The Presidential Task Force On Automobiles (PTFOA) came, they saw, they laughed. Well, maybe not laughed. But there’s a kind of humor in the fact that the PTFOA shot holes in every single one of the company’s assumptions, save the idea that a FIAT merger will save Chrysler. The federal quango’s “Determination of Viability Study; Chrysler, LLC” is, to say the least, not kind to the automaker’s assertions. It slates ChryCo’s scale (too big), quality (sucks), product mix (sucks), manufacturing (outdated), and geographic concentration (U.S.-centric). And then concludes. without any credible justification “A partnership with another automotive company, such as Fiat or another prospective partner, which addresses many of these issues could lead to a path to viability for Chrysler.”
I’m going to go to the local Chrysler dealer and ask about putting a down payment on a Fiat 500 Abarth…
ferrarimanf355 :
I would like to think we could have such an undeserved automotive delicacy as an Abarth… but I know better. I’d expect more along the lines of the Egyptian built Russian interpretation of the Fiat 124… The Lada 2107. A fine example of just how far wrong and just how far from the tree a Fiat product can fall.
Remember, Chryco starts out with a Mitsubishi and gives you a Sebring. They know a thing or two about crappy cars… in the case of the Mitsubishi it was benignly crap to begin with… and they turned it into the poster child for TTAC’s glamorous TWAT trophy.
The feds know the Fiat deal isn’t serious and won’t happen.
When that becomes clear at the end of the 30 day period, they can say “Hey, we tried!” and unplug the life support.
RIP, Chrysler, 1925-2009.
So qfrog, you’re taking the glass-half-empty approach so you can be pleasantly surprised when we get the Nuova 500 Abarth and Alfa Mi.To, I suppose. Good idea.
Chrysler reminds me of that poster of the frog choking the crane as its being swallowed, telling you “Never give up”.
I had the misfortune of driving a Dodge Caliber renatal car a few weeks ago. Possibly one of the worst cars I have ever driven.
Game over.
GM_Driver,
Same deal for me only it was a Caravan. Craptastic!
Tex
At least the Jeep Compass wasn’t inflicted on you. I had that misfortune once.
The feds know the Fiat deal isn’t serious and won’t happen.
On further consideration, I suspect you are right. They can say that they threw them all the lifelines they could and that it simply wasn’t adequate…then pull the plug.
I’m going to go to the local Chrysler dealer and ask about putting a down payment on a Fiat 500 Abarth…
And I bet my ass they’d have NO IDEA what you were talking about.
I had a Dodge Charger rental with the 2.7-liter V6 (the strippo model with the lower powered engine was made especially for the rental car companies). Smooth sounding engine but woefully underpowered (I think the 0-60 numbers are about the same as a Prius or Insight), cheap interior, big empty spaces on the steering wheel where redundant radio controls would go, poor visibility, no ABS. Chrysler was dead to me after that experience.
“A partnership with another automotive company, such as Fiat or another prospective partner, which addresses many of these issues could lead to a path to viability for Chrysler.”
Well, it could. It is not impossible.
segfault:
I also rented a Charger last year. After reading all the pundits about how great the 300-class cars were, I was thoroughly underwhelmed. Visibility was horrible forward, back, and to the sides. Ride was poor. Interior quality was behind a Toyota Yaris.
You know we’re in trouble when we’re asking the federal government and Fiat to save the economy.
My first car was a Fiat 850 Spider. I had it running a total of 2 days in the 2 years I owned it. I would fix one thing and then another would immediately break. Bought it for $150 and sold it for $150 in 1977.
Handled well though…
ferrarimanf355 : I’m going to go to the local Chrysler dealer and ask about putting a down payment on a Fiat 500 Abarth…
Don’t.
You’ll never get the car and you’ll never get your deposit back.
Just don’t.
The fact that “as of today the US government is behind your GM and Chrysler warrantee” tells you everything you need to know about what is going to happen.
