Posted on 04/05/2009 4:36:16 PM PDT by kellynla
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's easy to think that Chrysler LLC is no longer too big to fail.
The embattled automaker has already cut its U.S. workforce by more than 60% since the start of the decade, leaving it with just under 39,000 employees in America.
To put that into context, that's only five thousand more people than electronics retailer Circuit City had when it went out of business this year -- and few thought the demise of Circuit City would cripple the economy.
Once a pillar of the Big Three, along with General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), Chrysler now trails Toyota Motor (TM) in U.S. sales and is struggling to stay ahead of Honda Motor (HMC).
So the news that the company could be forced out of business in the next 30 days if it can't work out a combination with Italian automaker Fiat strikes some as not that big of a deal.
"This is a company we can do without at least for the next couple of years without missing its production," said Kevin Tynan, auto analyst with Argus Research.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
“These dishonest people like Carl Rove and Rush”
“”F U.””
What SonOfPyrodex said... x10!
LLS
there's more metal in that door than the entire car of the ones they build these days...and if they didn't put the logo on the trunk of the ones they build these days; you wouldn't know one “cookie-cutter” from another. LOL
I have a serious question, what happens to the warranty on my 2008 Caravan I just bought in Nov.??????....You know the one with the lifetime powertrain yada yada..
Ever drive one ? You cannot see traffic out the rear window; its too high.
Oh, one could buy FUNCTIONAL replacement parts! Just not matching, color-molded interior parts. You had to buy off-color parts and paint them, which looked like crap after 2 days of seat belt use! You need ones like the OEM parts, with the color IN the plastic!
it’s good
Don’t get in the middle of a newbie cat fight.
Push down on the pedal on the right. That should solve most of the problems you refer to.
Both these companies produce cars with antique technology like solid rear axles, pushrod engines. Both are living in the past, introducing nostalgic replicas of musclecars, T-birds, and the like—cars which were primitive and crude in their day and hopelessly archaic today. BMW, Mercedes, Honda, etc. don’t produce replicars, for heaven’s sake. I can’t think of any car company outside the U.S. which puts pushrod 2-valve engines and live axles in passenger cars. Even Korean econoboxes have all-independent suspension and OHC multivalve engines.
I sure hope Jeep remains a viable product; it's hard to believe it would vanish - or become a meaningless, insulting nameplate affixed to a Fiat product. And yet, here we are in Obama's brave new world (turned upside down).
Fortunately, the aftermarket supports these vehicles so heavily that you can practically build one using no original parts. The classic car hobby has other examples - I think the '67-'68, '69-'70 Mustangs and '69 Camaros all have replacement *body shells* available. Amazing.
Consider a defensive driving course. Consider a trip to a parts recycler. Consider not using seat belts. Consider buying a Ford. Consider buying a Jeep Wrangler and installing a GM 350. Consider complaining to 0be and Pel0si.
Interesting. How many years old was the truck at that time?
I usually reject tough love concepts, but when the alternative is more “zero” socialism, I must say “tough luck Chrysler.”
Though in debt above its ears, Ford is the only potentially viable US car maker. Ford actually makes good cars.
GM will scale back to an unrecognizable shell of its former greatness.
Interior volume is the ultimate luxury.
Consider buying a stretched Ford Econoline or GM equivalent. Consider buying a full sized Suburban or Yukon XL. Perhaps a crew cab pickup. A Motorhome. A Luxury Motor Coach.
A quote from the article by the manager of the Michaelangelo Fund, an Italian investment company.
It's interesting that Europeans are more confident in the dollar than are many Americans, including quite a few FReepers.
I wonder, what will be the tipping point? Probably won't happen because the sheeple are still fat and happy. But if it does, watch out, it's going to be a very bumpy ride. Probably will get nasty too.
5.56mm
My mother had a Chrysler. The car kept stopping, the motor cutting out in the middle of traffic. The Chrysler dealer replaced the MAP sensor each time, 7 times. The 7th time, after personally insulting me and my mother, another dealer finally agreed to put the car back on the computer after replacing the MAP sensor once again. It turned out that the fuel mixture was too rich. They solved the problem by turning a screw, after years of pissing around and not bothering, years of insults and neglect.
Needless to say, I will never buy a Chrysler product as long as I live. I sincerely hope this company goes bankrupt, and that no one who works for them finds employment in the car business ever again.
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