Friday, May 1, 2009

Chrysler's Achilles Heel...Do you agree?

According to a CNN Money business report below is a list of cars they feel were the demise of Chrysler. Do you agree (http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/107013/Cars-That-Wrecked-Chrysler):

Check out the blog and get invovled:


Chrysler was king of the hill with its 300 series just a few years ago. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Now the company is going bankrupt after a string of uninspired products destroyed its reputation.

CNNMoney043009.jpg
Courtesy: Chrysler

2004 - Chrysler 300C

Chrysler's 1998 merger with Daimler-Benz bore promising fruit with the 2004 rebirth of the Hemi-powered Chrysler 300C.

With a dose of German engineering, Chrysler had seemingly rediscovered its founder's vision. Walter P. Chrysler had wanted his car company to offer investor class quality at working-man prices. With its Mercedes-based suspension and all-American Hemi engine under its boxy hood, the 300C performed with a power and alacrity that belied its relatively low cost.

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In hindsight, the Dodge Magnum, introduced at the same time, should have provided a warning of bad things to come. The thuggish wagon was a big hit at first and it was, in most respects, every bit as good as the 300C.

But the interior lacked the 300C's stylishness. In fact, it lacked any apparent design at all. And the materials were rock hard and cheap feeling.

Chrysler LLC learned something with these two cars: Design sells. But what began as a selling point became, for Chrysler, a rickety crutch.

Under its new owners, Chrysler seems to be learning its lesson at last. But several models Chrysler has introduced over the last handful of years have eroded Americas trust and driven the company to bankruptcy.

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2006 - Dodge Caliber

As with the 300C, the looks were promising. The Dodge Caliber compact car brought the chest-thumping attitude of the big Ram truck into a small package. The boxy hood and gape-mouthed grill, not to mention the name, spoke of explosive power.

But this little car was more a popgun than a .357. Far from thrilling, acceleration was barely even adequate and the steering felt hollow and numb.

Like the Magnum, the interior was cheap and looked like it could be disassembled with a butter knife.

The Caliber did have a few clever features, the sort of novelties that Chrysler started putting into its cars to give them something besides "the look" to set them apart. In this case, there were stereo speakers that hung down from the open tailgate and an iPod holder that folded out from the center console.

With flash and cleverness papering over a fundamentally weak product, the Caliber seems to have been a guide to a disastrous new product strategy at DaimlerChrysler's Michigan outpost.

2006 - Jeep Commander

Once again stretching to make more with less, Chrysler designers and engineers managed to pile a big SUV into the skeleton of a much smaller Jeep Grand Cherokee.

While the distance between the front and rear wheels remained the same as on the Grand Cherokee, the Commander had an extra row of seats, four cubic feet more passenger volume and a cubic foot more cargo space.

This exercise in maximizing gave the Commander awkward proportions. The tall SUV also teetered through turns and wallowed over bumps, feeling like small boy struggling to carry a big package.

To add to its problems, the Commander also arrived on the market just as consumers were turning away from giant SUVs.

Add poor timing to its list of problems.

2007 - Dodge Nitro

Crossover SUVs had become a hot item, stealing sales away from bigger SUVs. With the Nitro, Chrysler squeezed its way into that market without waiting for true a crossover SUV.

The Nitro is a Jeep Liberty stripped of its "Rubicon Trail" capabilities. There is no "four-wheel-drive lock" setting, for instance. But what couldn't be stripped out was the Jeep's harsh, bouncy ride and anemic street performance.

Like other Dodge's and Jeeps of this generation, the Nitro also has a hard-edged, chintzy interior no different from the Liberty's except for Dodge's ram's-head logo.

Even a short test drive would reveal that, no matter what it might look like, the Nitro doesn't offer what customers really want in a crossover SUV: the ride and handling of a car in a roomier package.

Chrysler did come out with the Journey, a larger true crossover vehicle, last year. It's not the best on the market, but at least it's honest.

2007 - Chrysler Sebring

It's been a long time since two American automakers have, at the same time, offered mid-sized sedans capable of taking on the Japanese. Unfortunately, Chrysler wasn't able to make it three.

The Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Malibu, with their sophisticated six-speed transmissions, smart looks and smooth, sophisticated road feel, put the lie to notion that Detroit can't make cars Americans want.

Chrysler's new, redesigned Sebring, meanwhile, sounded and felt harsh and unpleasant compared to its Asian and domestic competitors. The suspension felt weak in the knees and wallowing.

The Sebring certainly would have been competitive a decade or so earlier. If only Chrysler dealers weren't saddled with having to sell it today.

An available heated and cooled cupholder, another Chrysler attempt to score points with novelty, just wasn't enough to make up for all the Sebring lacked.

2009 - Dodge Ram

There's more than a glimmer of hope to be seen in the 2009 Dodge Ram truck. As always, there is an eye-catching exterior and there are tricky add-ons, like the Rambox storage bins worked into the bed walls.

But there's real depth here, too. Innovative coil springs provide a more car-like road feel and the interior is richly detailed.

