Not that I care one way or the other whether Daimler-Chrysler purges itself of Chrysler (just so long as the company that acquires Chrysler continues making Jeeps and Crossfires), but this bit from the Washington Post’s Sholn Freeman, describing the company’s problems, is rather interestingly worded:
[…] “This supposed marriage made in heaven has turned out to be a complete failure,” said Richard Schmitz of the German Association for the Protection of Shareholders. “Many billions have been lost at the expense of us shareholders.”
Greeted as a symbol of globalization in the late 1990s, DaimlerChrysler became a case study of cultural friction as a language barrier and differences in style derailed the larger corporate vision. The combination, hailed as a merger of equals, fell victim to the ambitions of German executives who took control from the American managers. There were other problems: a nasty courtroom battle involving the volatile billionaire and former Chrysler investor Kirk Kerkorian; Chrysler’s overdependence on gas-guzzling trucks; and out-of-control competition in the U.S. car market.
—or, to put it into simpler terms, failure can be tied to globalization, ego, greed, environmental recklessness, and a competitive marketplace.
Which, gee—If only John Kerry had been elected, maybe DaimlerChrysler wouldn’t be seen as such an automotive pariah.
Reached for comment, Pat Buchanan noted that the failure was “predictable”—but said he was “reluctant” to demonize Germans, preferring instead to investigate the “illegal Mexican immigrant angle,” which he admitted he hasn’t yet been able to concoct.
(h/t to wishbone)
UAW……..climate change………UAW………..climate change……
Hmph.
I really like the invitation for the critical shareholder to come and meet alone with the board. Cause it’s just NOT in the German democratic spirit to have these detailed discussions out in public where the beery lumpenproletariat can hear them, hein?
The horror.
The horror.
VW has been making cars in Mexico for years and doing it pretty well. If there ever was going to be a clash of cultures, Germans and Mexicans would have been the super bowl.
Looks like Dr. Z lost this patient.
Honestly, I think the Chrysler cars lately have been pretty good. I’m still driving my (almost) 10 y/o minivan- and haven’t had a major malfunction yet (knocking on wood.)
The only issue with “out of control competition” is that some of the competition is beholden to the UAW and some are not. For the past year, I’ve been assaulted by front-page sob stories about UAW employees just about every day. One whined that he’s lost his overtimes, which cost him “$60,000” last year in overtime pay.
OVERTIME pay.
Meanwhile union free Toyota just upped sales by another 11.5% What is there is a connection?
Oh no, you might lose!
And not the dreaded “language barrier” again. Don’t both sides at least get Deaf points?
Michael Keaton and Gedde Watanabe can solve this. IF THEY CAN ONLY LEARN TO PUT ASIDE THEIR CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND WORK TOGETHER!
Wonder if Chrysler has a “jobs bank” of thousands of UAW workers, paid 40 hours a week to do nothing, and required by contract.
I know GM does.
Google It. See, Rosie does have something valuable to say.
This is from Oct 2005.
Did anyone believe for a moment that the merger wouldn’t be Daimler-Benz taking over Chrysler, not “a marriage of equals”?
(Chrysler’s overdependence on gas-guzzling trucks? Hell, the only Chryslers I ever see are PTs, 300s, Sebrings, and the occasional Pacifica or T+C or Crossfire.
I’m sure Chrysler must make some SUV-type things, as opposed to an actual proper Truck, but I sure don’t ever see ‘em around here.
I mean, the Aspen? I’ve NEVER seen one, that I can recall.)
Huey: VW’s also been plagued with problems with Mexican production, especially historically. And, oddly, Germany and Mexico have long-standing ties (Germany tried to get Mexico to declare war on the US in WW1, in fact).
I was hoping I’d only imagined that movie.
TW: saw75. Oh god, I hope that franchise doesn’t run that long.
Sig, the Chrysler Group includes Dodge.
Tangentially, the last guy I know who went on strike got union benefits, then just very recently proceeded on to SSDI after the union benefits expired – due to his “bad shoulder”, which nevertheless allows him to play 18 holes of golf anytime he wants without bothering his [dominant] bad shoulder at all. He also has other physical odd-jobs whenever he wants, such as painting by hand and using a chain saw.
So he now gets $1830 SS/month + Medicare at the age of 56 thanks to the caring of the Cultist fetish “Blanket”. I’d like to wet-blanket him with kerosene instead, if he wasn’t doing such a good job of it to begin with – he’s got no more chance of having a soul, or real friends. Not that he cares, of course, so it’s not the ideal payback.
