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Get them (good news) where they come. Chrysler's sales in February made it no. 1 in Canada, ahead of GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Suzuki, Volks and so on... Now, can us Canadians challenge our southern cousins to make the car maker no 1 in the U.S. in March? :-)
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Good Job Eh!
In Feb, Ram was number 2* in the US in retail sales, Wrangler was UP 28%, Journey outsold the Ford Flex by 2 to 1 capturing the lead in the CUV segment.
Challenger outsold Mustang and was in fact the best selling RWD car.
Caravan recaptured the minivan sales lead.
Grand Cherokee outsold, Suburban, Tahoe, Explorer, Expedition and Hummer,... COMBINED!
Recalls and warranty work are down 30%,
Lifetime warranty, 0% for 48 month, employee pricing, $2,500 cash back. It's a great time to buy a Chrysler Product.
* retail sales not counting fleet sales which Ford and GM are heavily dependent upon while Chrysler has cut fleet sales by 75%. -
That is great news! I am hopeful Chrysler can hang on. IF GM files for bankruptcy, it should result in an upward movement in Chrysler sales I would think.
BTW, I was reading in Barrons that Mercedes reduced the development budget at Chrylser when they had them, further negatively impacting the company. IN addition they pulled a lot of money out.
IS that true; basically that Mercedes saw them as a cash cow and drained the blood out of Chrysler?Comment
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It's absolutely true!
Daimler took 12 billion back to Germany, they slashed R&D, they terminated models that they didn't understand (Jeep XJ and Neon), they ignored others (PT) and stuck Chrysler with heavy, fuel gulping tanks that were not what American buyers wanted.
They forced us to use Mercedes transmissions that were substandard, expensive and prone to call-backs.
The certainly did not "get" Jeep, eliminating solid front axles and giving us turds such as Caliber and Compass, Nitro and Liberty. They forever ruined Grand Cherokee, mating it upon the inferior ML350 platform.
The only positive that Daimler accomplished was returning rear wheel drive.
They stole Freightliner, pushed aside deals with Cummins and killed the VM Motori diesel deal, all in favor of their inferior, heavy, fuel gulping Mercedes diesels.
Other than that, they were OK.....Comment
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Sad to say that's what usually happens. GM did that for Saab. They seem to turn into re-branding exercises and sloppy engineering.Comment
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That would be a shame if they left Canada; I have a Chyrco heater in my PW that reminds me of the long U.S.-Canada Chrysler history.
But, The big three cannot compete in the U.S. and Canada when their Japanese rivals with plants in North America have significantly better deals with their labor situation.
I know one could say the big three made their bed by signing these agreements, so to speak, but that doesn't fix the basic arithmatic involved.
I was very surprised to hear of, for example, that GM has thousands of workers who have been idled but due to a labor contract provision are still drawing full pay (not normal unemployment benefits).Comment
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They are negotiating with the Canadian Auto Workers, who have so far refused to make concessions. Chrysler will not stop selling in Canada, but they may stop building there unless the unions give them a workable wage and pension package.Originally posted by Doc Dave View Post
Right now, hundreds of thousands of union workers are being paid 95% of a full wage package, to sit at home as a part of the "labor bank". It's insanity.
That is why GM, Ford and Chrysler are burning through billions a month...Comment
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