“I think that this was scheme on Daimler’s part to gut a competitor for cash and expertise.”
You are joking right?

Wouldn’t the suppliers they are screwing out of their hard ended money make up a pretty good majority of the customers that Chrylser has left, the loyal ones.

If you were the guy on the line making Dodge widgets and you saw your employer being flushed down the tubes because of Chryslers management and food being taken off your table because of cuts or possibly unemployment would you go out and buy one of their products, if you could even afford it at this point. Especially knowing that part you just made is total crap, and would you recommend your relatives to buy said product.

These guys are shooting themselves in the foot and they don’t even know it, every customer they lose at this point is NEVER coming back.

I figure Magna and J.C. gotta be on the verge of telling Cry sler to take a flying leap.

Magna was actually bidding for Chrysler, but got beat out by Cerberus. I remember thinking that it wouldn’t be such a bad thing, because at least Chrysler’s primary parts supplier would have a vested interest in quality parts, as well as no worries about maintaining profit margins because, well, it’d be the same company.

The only reasons I can see their being sold to Cerberus is a) money and b) that, under the thrall of the three-headed dog, there was no chance Chrysler would ever recover and pose any kind of threat to Benz (remembering that the 300C SRT-8 and ME412 were very much frowned upon by the Benz guys).

The more I think about the whole DaimlerChrysler escapade, the more I think that this was scheme on Daimler’s part to gut a competitor for cash and expertise. That it ended up costing them money is probably attributable to Daimler’s collective management arrogance.

Typical of Chrysler to go the complete opposite way that the Japanese manufacturers have operated for decades and the Japanese model clearly works well.

Chrysler was the first of the domestics to truly outsource parts in a big way and it worked OK, at the beginning (Why use UAW labor to make bumper bolts, right?).

Chrysler’s vehicles are so questionable now in consistency (I know, I have a recently made one) that this tactic will ensure continued mediocracy at best and outright contempt for their products, from customer and supplier alike, at worst. This is the act of desperate people, not business professionals.

The end result was another black eye in the reliability department for VW, with certain parts developing a notorious reputation for failure.

I’m reminded of a comment attributed to John Glenn, in response to a reporter’s question as to what he was thinking when he was orbiting the earth in Friendship 7. To paraphrase, Glenn allegedly stated, “I kept thinking that every single part of this tin can was made by the lowest bidder!”

…and they demanded price reductions, I’d agree for the span of the contract.

But I’d give them whatever product I could make at a decent profit margin. So if it’s less sturdy, or flimsier, or is made of paper & glue… well, too bad – Chrysler can ALWAYS terminate the contract!

Which would be what I’d be looking for. No reason to maintain a contract that’s a losing proposition – unless there is a legal threat. And if Chrysler cancels, then the breach of contract is from them.

This is merely another sign that Nardelli was the wrong choice, and that Cerberus was foolish to buy the company and then to hire Nardelli. When a guy’s last employer was so desperate to be rid of him that they were willing to, and did, pay $160 million to get him to leave, exactly what level of intellect hires the guy to run another company?

Guess we all know the answer.

Can you imagine the corners they’ll cut after that kind of treatment? The new rule ‘Any part that won’t result in expensive litigation goes out the door’.

Alternatively, I am sure there’s a Chinese plant somewhere dying to make some cheap shit parts to sell to Chrysler. Even if Chrysler does end up holding a fire sale, I still don’t think I’d buy.

No, they can’t.

But in Chrysler’s case, it may not matter much, because the plan seems to be to outsource most of the production. They won’t need to worry about parts quality if they aren’t assembling anything.

One more reason to never consider buying a Chrysler vehicle. (Like I needed another one.)