The Under Reported Chrysler Product Strikeout
While unnamed sources in undisclosed locations continue pushing rumors about Chrysler’s marriage plans, the fact that Chrysler’s problems are rooted in one of the worst product lineups on the planet goes largely unnoticed. The AP’s Tom Kishner bucks that trend with his piece [via yahoo] No big sellers in sight to save troubled Chrysler. “Of Chrysler’s 26 models on sale in both 2007 and 2008, only four have sold more this year than last, and three of those are small-volume niche vehicles such as the Dodge Viper. The company’s market share has dwindled from 16.2 percent in 1996 to 11 percent this year, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank.” The main blame for the heaping pile of losers in Chrysler’s showrooms is spoken auf Deutsch. “‘The truth is Daimler did them no favors,'” said Jim Hall, managing director of 2953 Analytics of Birmingham, Mich. ‘They approved products that previous Chrysler management wouldn’t have approved if they were completely drunk and beaten crazy.'” Cerberus has done nothing to improve matters, and has given up on any plans to lead the turn around of a Once Proud American Company. The best of Chrysler latest products are the new Ram and recent minivan redesign. Nice try, but the redone Ram remains an also ran in the truck wars. Ford and GM certainly aren’t about the cede any share of the already soft truck market. About that much hyped minivan redesign? It has done nothing to salvage Chrysler’s share of an imploding market segment. Minivan sales peaked at over 1.3 million units in 2000, but are expected to end 2008 at less than 650,000. Outside of the Rams and the Vans, things are even worse! Sebring, Nitro, Commander, Avenger, Caliber … the list of crap products goes on and on. Cerberus-Chrysler has more heads on it’s portfolio of dogs than even hell would sit still for.
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It still astonishes me that a foreign company can acquire an American company, lay waste to it, then abandon it to die. I am no socialist, but there is something deeply wrong when the people behind this disaster can simply walk away. How about closing the borders to Mercedes for oh, a decade or so. I'd love that.
I sense a little revisionism here, guys. By 1995 the bloom had started to come off the Jeep/AMC acquisitions. It was those that saved Chrysler a second time, even as the K-car and minivan magic was winding down. The only other thing Chryco had was Mitsubishi/DiamondStar (e.g. Colt, Ram D-50, Laser, Conquest, Stratus, etc) products. The LH series vehicles, Neon, and Grand Cherokee were all AMC legacy, already in development when Chryco took over. Even the new Ram was AMC personnel designed. Chrysler had nothing of its own, as others have pointed out earlier in this post, and an American keiretsu plus vehicle centers or not, Chrysler still made vehicles with detonating transmissions that couldn't keep their paint. Throw in Capt. Kirk and Iaccoca's attempted coup, and Eaton could see the writing on the wall well enough. The Germans badly overpaid, saving the "Crisis Corporation" once more, only to see it slip away under their watch.