When this is over, there “might” be
Chevrolet (owned by the GM-UAW-Govcorp)
Jeep (owned by the Chinese, Indians, Ford or Hyundai if they are stupid enough to buy it even for a song)
Cadillac – maybe?
Just saw over on Fox News that Chrysler has inked the deal with Fiat –
ARM TWISTED
“Just saw over on Fox News that Chrysler has inked the deal with Fiat –
ARM TWISTED”
Wow, that was fast!
I was going to say, if Chrysler goes down it changes the market quite a bit, and maybe they’d extend GM’s deadline to see which way things trend.
But with Fiat on board now…
It’s like constipation. Too much coming in and not enough going out.
It’s going to get messy out there.
Not quite yet – according to Automotive News Europe, Chrysler just issued a new statement saying they only have a “framework agreement”.
As for the 30 days – does that mean that Chrysler and Fiat have got to get everything ageed in 30 days and then get US govt ‘blessing’ to the deal? Wonder what the Italian gov’t think of that?
Still don’t see Fiat’s rationale unless it’s to get up close and personal before Chryco collapses so Fiat already know what to offer for the assets they really want. No one thinks the Italians are dumb, remember what they did to GM?
I have to agree that the Fiat merger is not what it seems.
Sergio Marchionne is a smart man and he knows exactly what he is doing. The only reason that he is tangoing with Chrysler is because he knows that Chrysler has no future and is living on borrowed time. He simply wants to be the first one there when everything falls apart, so he can pick up the pieces. Just like how Lee Iacocca was with AMC. I bet Marchionne has his eye on Jeep.
After Obama spoke, here in Canada we had our politicos turn at a press conference about GM and Chrysler.
As we were told a couple of weeks ago, Chrysler’s “plan” was completely inadequate, surprise, surprise.
Chrysler Canada is so far down the tubes that the government gave them a cheque for $250 million TODAY, so they could meet payroll TOMORROW. 30 days for a real plan including Fiat or that’s it for loans.
And if you believe there is a real deal hammered out with Fiat as announced today, remember the other day when Fiat disagreed with Nardelli’s fevered statements that they would come over and make happy with Cerberus regardless of whether the US government coughed up $6 billion in loans.
Turn that Chrysler pig over, boys and stick a fork in it. It’s done.
Per the terms of today’s bailout extension, Cerberus’s 80% stake Chrysler LLC is now worthless and its ownership will come to an end. Cerberus’ Chrysler bonds are to be renegotiated, and they still get to keep Chrysler Financial.
Thanks for the link Richard Chen. Another interesting tidbit is in that WSJ story:
“Cerberus will maintain a controlling stake in Chrysler’s financing arm, Chrysler Financial, according to two people briefed on the plan. Cerberus will utilize the first $2 billion in proceeds from its Chrysler Financial holding to backstop a loan allocated to Chrysler automotive in December by the Treasury Department.”
So, even Cerberus’ stake in Chrysler Financial is at least partly going to have to be turned over to the gov’t to satisfy some of the open loan balances.
Adding it all up here, the PTFOA is basically filling he role of debtor-in-possession at both GM and Chrysler. The feds are providing the near-term cash to keep the lights on whilst calling the major shots on what happens next.
Talk about never giving up. With no product in the pipeline, and all of the journals trashing their newest models, we have a fire sale of huge proportions. When has Fiat challenged the Japanese in Europe or anywhere else? They are not going to do it in America either. Why not just be honest with the American public; You get $3000 emoployee discount (you pay what we pay if wanted to pay) and you send the Whitehouse a special Obama request vouncher for the other $3000.00. Now everyone is happy. Plus the consumer for the first time sees money coming directly to him from his uncle Sam.
As Presidents go, at least this one sorta gets it. His commission is looking at big corporations and ripping them apart. He got Wagoner to get out for chrissakes! Gobama!