New posts re coming soon about:
Suicidal Scooter Drivers in Paris
The Joy of Driving on the Autobahn
and
The Nurburgring, a little bit of heaven on earth
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Chrysler
While Ford and GM have plodded along Chrysler has always swung for the fences. When it has had a hit, it has been a major hit. When it has had a miss, it has often been a head scratcher.
1934 – They produce the Chrysler Airflow, designed with the aid of a wind tunnel. It had a frame integrated in to the body work. Most cars up to this point had been built on top of their frame. In fact body on frame cars were the norm until the 80’s. It had an almost perfect 50 / 50 weight distribution, which gave it superior handling. In many ways this car was ahead of its time. It was also a huge failure. Its different looks and some questionable safety issues had people leaving the dealerships in droves.
http://www.shorey.net/Auto/American/Chrysler/1934%20Chrysler%20AirFlow%204-Door%20Black%20Frt%20Qtr.jpg
1955 – Chrysler C-300 – This 300 hp monster was one of the most powerful cars and had some of the best handling of the decade. There were just enough of them made so that they could get them in to the NASCAR race series. It was a commercial flop. It didn’t look or drive like anything of its time.
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.autobytel.com/images/2005/Chrysler/300/400/1955_Chrysler_300_exfrpass34.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.autobytel.com/content/shared/articles/templates/index.cfm/article_page_order_int/2/article_id_int/655&usg=__u9poxIj4-iz8zIM52Lrn9oW5YDU=&h=266&w=400&sz=12&hl=en&start=1&itbs=1&tbnid=iDN8PDaJZmel4M:&tbnh=82&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchrysler%2B300,%2B1955%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1
Muscle Cars and MOPAR - Chrysler built some of the biggest and baddest muscle cars of the era. Big engines and aggressive styling had customers lined up around the block. This was cut short by a combination of the oil crisis, skyrocketing insurance rates and pollution restrictions. Chrysler did not really have anything else to fall back on.
The spoiler is actually functional.
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://sosilly.free.fr/wp-content/2009/03/1970superbird.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sosilly.free.fr/%3Fp%3D1632&usg=__v_2ZpNbufPyvg2gRbXNYRZbY-VE=&h=626&w=768&sz=104&hl=en&start=18&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=xZkwOBySLWXFVM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=142&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSUPERBIRD%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1
K-car - Chrysler was on the brink of bankruptcy when they caught a break. They hired Lee Iacocca. His vision of a simple, straight forward platform modified to fit many needs, saved the company. Nobody would ever argue that the K-cars were sexy or fun. What they were was good value for money. Off of this simple platform they made: a convertible, a coupe, a sedan, a station wagon, a mini-van and a luxury limo. He used the same tried and true method that worked for the model T Ford, VW Beetle and the Austin Mini. Make them simple, reliable and cheap. This saved the company.
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://pix.motivatedphotos.com/2009/6/15/633806563447199640-Kcars.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.motivatedphotos.com/%3Fid%3D24308&usg=__FWfdQR2ITAutVItCMS6aMfmdXhM=&h=600&w=800&sz=65&hl=en&start=5&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=JY-Q8YBxLykbJM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3DK%2BCARS%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1
Chrysler TC by Maserati - Some ideas are great on paper but fall flat in reality. This idea didn’t even look good on paper. It was supposed to be a sports car built by a forgotten Italian super car maker and a min-van maker. It was basically a tarted up version of the Chrysler LeBarron Coupe for twice the price. Very few people bit, even fewer were happy with it.
Chrysler TC by Maserati
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.carfolio.com/images/dbimages/zgas/models/id/366/198x_tc.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/%3Fcar%3D4026&usg=__TUCp2Ldm3Iu6DwYnuE8wLKPOPl4=&h=222&w=300&sz=27&hl=en&start=11&itbs=1&tbnid=3PU2JiisGDLbTM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchrysler%2Btc%2Bby%2Bmaserati%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1
Chrysler LeBarron
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.murrayco.com/Car_Collection/chrys94_convert.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.murrayco.com/Car_Collection/1994_chrysler_lebaron_convert.html&usg=__gQllD4UEUZHD7ncHiZKOqwfGtis=&h=356&w=800&sz=376&hl=en&start=22&itbs=1&tbnid=J0FJaX2737DNIM:&tbnh=64&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchrysler%2BLE%2BBARON%26start%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1
Does one of these look like it is twice the value of the other one?
