Chrysler - did Cerberus blow it?

Charger is outselling 300 so far this year:
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/05/01/046193.html

25,000 sales so far this year isn't peanuts.

 

It is going to take more than that, Daimler spent 500 million to sell
Chyrsler after all the money was spent (most of it went back to
Chysler Financail) and you do you spend a extra 500 milion to sell a
company unless it stands to cost you a lot more to keep it. Chysler
has major labor cost problems and either they reduce them a lot with
major consesions or they go out of bussiness because there will be no
3rd option here.

 

Generally you're correct, but I've heard a number of hemi buyers say
they changed from Mercedes to Chrysler because that drive train was
almost half the price of the Mercedes.

However most Mercedes buyers don't buy for performance, just image.
We have many Mercedes vehicles around here and they just put along in
the city and seldom are seen on the highway.

 

DC could afford to pay to dump Chrysler, they sucked cash out of
Chrysler after the take over.
That Chrysler cash got DC profitable again.

DC will still own part of Chrysler so I expect they will still benefit
from Chryslers higher parts volume and lower costs.
Also I expect Chrysler will still benefit from what they get from
Mercedes.
So both sides should be happy; at least for a while.

 

Well, we lived in Germany for five years and Mercedes, in Germany, are not
de-tuned as they are for America. Over 100mph is not unusual on the
Autobahn, although it may be slower today. I am sure that there are many
Mercedes owners, in America, who do not know how to drive a Mercedes. But
I never drove a Mercedes in Germany, I drove an E-Type Jaguar, so what do I
know.

 

Not de-tuned here, but hopefully tuned for our driving speeds else the
mileage at our much lower speeds is poor.
Germany needs to put some limits on the Autobahn speeds. which are very
bad for the environment and unfortunately sometimes bad for those in
the very fast moving cars.

I shake my head and chuckle when I see someone here driving a car
designed for twice our speeds, just tooling along here.
What a waste of money and a misapplication of technology.

It's not how to drive a Mercedes, it's just that the rich who buy them
here are gentle mature drivers who seldom even go on the highway and
never in snow; thankfully.

 

They lost their arse with that purchase and made nothing off of it.
Bought it for 35 billion and sold it for a bit over 7 billion. Chysler
has got not cash to carry them through unless they get major
concessions and many industry analists agree too.

Only one side is happy here and it is not Chysler. I will be really
surprized if they are still around in a few years. Not that I want
them to fail but the deck is stacked against them right now.

 

To compare a Chysler hemi to the quality of a Mercedes motor and drive
train is very wishful thinking. The Hemi is well below it in
refinement.

 

And on average S-Class Mercs put in very high annual mileages because senior
execs use them.

DAS

For direct replies replace nospam with schmetterling

 

Now that IS poppycock.

1. Germany does not NEED to put in general speed limits. The environmental
impact is not as great as some people like to think. Anyway, huge chunks of
the German motorway network are already limited (to 130 km/h or less) and
much of the time in certain sections traffic is too heavy to go much above
the speed limit.

Furthermore, stretches of motorway have a guide max of 130 km/h. Whilst
that is not a legal limit, it could have insurance payout implications when
having an accident above that.


2. Mercedes is not only for the rich. It is for everyone. Even omitting
the A and B Classes, in Germany the C is a top-selling car and has been for
years, as is the BMW 3. (around number 5 or better).


DAS

For direct replies replace nospam with schmetterling

 

100+ mph is still the norm on rural autobahn for the larger cars, the
ubiquitous econoboxes kept around 120kph, and speed limits in the cities. I
was there last month, rented a BMW 3-series *diesel,* what a great car that
was. Had it up to 228KPH (about 140mph) at one time but usually I kept it
around 160-170KPH (100mph) and still returned about 26mpg. The only cars
passing me were the big Audis and Mercedes.

No diesel smell, no clattering, very smooth. When will these diesels be
available in the US?

 

Well, you can sure say Mercedes owners don't buy for styling. Mercedes
hasn't used any. If styling was important, Mercedes would have gone out of
business 40 years ago.

 

I'd have to disagree with that. Most Mercedes (other than the "SUV's")
look great. You don't think an SL500 looks sharp? Even the little 230
Kompressor looks pretty hot.

 

So? You can get a V8 in a Chevy Impala for less than a Cadillac, or
in a Crown Vic for less than a Jag.

You knoweth not of which you speak.

You knoweth not of which you speak.

 

That is patently false. Chrysler _had_ no cash.

BS. DC was profitable before the merger and except for 1 year, it's
been Chrysler dragging down the profits ever since.

Yep, those low cost Compass and Caliber interiors.

 

Mercedes are for rag heads and Europeans. they are ugly, expensive, and
ride like logging wagons. wayyyy over priced and expensive to get worked
on. nothing good to say about them. send them all back to Europe or that
toile in the desert - the Middle East. And while you are at it - have them
each tow a BMW - another POS made by a country that cares less about
pollution than any other. besides france of course. there is a real
winner.

"Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by delusional, illogical
liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media,
which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a
turd by the clean end."

 

Thanks for that. Always good to have a moron expose himself to
everyone on Usenet once in awhile.

 

If anyone cares to think about it, the troubles in this country grow from
Wall Street -

when corporations which had been happily moving along for years making money
and reinvesting it back into new products, research and so on - all of a
sudden had to learn to concern themselves about stock prices, how to TRY to
keep from being the victims of a hostile take over and having years of
profits burned up to light some billionire's cigar, and most importantly how
to keep the market happy and support all the Wall St. silk suited parasites
that have sucked the blood out of and destroyed so many fine American
companies, to line their own greedy pockets.

WHO CARES about how many Americans we put out of work, let's squeeze out
another Gulfstream Bizjet, Custom yacht, Million dollar one bedroom
apartment or $500k sports car for us....

If the people that originally started the NYSE could see it today, they
would most probably be first ashamed at the way it has been corrupted over
the years, and then probably burn it down...

I do hope I don;t appear too harsh =)

Bill

 

Yes in the past Mercedes cars were a bit ugly, but you obviously haven't
looked at the recent Mercedes E series of cars.
IMO they are lovely looking.
Mercedes passed on the ugly looks to the Chrysler 300.