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Posted by hemimech on Wednesday, May 06, 2009 at 22:54:26 :
In Reply to: Re: Save Chrylser! posted by Glen Idaho on Wednesday, May 06, 2009 at 00:57:39 :
WOW, This post was disappointing to see on a Dodge enthusiast web site.
Who cares? Maybe the deserving charities that received 350 million from the Chrysler foundation over the last 13 years. Or possibly someone at the 3,600 Chrysler & Dodge dealers that employ an average of 53 people each. I know the 54,000 US Chrysler direct employees as well as the estimated 1.9 million people that would be affected by the loss of the smallest of the Big 3 care(Tier 1, lower tier suppliers, direct/indirect transportation, dealerships, finance and all other businesses related., independent repair facilities, tool dealers, Oil & fuel suppliers, all types of equipment repair facilities, Utility companies, packaging company's, software makers, vending machine operators, lawn care etc…) The loss would in essence touch every town in America that has a dealership.
The “catastrophic illness” is not entirely Chryslers fault. They were in the middle of a 2 billion dollar powertrain offensive to improve reliability and fuel economy when fuel prices soared and drove people to purchase smaller more efficient vehicles. The companies portfolio at that time was weak on small vehicles. Couple that with the failing economy that decreased sales & you have a recipe for disaster. I don’t care if your growing potatoes in Idaho or raising beef if someone can import these commodities at lower costs it will bite your income. They will flood the market & your sales will dwindle even if you have the best product available.
Right now Chrysler has some of the best products it has ever offered. Warranty rates are 30% lower than two years ago & at the lowest point in the companies 80 year history. Chrysler LLC had the least amount of recalls than any other major manufacture in 2008. Fuel economy for 2009 models has been improved on 19 models (73% of its line up) over the 2008 products. For 09 models $500 million worth of content have been put into the products to improve interiors and overall customer perceived quality. The vehicles are now some of the safest on the road. Most models offer side air bags & some have lumbar and leg bags also. In April the Jeep Patriot just earned the top rated award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
As far as producing a better truck it’s already here. 09 RAM 1500 beat out Chevy Silverado, Ford F150 & Toyota Tundra in a head to head by Edmunds. In January Car & Driver also named the Dodge Ram their top pick. The truck is going on to claim 23% of the US sales in its segment. Very good if you look back to the previous model sale that only had 8.2% of the market in 2008. The truck equipped with the newly reworked 4.7L is up on HP & fuel economy thanks in part to new cylinder heads with dual spark plugs. The 5.7L trucks now have variable valve timing as well as the MDS cylinder deactivation that translates into another 4% fuel economy increase.
I sorry I could go on all day but I’m tired of hearing that Chrysler should just be left to fail. The Americans that still have money just need to get off their wallets and start spending again (preferably on North American products).
before we all are out of work.
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