In 1998 Chrysler was purchased by Mercedes-Benz. This held a lot of promise. By this time Chrysler was making interesting looking vehicles with questionable reliability and Mercedes-Benz was known for their German precision. This seemed like a match made in heaven. Benz would get some more access to the American market while Chrysler would get capital and some of that German quality. It ended up being a bit of a dog’s breakfast. I think there must have been some interesting board meetings. Mercedes ended up with the disastrous M class, under powered, over complicated and unlike anything else in their line. Chrysler got the Crossfire: take a Mercedes C class coupe and somehow make it uglier and less useful. A better name would have been the Misfire. To those of you who are as geeky as I, yes I know the Crossfire gets its platform from the Mercedes SLK , but the SLK R170 platform is based on the W202 C class.
Mercedes Benz ML 320
honestly, it is baaaad. If somebody offers you one for free punch them hard and run away
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.annunciautousate.it/foto-auto/MERCEDES-BENZ_ML%2520270_Grosseto_1_479364b.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ooyyo.com/en/used-cars/mercedes%2520benz-ml%2520class&usg=__dGI1Rnv3E5kyEX7cnJdfyfSGSlg=&h=450&w=600&sz=29&hl=en&start=38&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Q8hw2vD46RUr_M:&tbnh=101&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3D2003%2Bmercedes%2Bbenz%2Bm%2Bclass%26start%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1
Chrysler Crossfire
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-abc/Chrysler-Crossfire-Reflection-1024x768.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.seriouswheels.com/abc/Chrysler-Crossfire-Reflection-1024x768.htm&usg=__7nOhaQj2v0aWtd9N7nkAiXGkq8I=&h=768&w=1024&sz=146&hl=en&start=5&itbs=1&tbnid=eiZy3qiOLhuPbM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchrysler%2Bcrossfire%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1
Mercedes and Chrysler eventually woke up, rolled over, looked at each other and crept away swearing that they were never going to drink again.
This brings us to today and yet another crossroads for Chrysler.
Chrysler has a reputation for innovative design and poor quality. Fiat has not sold cars in North America since 1984. The reputation that they left behind was one of beautiful cars that you spent more time fixing than driving (The old joke was FIAT stood for Failure In Automotive Technology) http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fiat
It doesn’t really matter if these reputations are deserved or not. This is the way that the general public will view these manufacturers until they are proven wrong. That could take years.
There have been some announcements that give me hope. Chrysler has announced that they will be tightening their line up. This is great news. There is some weeding that needs to be done.
There have been conflicting reports of the cancelation of the PT Cruiser. I am hoping it is gone. It is built on the old Neon platform, which was bad to start with. The design was interesting but it made too many concessions to style over practicality. It has also long outlived its quirky image.
The Sebring needs to be put out of everybody’s misery. It is that rental car that makes your shoulders slump. It is boring, bland and all together nasty. It amazes me that they have made a convertible version. It just cannot stand up to the competition.
Their truck division seems to be doing just fine, leave it alone. Jeep is doing ok for the most part. There are a few too many models at the low end of the price spectrum (yes I am looking at you Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot) but there line up can be fixed with minor tweaking and tuning.
There has already been an announcement that the Fiat 500 should be on sale at Chrysler dealerships by the end of the year. This is a great idea but it could pose some interesting problems
This car is reminiscent of the VW New Beetle and the BMW MINI. All three are modern interpretations of much loved peoples’ cars but the Fiat is a little different. The Beetle and the MINI rank among some of the most produced and most influential cars ever built. The Fiat 500 has some diehard fans, including Jerry Seinfeld and Michael Schumacher, but it is not nearly as well known.
The new Fiat 500 was originally launched in 2007. It will be making it to showrooms in North America in 2010. The 500 will not be able to benefit from a worldwide groundswell of interest as the other cars did.
The executives have a couple of very difficult decisions to make:
Do they produce the 500 on the Ford KA platform, that they have been using in Europe or do they look for technology from Chrysler`s inventory? Each of these comes with its own perils. If they stick with the tried and true Ford platform they are promoting the competition and the dealerships will have to stock a whack load of new parts. The alternative is to use parts already in Chrysler’s inventory. My biggest fear for them is that they dust of the remnants of the Neon (the incredible self destructing car) and bolt the 500’s body to it. This would not be the dumbest thing they have done, that would be the Prowler
How are they going to price this car? In Europe this car is priced at fifteen thousand pounds equipped the way that it may sell here. That translates to $23 000 in Canada. It is going to be hard to have a small car in the Chrysler showrooms that is priced ten thousand more than similarly sized cars in their inventory. People are used to going to a domestic dealership, getting a big discount, a rebate and a ridiculously low interest rate. How do you now tell people that you can have those things on every car in the place except that one over there?
