Yeah. Finally the dust can settle on this.

Try to tune into the news presser @ 8:00 EST if you can

 

Missed the 8:00 a.m. news in the morning scramble. But found some more news here: http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/14/news/companies/chrysler_sale/index.htm?postversion=2007051406

 

Yeah, basically that is what they said on the tele this morning. Still wondering though when (or if) the layoffs will come down.

 

Layoffs and probably renegotiating contracts with the UAW within the next six months. Short term some of the limited market cars like a Crossfire will go away. Longer term since Damlier still ownes 20% there will still be a strong influence but Chrysler may be able to make some better sourcing decisions. Can you say diesel engine.

Good news is I believe Chrysler is viable as an independent if they can work with the UAW in easing some of the pension burden. Georgia has has 2 plants close recently and three in the past decade primarly due to fully loaded labor costs. Interesting that Kia is about to add a plant in South Georgia that can feed off their parent Hyundai's assembly plant in Alabama.

FYI this is not anti-union but just simple economics. The cost of benefits is making it difficult to build a UAW car. The risks of strikes is making it difficult to renegotiate contracts.

 

FYI this is not anti-union but just simple economics. The cost of benefits is making it difficult to build a UAW car. The risks of strikes is making it difficult to renegotiate contracts.

Is it really the cost of benefits? Honda, Toyota, etc. all offer similar benefits for their workers but don't seem to have the same burden.

Based on what I know and what I've read, it is executive mismanagement that is the root cause of US automaking woes... while there may be SOME validity to the claims regarding worker unions/benefits drag on the companies, they are primarily a scapegoat and given a disproportionate amount of the blame.

 

So what, if any, affect is this going to have on the future of Chrysler, more importantly Jeep, products. Is there any cause for concern for us potential Patriot buyers?

 

Also, the Japanese health care system and retirement systems are different from what we have here with the the US automotive companies. They don't have as much 'maintainence" costs hanging over their heads so they show more profit since less money is diverted to supporting retired and sick workforce members.

There is also the issue of the Free Trade Agreement that isn't really fair to America with the limitations placed on our exported products. But I'd like not to get into this dicusssion

Another thing to consider is: the value of the Japaniese Yen is claimed to be understated so when they import a car here to the states, you can purchase more car for the money...

There are a lot of factors that go into the current situation. Some UAW, some Executive Management and some others contributors but the fact remains the same: Most American citizens would rather buy a Asian made car because of the supposed quality they offer.

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On the jeep side of things, they will probably not suffer any changes since the Jeep brand is really keeping Chrysler afloat at the moment. Personally I'd like to see some pruning of the Dodge Ram variants, Dakota models and maybe one of the large Dodge cars. Then from the Chrysler side I'd like to see the Crossfire & PT canned

 

Since Jeep currently appears to be the healthiest car brand at DCX, it wouldn't surprise me to see it spun off as an independant or sold to another manufacturer. It's happened before.

What major player in America doesn't have a strong line of off-road image vehicles which are also bought by commuters? Honda! Honda needs a real full-size truck (maybe outsourced from Dodge) and has nothing to compete with Toyota's 4-Runner (Liberty) and Sequoia (Commander) The Patriot slots between the cute-ute CR-V and the soccer-mom Pilot, while the Hemi-powered Grand Cherokee would bring some much-needed muscle to the Infiniti brand.

 

Also (as an FYI) the Commander is scheduled to cease production after 2008. It was a failed Jeep.

 

The issue with pensions and the like is not current employees. My Grandpa worked for GM over 40 years ago, he died when my dad was 18 (1968). My Grandma was a widow for over 20 years, she has since remarried. Guess what, she still receives benefits from GM. This is what is killing GM, Ford, and Chrysler. There are ten of thousands of former employees and there spouses that are still "on the books" so to speak because of the union labor contracts. Toyota and Honda do not have a 40+ year overhead because they did not start building cars here until fairly recently. When they did start building they did not provide the union style employee perks. They instead operate like the majority of companies out there today. They will pay fairly well, provide 401k opportunities, and everything else but will not take care of you for the rest of your life just because you worked for them at one point in your life. This difference of "history" is what is the real price gap. GM, Ford, and Chrysler have to pay every one of there employees of the past with the sale of every car they sell today (same sinking boat as social security).

 

Amen!

(oh and throw $500.00 in the glove box too Mr. Generous Motors)