I spent a good amount of time reading about the Detroit auto show, especially about Chrysler. With nothing new to show, Chrysler arrived in Detroit tooting about revised model lines, new standard equipment, etc. Hardly exciting stuff. Checking out the responses from readers at various auto-related blogs, a good deal of the general public seems certain that Chrysler is still going down. A strong opinion indeed, especially since no one has seen how the merger with Fiat will work out.
Personally, given the awful year they suffered through, and a long-neglected product portfolio, I thought it took guts and courage for Chrysler to set up a booth in the first place. The easy thing to do would have been to bury their head in the sand, and claim  for cost-cutting reasons, they couldn’t show. But they did, and Chrysler did the best they could with what limited resources they had. Facing the media could not have been a simple task, but I applaud Chrysler.
Chrysler has been in serious trouble before. In 1979, the company approached the US Government, explaining that without a loan, they would go bankrupt. Then, as now, Chrysler lacked vehicles that met the demands of the consumer. In the face on a fuel crisis, all Chrysler had was the Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon, which was a subpar imitation of the VW Rabbit. Worse, the rushed to production Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare caused Chrysler enormous warranty costs. But Chrysler was approved for the loan, and the savior came in an unlikely form.
Remember the K-Car? Sold as the Dodge Aries or Plymouth Reliant, this is the vehicle that would ultimately take Chrysler back into the red. It was priced right, offered decent interior room, front wheel drive, and good fuel economy. Apart from that, it was a truly horrible car in every conceivable way. The K-car chassis would spawn the Chrysler minivans, and served as the basis of nearly every car sold by Chrysler through the 1980’s. Chrysler repaid the US Government loans years early.
With the acquisition of AMC (for Jeep), alliances with Mitsubishi, the introduction of the radical Viper and the cab-forward LH sedans, Chrysler was on a roll in the 1990’s, also helped by the go-happy Neon compact. Chrysler’s modern problems started in 1998, when the company merged with Daimler. At the time, Daimler promised that Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz would be a “merger of equals”. It did not take long to realize that this was not the case. By equal, Daimler meant giving Chrysler obsolete, second-hand technology for their cars. Sad, considering Chrysler’s former status as an engineering innovator. The Crossfire “sports” car used old SLK parts, but the far more successful Chrysler 300/Dodge Charger benefited greatly from Mercedes E-Class bits.
But that was about it. Daimler quickly lost interest in Chrysler. The company shut down Plymouth, when just before the merger Chrysler had ambitious plans for the brand. Incredibly, Daimler never worked to provide Chrysler with a competitive, fuel efficient sub or compact car. Daimler finally unloaded Chrysler to Cerberus-a company with virtually no experience in the car business in 2007. To call Chrysler’s new parent a bad one is almost being too kind. Cerberus’ indifference to Chrysler was stunning, and sales fell through the floor in the absence of new vehicles, or even an attempt to keep the current cars competitive.
In light of this, I can’t bring myself to blame Chrysler themselves for their current problems. Management at a higher level is the culprit. Daimler and Cerberus crossed paths when Chrysler was on a roll, and both companies managed to do tremendous damage in their own way.
Enter Fiat. This is major, folks. We are facing a wave of fantastic vehicles that we have been previously denied. I feel the iconic Fiat 500 has the ability to displace BMW’s Mini as the ultimate statement for compact yet fashionable transportation as long as they market it right, and keep costs below the Mini’s considerably premium pricing. While it is still too early to know, apart from the 500, exactly what cars we will see, the signs of life at Chrysler are shining bright. To the naysayers, I say, give it time. To quote crooner Tony Bennett, “The best is yet to come.”
Gary Grant says
January 18, 2010 at 6:18 amVery positive outlook and I have to say you are the first one I’ve heard express it. Normally, I too would be on the optimistic side – for some reason though, I’m finding it a bit of a challenge this time!
roy fraser says
January 18, 2010 at 11:35 ami for one would like to see chrysler and fiat introduce small and efficient cars in the next 2 years. in quebec canada half of the cars sold are compacts.we pay about $4.25 a gallon for gaz. remember what happened to suv’s in your contry when you were paying $4.00 a gallon?
lahru says
January 18, 2010 at 4:16 pmI sold Dodge’s in the 80’s and I can tell you I have seen this before. Chrysler had cars like the Diplomat, a rear wheel drive car with a 318 cu. in. V8 that transitioned from carbeuration to throttle body fuel injection around 1986 and supported many a police chase and provided many American’s with good for the time transportation. Yes, they sold the AriesK and the ReliantK during those years and in fact they were good affordable cars especially when they came up with the idea of creating the, “America” models of both K Cars and then towards the end of the 80’s the Omni and Horizon versions. They sold very well and people were pleased. The Lee had the smarts to create a new segment, the Minivan and the rest is history. Chrysler has always, in my lifetime gone from boom to bust and always recovered and until Mercedes involvement it was a result of wringing profits out of new ideas and when the “New” thing got long in the tooth profits suffered. Mercedes showed up and was going to change Chrysler and into sales channel for cars built using second hand features from Mercedes and they were met with the fact what they had purchased required a huge investment, and although they gave it a half handed try, and they decided that it was better to go along and get along in Detroit and not overshadow the other 2 they never gave it their best and that is where are today. I just hope that there a few of the folks at Chrysler who remember the 80’s and the 90’s left because in my opinion they could provide Chrysler with the fuel to explode on the auto scene in the next 2 years. Also, Sergio has a history of reviving dieing companies. Good Luck Chrysler.
Inline6 says
January 18, 2010 at 4:53 pmCouldn’t agree more.
Chrysler and Fiat are both strong where their partner is weak. So they complement each other very well. And Sergio Marchionne is certainly capable of righting the ship.
My only concern involves how the company is going to make it for the next 18-24mos, until the new Fiat based stuff arrives in showrooms.
The “refreshes” on the current lineup will need to be very, very effective (Think Ford Fusion’s 2010 transformation) in order to be able to tide people over.
Without knowing too much about what the people who work there are internally up against, I don’t doubt that, done right, Chrysler will be with us for a long time to come.
Gary Grant says
January 18, 2010 at 6:05 pmyou know – while at NAIAS I was speaking with an engineer and marketing guy from GM. Both confirmed what I already knew: the models GM is launching now have been coming down the pipe for the usual 3-7 years. it is fortunate for them that these products have reached their production point at the absolute correct moment. Unfortunately, any projects Chrysler has had in development stalled close to 2 years ago and that means we (and they) will have to wait till 2011 until ANY new product appears. If it is Chrysler or Fiat derived, it will still have a development period. Lord knows, they can’t send Italian cars to North America with wiring that gets destroyed by salt the way they did last time or it might kill both companies!
Guy V.Coulombe says
May 7, 2010 at 5:07 amEh em! The K-car is a beautiful classy auto and we have a club to prove it. Stop bashing the K-car. Some people are beyond driving humble machines/ Check out my website athttp://www.chryslerkcar.com/forum/. Also, any K-car is reliable if you take care of it.
Sincerely,
Guy V.Coulombe
CKCC Founder and leader http://www.chryslerkcar.com
KsAreCrap says
July 22, 2017 at 7:44 pmI know they saved the company, but all the K-Cars I’ve had were complete crap. I can’t tell you how many head gaskets I did among 5 cars, and that’s with maintenance by the book. Luckily, most of mine are probably now part of your washing machine.