There are positive signs in other recent product introductions, too. The Dodge Challenger muscle car has an interior that, while bland, is at least well built. And the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, a future product only recently unveiled, looks elegant inside and out.

This new crop of Chrysler vehicles marks a change in attitude about providing the best product possible for its customers.

So far, we've seen this attitude in a truck, an SUV and muscle car. To survive, Chrysler needs competitive small and midsized cars. To thrive, they'll need to be more than competitive to make up for Chrysler's past sins.

For this, the plan is to get help from Fiat. The Italian automaker seems to have the needed expertise, but we'll have to see how it translates to the American market.

VP Biden open mouth & Insert Foot...When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong

Now I have been a Biden fan for years and one reason is because VP Joe BBBBBBiden never held his tongue and would drop some great A-List material. Great politician, but candor is more colorful than the rainbow on the Lucky Charms box. Yesterday as everyone knows he did just that on "The Today Show". Now I read this yesterday and I know I am a day late, but on the Internet never a dollar short. 



Yesterday VP Biden came out and dropped some Former President George W Bush rederictic [reference http://tinyurl.com/c53xh2], ""I would tell members of my family -- and I have -- I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now."..."I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway. So from my perspective, what it relates to is mitigation" ..."when one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft." Here we go JOEEEE Here we go.... see this is what we call When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong...LOL... Now I get what he was trying to say which is basically since he doesn't know the ins and outs of Swine Flu he would avoid certain places. I really don't believe that his words caused mass panic yesterday, well maybe with the our wonderful Golden Age of Wisdom group (the Seniors), but other than that he probably cause more of a laugh than a care. 



If you want the facts about Swine Flu or Mexican Flu as the Middle East wants to call it, go to http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/flu-guide/20061101/swine-flu-faq... Let's get educated folks....

Thursday, April 30, 2009

What is this world coming to when Popeye's Runs out of Chicken LOL

A video on a lighter note, but come on folks it's just Chicken not health insurance LOL




Off to Bankruptcy Court We Go Hand in Hand with Chrysler

written by Jouran Crosby 

So it's no surprise that Chrysler is going to bankruptcy court to get issues resolved. The big question is, shouldn't we have done this months ago before giving them billions of taxpayer dollars? I am a President Obama supporter, however, the White House cabinet and Treasury are making some moves that I can not agree with at this time. I think some companies deserved bailouts and/or assistance to navigate these markets, however, I feel like certain banks and the auto manufacturers should have been allowed to go the route of Chapter 11. 

Let's talk about Chrysler and GM today; I am sure everyone is tired of hearing about them and honestly I am as well, but we do have to discuss the issues and ramifications of this filing. Now everyone keeps speaking about how these two organizations are going to develop more fuel efficient automobiles, but why throughout this whole process no one has discussed what those vehicles will be? Where is the GM volt? Where are the diesel engine vehicles that can use biodiesel right now (visit http://www.earthbiofuels.com/ for an explaination of hit it works) ? Why isn't anyone speaking about fire selling current inventory to replace with new smaller vehicles? Let's go to Chrysler's website and one will see that the smallest vehicle on the site is the PT Cruiser, but of the limited inventory they have listed all the vehicles are big, gas guzzlers with the lowest price being $18,000 (before incentives and only one vehicle). Now let's take a look at the Jeep site...again one will see that the lowest sticker is $18,000 (before incentives and only one vehicle), but every other vehicle is a gas guzzler. Let's look at the final site they own, Dodge... again one small vehicle offering priced around $18,000 (before incentives) and everything else are gas guzzlers.  The other norm between these three sites is the only hybrids are trucks/SUVs. 

Now to compare apples to apples let's look at Honda: If you one counts the many different offerings of the Civic, Honda has over 10 cars that would be classified as small and fuel efficient. Now if you say most are Civics, they you can say they have 4 small car offerings with 2 being hybids and all starting for lower than the $18,000 Chrysler vehicle price tags. The second thing is that each one of these vehicles are stylish and appealing to individuals, can't say the same about the Chrysler offerings. Now I do not want to sound Anti American, but a prepackaged bankruptcy is not the only thing these guys are going to need to do. If one looks at each one of the US manufacturers it will be easy to see that we as Americans have a long way to go to become Automotive competitive again. 

I believe two things need to happen immediately starting tomorrow which is day 1 of bankruptcy. All the car designers need to be brought into a room and they need have a heart wrenching conversation which is "...We need to get smaller, more fuel efficient, and stylish". For our large offerings we need to throw the bells and whistles in them, make they more fuel efficient and maintanence free like our German competition, and more affordable. The US auto makers are going to have to stop talking and actually make things happen. The talking is done, action needs to take place or how about everyone do us a favor and close up shop. This way as Americans we can begin to focus on other areas we can become dominant again. Harsh fantasy is now our reality and one last thing.... it's time to kick the UAW out. I don't care what anyone says, but manufacturing Unions have been the modern day demise for the US. 

Come on people let's wake up and smell the Starbucks. Change is now and is great but inorder for change to happen, action has to be initiated.