable division. Among the new products reportedly on the way, there would be an even smaller SUV below the Renegade and the luxurious Grand Wagoneer for challenging the upper end of the segment.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
No bring back the Omni.
Sad to see all the old nameplates disappear. In my childhood neighborhood there were Hudsons, Studebakers, Packards, Nash Ramblers, DeSotos along with the usual Fords and Chevys. Even a Jaguar and a Triumph TR-3
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Of course its true.
Yes the UAW needs to go.
They are bloated, and over paid. They have zero incentive to do their jobs right. The way they see it, they get paid the same if they do it right or if they do it half-assed.
The whole union itself is based on a manufacturing model from 50 years ago.
There are manufacturers that come to job friendly southern “right to work” states (Hyundai, KIA, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen). These employees are usually paid better than other manufacturing jobs in the surrounding areas.
Nearing the end of life on my 4th Cherokee, one box and 3 Grands. All I have driven since 1994. As much as I like them, the quality and durability has steadily declined over the years. My 2011 is nowhere near the truck that my 2004 was, and the 1996 was my ndestructable.
You ain’t seen expensive til you’ve driven an Audi.
$2100 for a half shaft because of a blown CV joint. That was for the part itself through Audi.
I found a parts distributor online in upstate New York who had new OEM ones for $750 shipped.
We must be around the same age. I remember being impressed by the Henry J.
Chrysler's marketers didn't know that, to any mechanic, a "crossfire" would make an engine stumble, and give terrible gas mileage.
I've never owned a car with bench seats but a seat belt, which could be installed for $5 by Chevron stations (about 1963), must have improved things, right?
The K-Car era both saved and ruined Chrysler - they got into a lot of cheap plastic with no sense of interior or exterior design and turned out some real pieces of crap...
Same age cohort, different memories of the Henry J.
It did not impress this five year old. Even then it was a cheap looking car, looked half finished, a step child of a car. Seemed as if there were a lot of cheap cars sporting a light gray paint job in the early fifties...must have been a huge surplus of war time gray paint.
Church member had one of the early ones without a trunk lid and fixed rear windows. A forty minute drive in hot humid summer turned the rear seating into a sweltering oven. Dehydration, heat exhuastion made my mom tear the driver a new one. That was awesome. Looking back I'm amazed that they didn't kill many small children.
One of the other neighbors had a sweet, well kept, Ford Model A roadster with a rumble seat. That was a treat for us younger kids as he allowed us to climb around and take turns in the rumble seat for a spin around the block.
(And was advertised as "America's Most Important New Car").
Back then we took corners at 0.5 MPH.
At 70K miles I had to put in a quart every 2 or 3 weeks with mine. Chrysler said that was an “acceptable leve” and didn’t rise to the level of a warranty fix. I’ve talked to other owners with the same issue.
... and Studebakers had that nose cone!
The minivan frame was from the K Car.
Usually oil is a separate warning altogether. And it’s very easy to do anyway.
I’ll grant that “check engine” can be a more serious issue, but for 90% it is the damn emissions thing. And one can basically ignore it for a good while. Sometimes, the emissions ties into the whole system so that it screws up other things. I would replace the simplest EGR devices if it kept happening and see how it reacts then. Still showing, ask a mechanic (preferably not the dealers). (This assumes you’ve already checked the manual for what it means. Oil check is easier than EGR.)
Of course, it also depends on your model. Our old Town Cars back in the day meant you had something more serious. Since the ‘80s, it’s usually for The Environment(TM). But check your manual.
Boy you are real negative about anything in the past. You’re sending me on a real soapbox tear.
What has a bench seat to do with safety? An individual bucket seat is going to save you?
As later poster posited, what about a seatbelt? Especially now with 3-pt belts.
Oh, and one does not have to have a strict “bench” seat - many are and have long been divided into sections as best of both worlds.
Sliding? Ridiculous. Most of my autos my whole life have been “bench”, and nary a slide even in the Ford pick-up trucks which had firmer seats than our Town Cars.
And HUGE problems with “bucket” seats - they are made for certain sizes, and one size does NOT fit all. They have also encouraged this crap of permanent giant “consoles” down the middle by the driver, which also encroach on my comfort level (and I do include maneuverability for driving). All while cars get smaller and even I get crunched between the door and that “convenient” console.
Guess what? I’m a woman. I have a purse, and it’s not that large. These damn individual seats, because we must be like a “cockpit” it’s so cool! - enabled the idea it must be a cockpit so build up the cup-holder console to make you feel like you’re Top Gun. So I have NOWHERE TO PUT MY PURSE! Only if I’m alone, no one in the passenger side, can I plop it over on that seat. Otherwise it must be underfoot, in the way of foot movement or getting tangled. (We bought a GMC last year but I had to compliment the Ford Edge for at LEAST having a deliberate pocket under the driver seat for stowage). I am not putting it in the back seat, because God forbid a nervous cop pulls me over and shoots because I’m suspicious for reaching all the way to the back!
And with “bench” (i.e., full width), I can slide myself to either side when it is convenient (never mind easier to pull things from the other side with me). And believe me, there are many times we have wished we could just slide to the passenger side. Never mind fitting one more person in.
Oh, let me count the ways. Bucket seats are far overrated.
OK, off the box!
Jeep makes 'mall crawlers' like the Sahara Unlimited as well as 'Hummer rescue vehicles' like my Rubi.
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