My biggest fear is that some genius in the big pentastar office is going to look at this thing and figures that because the car is small it should be priced that $ 10,000. They can put the car out for that price but they would have to raid the Chrysler parts bin and drop quality. Choosing this direction will alienate the people who are drawn to the Fiat 500 as it is in other markets.
It is quite a dilemma. It would keep me up nights if I had to make these decisions. Fortunately for me I can just sit back and play armchair quarterback.
1934 – They produce the Chrysler Airflow, designed with the aid of a wind tunnel. It had a frame integrated in to the body work. Most cars up to this point had been built on top of their frame. In fact body on frame cars were the norm until the 80’s. It had an almost perfect 50 / 50 weight distribution, which gave it superior handling. In many ways this car was ahead of its time. It was also a huge failure. Its different looks and some questionable safety issues had people leaving the dealerships in droves.
1955 – Chrysler C-300 – This 300 hp monster was one of the most powerful cars and had some of the best handling of the decade. There were just enough of them made so that they could get them in to the NASCAR race series. It was a commercial flop. It didn’t look or drive like anything of its time.
Muscle Cars and MOPAR - Chrysler built some of the biggest and baddest muscle cars of the era. Big engines and aggressive styling had customers lined up around the block. This was cut short by a combination of the oil crisis, skyrocketing insurance rates and pollution restrictions. Chrysler did not really have anything else to fall back on.
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://sosilly.free.fr/wp-content/2009/03/1970superbird.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sosilly.free.fr/%3Fp%3D1632&usg=__v_2ZpNbufPyvg2gRbXNYRZbY-VE=&h=626&w=768&sz=104&hl=en&start=18&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=xZkwOBySLWXFVM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=142&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSUPERBIRD%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1
K-car - Chrysler was on the brink of bankruptcy when they caught a break. They hired Lee Iacocca. His vision of a simple, straight forward platform modified to fit many needs, saved the company. Nobody would ever argue that the K-cars were sexy or fun. What they were was good value for money. Off of this simple platform they made: a convertible, a coupe, a sedan, a station wagon, a mini-van and a luxury limo. He used the same tried and true method that worked for the model T Ford, VW Beetle and the Austin Mini. Make them simple, reliable and cheap. This saved the company.
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://pix.motivatedphotos.com/2009/6/15/633806563447199640-Kcars.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.motivatedphotos.com/%3Fid%3D24308&usg=__FWfdQR2ITAutVItCMS6aMfmdXhM=&h=600&w=800&sz=65&hl=en&start=5&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=JY-Q8YBxLykbJM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3DK%2BCARS%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1
Chrysler TC by Maserati - Some ideas are great on paper but fall flat in reality. This idea didn’t even look good on paper. It was supposed to be a sports car built by a forgotten Italian super car maker and a min-van maker. It was basically a tarted up version of the Chrysler LeBarron Coupe for twice the price. Very few people bit, even fewer were happy with it.
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.carfolio.com/images/dbimages/zgas/models/id/366/198x_tc.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/%3Fcar%3D4026&usg=__TUCp2Ldm3Iu6DwYnuE8wLKPOPl4=&h=222&w=300&sz=27&hl=en&start=11&itbs=1&tbnid=3PU2JiisGDLbTM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchrysler%2Btc%2Bby%2Bmaserati%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.murrayco.com/Car_Collection/chrys94_convert.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.murrayco.com/Car_Collection/1994_chrysler_lebaron_convert.html&usg=__gQllD4UEUZHD7ncHiZKOqwfGtis=&h=356&w=800&sz=376&hl=en&start=22&itbs=1&tbnid=J0FJaX2737DNIM:&tbnh=64&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchrysler%2BLE%2BBARON%26start%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1
Does one of these look like it is twice the value of the other one?
