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Automotive News & Views Inside Line Article Comments Article Comments - Memo to New Owners: Bring Back Chrysler's Product Mojo
12 messages, Last post on Jul 29, 2007 at 4:35 PM
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Read Michelle Krebs's take on the Chrysler predicament. What do you think? Memo to New Owners: Bring Back Chrysler's Product Mojo
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Replying to: KarenS (Jun 19, 2007 11:43 am) I think Chryco is soo screwed.  Cereberus are money guys and MoPar needs Product Guys to get out of the hole it's in so unless they can find another Lutz or Iacocca Chrysler is all done.
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Replying to: andys120 (Jun 19, 2007 12:36 pm) What Chrysler needs is what the article describes. I'm just really doubtful the new owners intend to go that way. |
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| I agree with the article. There is nothing in the product pipeline that sounds like the homerun that Chrysler so desperately needs. It seems the corporation is entirely out of touch with today's consumer. Today's consumer does not want outdated designs and cheap hard plastic interiors. If the company's two upcoming crossovers share the traits of other recently introduced products, they will do very little to change the company's reputation or failures. The Imperial concept looks like an unattractive 300 on steroids (and I think the 300 truly has an attractive exterior design). Where are all the great looking products that the corporation's concept cars promised us in the 90's and earlier this decade (plus the recent Demon and Hornet concepts). Chrysler desperately needs a car man to help it develop desirable products that the public will actually buy. Most of the current lineup needs to be banished, planned future products need to be examined and reviewed, and the company's brands need to be realigned. Dodge should be the entry level, sporty brand; Chrysler should be a true near luxury brand (I think near luxury is as far upscale as Chrysler can go) with upscale interiors and unique exteriors; Jeep needs to return to its roots as a true offroad brand and develop products that cater to that core audience (look at the success the brand is enjoying with the 4-door Wrangler Limited). If the company can find a car man that understands the brands and knows what the public wants to buy, they might have a fighting chance. If the company insists on status quo and staying on their present course, then they are doomed for continued failure. | |
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98% of the car buying public has a different set of priorities, than the enthusiast bunch on townhall. That 98% grouping falls in to three groups thrift buyers, impulse buyers and appliance buyers. Mopar has targeted the their products after the impulse type buyer mainly. Their products are way way out of step what people need these days. Hyundai/Kia are going after the thrift buyer. Toy-Honda seems to the be the center of appliance land. Look at the record sales of the civic last month. Where is mopar's answer to Aveo or Yaris or a Fit? |
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| I agree with this article, Chrysler is in big trouble and the first think that should go is LaSorda and any other executives that have been there for decades. This is a new time and it takes new thinking, not guys who because they have been in the business so long "think" they know what Americans want and then the come out with the Jeep Compass or Avenger- Yikes! The small car market is going to be huge and they will be left behind unless they come up with a winner quick. I don't care for the PT cruiser, but a lot of people did! Why did they never re-design it? A new full efficient powertrain (possibly diesel), interior, suspension, etc, could have changed that car and made it a competitor. Instead they came out with the caliber which directly competes with it. Strange. Hopefully the new management can change Chrysler around because they need help quickly | |
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Look at how they whiffed with these recent introductions: - Sebring - Calibur - Aspen - Compass - Commander It's like they're trying to find ways not to compete. How are the same guys suddenly going to lead a product resurgence? They have no appealing mass market cars. |
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...those silly commercials with the actor playing Harley Earl for Buick? Truth is, the real Harley Earl would never stop violently throwing up if he saw a Rendezvous or a Terazza. I'd love to see, "I'm Virgil Exner, and I've returned from the grave to build you a new car!" Then there would be a drop-dead gorgeous line-up of hot tailfinned Plymouths, Dodges, DeSotos, Chryslers, and Imperials as in 1957!!! I remember seeing a picture of a proud. patrician, slim Exner in a nice black suit surrounded by the 1957 line-up. The man was a god! If you tried to recreate that picture today with a lot of Mopar's current lineup, you'd probably have some obese dork who looks like "Comic Book Guy" surrounded by dumpy minivans and SUVs. |
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I think the problem started when the Daimler guys basically ran the Chrysler guys out of town. That's how you have the guy that designed the PT Cruiser working for GM. Now you have this whole different bunch of riffraff to run out of town... |
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| Chrysler has yet to figure out that the american public wants an automobile, that is not only reliable, but fuel efficient as well. Chrysler is lacking in both catagories and no sight of changing anytime soon. | |
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