On Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:59:20 -0500, MoPar Man > wrote:

>"Paul M. Eldridge" wrote:
>
>> What I've been saying is that Chrysler needs to focus its attention
>> squarely on the North American market
>
>The whole world is entering a recession, possibly deflationary in
>nature.
>
>Most every sector of every economy is shedding jobs.
>
>The US auto industry has been maligned as inept and foolish, but the
>big-3 have done better than most mega-corporations in other sectors.
>How many airlines have been in and out of bankruptcy protection over the
>past 10 years?
>
>How many technology, energy, telecom, banks and financial services
>corporations have folded or have seen their share prices reduced to
>penny-stock value in the past 10 years?
>
>There is no correct path for any company right now. Every company is in
>survival mode as consumers flee the markets. Now is not the time for
>the big-3 to hatch long-term product planning and expensive R&D. Now is
>the time to reduce costs and hunker down and hope for the best.

Forgive me if this sounds flippant, but have the big-3 done much in
the way of long-term product planning and expensive R&D relative to
their peers? If what we have today is the result of long-term product
planning, please let these folks be the first in line to receive their
termination slips.

>> It goes to the point I made earlier, that if you can't sell North
>> American cars to North American car buyers who, ...
>
>The big-3 have roughly 50% market share in the US. Saying that they
>"can't sell North-American cars to North American buyers" is hyperbole.

Year after year, the big-3 continue to lose market share to their
foreign competition and I don't see this trend reversing anytime soon.
BTW, isn't calling GM, Ford and Chrysler the "big-3" somewhat
hyperbolic in itself now that Toyota's sales surpass those of both
Ford and Chrysler?

>> > And it's NOT like the big-3 don't have small car options to sell
>> > when gas hits $4. They have always had small cars with small
>> > engines, and they always do sell a lot of them.
>>
>> And North American car buyers have, for the most part, rejected
>> them.
>
>More hyperbole.

Perhaps we measure success differently. Toyota sells 3.4 times more
passenger cars than Chrysler; Honda outsells Chrysler 2.2:1 and Nissan
1.5:1.

>> I read this morning that, in 2008, the Dodge Caliber hatchback
>> has sold for an average of $1,717.00 *less* than a Honda Civic.
>
>http://www.tennessean.com/article/20...0/1003/RSS6004
>
>The Caliber does sell $1,717 less then the average Civic, but that's
>better then the Chevy Cobalt and Ford Focus, which sell for $4,192 and
>$3,371 less than the Civic.
>
>However, Caliber 2008 sales (through the end of October) are less than
>half of Focus sales (176k Focus) with Civic volume of about 304k units.
>
>----------------
>If the Detroit Three lower their labor costs, and retool to build more
>compact and subcompact cars, but still have to get by on $3,000 to
>$4,000 per car less than what Honda takes in for each Civic, they will
>face a painful struggle to survive.
>
>It will take years for Ford, Chevy and Dodge to heal the damage done to
>their small car brands by years of second-tier quality, uninspired
>styling and technology, and marketing strategies that focused on filling
>rental-car fleets at the expense of resale values.
>----------
>
>Translation: The US Big-3 have never before relied so heavily on sales
>of their low-end cars as much as they do now.
>
>> Why then, even with this price premium, does the Honda Civic outsell
>> the Dodge Caliber by, what, I'm guessing, ten to one?
>
>Advertizing.

Advertising? That's it? Well the folks on Madison Ave. will be
pleased to hear that.

>> > Why not buy the new Challenger then?
>>
>> Don't get me wrong, a 5.7 or 6.1L Hemi Challenger would be
>> an incredible ride, but I'm not convinced it's the type of
>> car I want to be driving now or two to three years from now,
>
>You can get a Challenger with the 3.5L engine.
>
>I have no problems getting 26 - 28 MPG on the highway in my 9-year-old
>300M with the 3.5L.

It's not just a matter of good gas milage. If that were the case, I
could choose from any number of fuel-efficient sub-compacts. I want a
plug-in hybrid because that's the type of vehicle I want to drive.

Cheers,
Paul