Sorry Jeff, but it’s not to be.
I have a telegram for Herr Zimmerman! Herr Zimmerman, jeztz haben Sie ein…uh, nevermind.
That’s because GM sold Chrysler a bunch of “wastes-of-oxygen” offsets.
Sounds like Chrysler should have tried a bit harder to tell the UAW to pound sand. Seems to be working pretty good for the Foreign Companies, and their workers
And those dirty Jooooos, Pat. Don’t forget the dirty stinkin’ Jooos.
Marcus got there first, damn it! I hate to see the Crossfire go. The SRT6 version of it was pretty sweet; way better (and better-looking) than the SLK it was based on, in fact.
Mercedes fired all or most of the senior kick-ass car guys at Chrysler, and those they didn’t fire left of their own accord. Bob Lutz, anyone?
Crossfire’s are oboslete Mercs Jeff, they’re done.
You can get them used pretty reasonable now though, same with Lincoln LS’s, pretty high performance cars for the bucks if you’re in the market.
I bought Crysler shares in 1985 as a high schooler. Over the next three years I spent most of my after-school job money on Fortune 500 stocks (it was the ‘80’s) as an experiment. I picked Chrysler because my mom bought the first 1984 plymouth voyager (with the Majic Wagon window sticker) and I knew it was going to be a big deal. (I drove that thing into the ground when I was in college, called it the f*ck truck) Grew dissalusioned when they bought AMC and discontinued the Grand Wagoneer and put square headlights on the Wrangler. Remember by 1990 Iacocca had run it back into the ground. I sold my stock the first time Kerkorian offered to buy it in what 95? can’t remember.
Made enough money to find out exactly why people got really upset at the capital gains tax, but it helped pay student loans and put a down payment on the ‘89 volvo that I sold last year.
I’d like to see GM pick up Jeep and Chrysler go to private equity. The Dodge brand is done and done. If not now, certainly in the next 5 years.
BTW – that’s Hall of Fame good. You’ve been back in full freakin’ swing Jeff. And I’m happy!
For what it’s worth, my big ol’ gas-guzzling Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo-diesel pickup (which doesn’t guzzle nearly as much fuel as its Ford and Chevy counterparts) has a little data plate inside the door that says “Hecho in Mexico”. It’s a pre-Daimler-Benz model though, so perhaps we are seeing a bit of culture clash.
It’ll be too bad if they discontinue the Ram pickups and Jeeps, they’re great outfits and very popular out here in Wyo.
I hope they still manage to build that awesome Challenger concept car before they go under. I am SO going to buy one…
91 Dodge Dakota
98 Dodge Caravan
99 Jeep
All over 120k and run strong, must not be a quality issue. Have a friend that still drives his 87 Dakota as a daily driver. The last Chevy truck my father bought had the tailgate latch fail at 25k miles it was only 18 months old. Before it was 4 years old he had engine trouble and had to replace that too. He now drives a Ram.
I don’t think that we’ll see Jeep disappear anytime soon, someone will snatch it up fast. Please not GM they have no style and tend to run things into the ground.
TW: half 59 Actually, closer to two thirds.
Mine too. Built in Mexico post-merger, but designed pre-merger. I’m surprised they re-upped with Cummins instead of going to a Mercedes diesel, but I guess they understood the marketing power of the Cummins name in heavy duty pickups.
Thomas: Yeah, I thought of that after posting – must have been the various charts I’ve seen separating out “Chrysler group” (meaning brand, evidently) from “Dodge” for sales purposes.
Then again, of course, the Dodge trucks are still selling pretty well, aren’t they?
Jim: I don’t know that Mercedes has an appropriate diesel engine. They have lots of engines for commercial trucks, but I don’t know if the form-factor is right.
And their passenger diesels don’t, I think, have the sort of torque curves you want in a truck motor, but that’s mostly a guess.
And of course you’re right about the Cummins name (and the ability to get a Cummins motor repaired more places than at a Mercedes dealership… kinda like GM’s deal with Detroit and Allison).
On Mercedes engines, I guess it depends on what you would consider “appropriate.” One big difference between the ISB used in the Dodge pickups and the girly diesels used in the other brands–Isuzu(GM), Navistar(Ford)-is that it was developed as a medium-duty (think Class 5 & 6) truck engine, not as a pickup diesel.
I’m sure Mercedes has that type of engine in its inventory, but you’re definitely right on the repair issue. Especially since most Dodge dealers can’t seem to figure out how to repair the Cummins properly.
OK, that was kind of “diesel-nerdy.”