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Was This Car Made for China?
by
Edward Niedermeyer
(IC: employee)
Published: August 26th, 2009
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More fodder for the “Chrysler adjusts to life as a Marchionnian pawn” file, as Reuters reports that the Chrysler C-platform may be headed to China. Yes, anyone who’s ever driven a Caliber, Compass or Patriot will have a joke at the ready, as ChryCo’s compact threesome already ooze that “straight outta Tianjin” flava. Maybe Fiat figures that if GM can sell Buicks there by the boatload, a Compass might come across as mildly aspirational. On the other hand, this was already tried with the PT Cruiser. Back then, Chrysler couldn’t find anyone in a nation of a billion people who wanted to produce bulbous, tacky, out-of-date hatchbacks. It’s hard to see why Fiat thinks this go-round will be any different.
Edward Niedermeyer
More by Edward Niedermeyer
Published August 26th, 2009 6:23 PM
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I was in Beijing for a week a few months ahead of the summer olympics. It was mind boggling how many Buicks and Audis roamed the roads of that city. CDM vehicles were in the distinct minority, except for the trucks. Based on visual inspection, Audi seemed to be the dominant brand in Beijing.
DETROIT/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Just two months out of bankruptcy, Chrysler Group has renewed the hunt for a manufacturing partner in China as it prepares to revamp its product lineup under the control of Italy's Fiat SpA (FIA.MI), three people with knowledge of the discussions said. If I interpret this story correctly, it is a "revamp" of a product lineup that is FIAT/Chrysler's real goal. Sure, they gotta sell what they have now. But that's not the way it's gonna stay. "Interior by rubbermaid." "The Caliber has a redesigned interior and drivetrain improvements coming for MY 2010" Yes it will. The renderings I've seen look pretty good. The Patriot and Compass have already had their interiors redone. They look wayyyy better than the pic of the Caliber above. highrpm: "To me, it is inexcusable what [s]Chrysler[/s] Daimler did to those interiors." There, fixed it for ya. menno: "c. Part owned and now controlled by a company which hails from a nation which is (in)famous for the mafia (as well as unreliable, if sometimes interesting and if high-end, good looking cars)" Saying this is like saying the United States still practices slavery or that every American lives on a ranch and rides a horse. Stereotypes. Look it up. And despite stories about FIAT's reputation in the UK where it has a miniscule market share (how come no stories about FIAT in Italy?) the cars they make today are more realiable than VW could ever hope to be.