In 1998 Chrysler was purchased by Mercedes-Benz. This held a lot of promise. By this time Chrysler was making interesting looking vehicles with questionable reliability and Mercedes-Benz was known for their German precision. This seemed like a match made in heaven. Benz would get some more access to the American market while Chrysler would get capital and some of that German quality. It ended up being a bit of a dog’s breakfast. I think there must have been some interesting board meetings. Mercedes ended up with the disastrous M class, under powered, over complicated and unlike anything else in their line. Chrysler got the Crossfire: take a Mercedes C class coupe and somehow make it uglier and less useful. A better name would have been the Misfire. To those of you who are as geeky as I, yes I know the Crossfire gets its platform from the Mercedes SLK , but the SLK R170 platform is based on the W202 C class.
honestly, it is baaaad. If somebody offers you one for free punch them hard and run away
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.annunciautousate.it/foto-auto/MERCEDES-BENZ_ML%2520270_Grosseto_1_479364b.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ooyyo.com/en/used-cars/mercedes%2520benz-ml%2520class&usg=__dGI1Rnv3E5kyEX7cnJdfyfSGSlg=&h=450&w=600&sz=29&hl=en&start=38&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Q8hw2vD46RUr_M:&tbnh=101&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3D2003%2Bmercedes%2Bbenz%2Bm%2Bclass%26start%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-abc/Chrysler-Crossfire-Reflection-1024x768.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.seriouswheels.com/abc/Chrysler-Crossfire-Reflection-1024x768.htm&usg=__7nOhaQj2v0aWtd9N7nkAiXGkq8I=&h=768&w=1024&sz=146&hl=en&start=5&itbs=1&tbnid=eiZy3qiOLhuPbM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchrysler%2Bcrossfire%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1
Mercedes and Chrysler eventually woke up, rolled over, looked at each other and crept away swearing that they were never going to drink again.
This brings us to today and yet another crossroads for Chrysler.
Chrysler has a reputation for innovative design and poor quality. Fiat has not sold cars in North America since 1984. The reputation that they left behind was one of beautiful cars that you spent more time fixing than driving (The old joke was FIAT stood for Failure In Automotive Technology) http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fiat
It doesn’t really matter if these reputations are deserved or not. This is the way that the general public will view these manufacturers until they are proven wrong. That could take years.
There have been some announcements that give me hope. Chrysler has announced that they will be tightening their line up. This is great news. There is some weeding that needs to be done.
There have been conflicting reports of the cancelation of the PT Cruiser. I am hoping it is gone. It is built on the old Neon platform, which was bad to start with. The design was interesting but it made too many concessions to style over practicality. It has also long outlived its quirky image.
The Sebring needs to be put out of everybody’s misery. It is that rental car that makes your shoulders slump. It is boring, bland and all together nasty. It amazes me that they have made a convertible version. It just cannot stand up to the competition.
Their truck division seems to be doing just fine, leave it alone. Jeep is doing ok for the most part. There are a few too many models at the low end of the price spectrum (yes I am looking at you Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot) but there line up can be fixed with minor tweaking and tuning.
There has already been an announcement that the Fiat 500 should be on sale at Chrysler dealerships by the end of the year. This is a great idea but it could pose some interesting problems
This car is reminiscent of the VW New Beetle and the BMW MINI. All three are modern interpretations of much loved peoples’ cars but the Fiat is a little different. The Beetle and the MINI rank among some of the most produced and most influential cars ever built. The Fiat 500 has some diehard fans, including Jerry Seinfeld and Michael Schumacher, but it is not nearly as well known.
The new Fiat 500 was originally launched in 2007. It will be making it to showrooms in North America in 2010. The 500 will not be able to benefit from a worldwide groundswell of interest as the other cars did.
The executives have a couple of very difficult decisions to make:
Do they produce the 500 on the Ford KA platform, that they have been using in Europe or do they look for technology from Chrysler`s inventory? Each of these comes with its own perils. If they stick with the tried and true Ford platform they are promoting the competition and the dealerships will have to stock a whack load of new parts. The alternative is to use parts already in Chrysler’s inventory. My biggest fear for them is that they dust of the remnants of the Neon (the incredible self destructing car) and bolt the 500’s body to it. This would not be the dumbest thing they have done, that would be the Prowler
How are they going to price this car? In Europe this car is priced at fifteen thousand pounds equipped the way that it may sell here. That translates to $23 000 in Canada. It is going to be hard to have a small car in the Chrysler showrooms that is priced ten thousand more than similarly sized cars in their inventory. People are used to going to a domestic dealership, getting a big discount, a rebate and a ridiculously low interest rate. How do you now tell people that you can have those things on every car in the place except that one over there?
My biggest fear is that some genius in the big pentastar office is going to look at this thing and figures that because the car is small it should be priced that $ 10,000. They can put the car out for that price but they would have to raid the Chrysler parts bin and drop quality. Choosing this direction will alienate the people who are drawn to the Fiat 500 as it is in other markets.
It is quite a dilemma. It would keep me up nights if I had to make these decisions. Fortunately for me I can just sit back and play armchair quarterback.
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