AutoExtremist Peter DeLorenzo is an asshole. Just kidding. Somehow, the carmudgeon got it into his head that TTAC (a.k.a. TIC-TAC) called him an asshole. Did we call him an asshole? Of course we didn’t call him an asshole. We don’t call anyone an asshole. Delusional, sure. Misguided? Oh yeah, we’ve called people misguided. Pietro too. But calling someone an asshole is a perfect example of what the Brits call “using a sledgehammer to open a walnut.” It shows no style, no finesse, no class. Two out of three ain’t bad, as we Yanks are wont to say. I mention all this because Sweet Pete is launching the rumor (picked up by Autoblog) that Chrysler will launch a fourth US brand called Ram. Obviously, that makes no sense whatsoever—which is why the AutoExtremist offers no explanatory justification and Autoblog sucks away the oxygen of publicity even as it wheels-in Peter’s tank (couldn’t resist).
We don’t get how this could possibly be a good idea, considering Chrysler’s financial position and struggling sales. Why spend money marketing a new brand, while asking battle-weary dealers to invest in more signage and differentiated floor space? At this point, its just speculation and we’re hoping it stays that way.
‘Cause we’re pulling for you guys! Meanwhile, you wanna talk about signage and floor space? Does anyone remember that Chrysler has already committed to introducing the Alfa-Romeo brand stateside? We hear an entirely different rumor surrounding that one . . .
I’ve got it from two sources that Chrysler’s contemplating killing the Chrysler brand. I know: the company’s called Chrysler. So I called the company to get their official response to the wacky idea that Chrysler would replace Chrysler with Alfa. Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau was MOST insistent that there was nothing to the idea.
“We have four brands going forward,” Rick said. “Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Mopar. We’ve already said we’re bringing in Alfa-Romeo, but the timing on the brand’s introduction remains to be decided.” Products for [both of the remaining] American Alfisti? “Undecided.” How Alfa and Chrysler could co-exist? “Undecided.”
Meanwhile, Sweet Pete awards Jaguar an up-arrow for killing the X-Type. As an indication that the brand is on the ups, no. As a sign that Tata may actually have a clue what on Earth a Jaguar’s for, it’s not the worst.
Sounds to me like they are planning on killing off the Dodge brand, and in this way, be able to let the trucks be a standalone brand. Otherwise, it just doesn’t make any sense.
They could be considering it in the way that alot of people don’t associate Jeep with Crysler in a negative way (atleast the old cherokee and grand cher.), they may be hoping to do the same with their trucks.
Except for buyers based on lowest price and dedicated Chr. Co. buyers (and there are some), most people would not touch a Chrysler or Dodge product with well anything. But alot of those people would consider a “Jeep” product. Maybe a “ram” product might do the same.
Hint: See what happens with the companies that Iveco purchases…
Or that were jointed into Iveco…
Pete also skewers Energy Secretary Steven Chu for having the gall to say hydrogen fuel cells aren’t going to work. In Pete’s on words: “When is this country going to wake up and get out front of something, before it’s too late? Fuel cell development will benefit the entire nation. Case in point? One of the most promising offshoots of GM’s hydrogen fuel cell program was the serious development of practical fuel cell applications that would transform the future of our home heating and cooling systems.”
De Lorenzo never misses a chance to plug GM. I guess the lessons he learned from dad really did stick.
Don’t forget the one vehicle Fiat brand.
Plus, the Nano needs a US brand… unless they bring back Plymouth for it.
Swete Pete’s “Ram” brand idea is cute, but it won’t happen unless Dodge dies. Which makes far less sense than killing Chrysler as a car brand. Unless they think Dodge is too closely positioned to Alfa. All of which might have been discussed/clarified pre-bailo-merger. But hey, this way we get to enjoy the suspense.
How anyone could think that there’s overlap between the typical Chrysler buyer and an Alfa Romeo customer is beyond me, especially what passes for an Alfa these days. It would have to be an “instead of” decision rather than a substitute.
I was hoping that the Alfa’s brought over would be more in line behind BMW rather than holding hands with Dodge (atleast the ones branded as Alfa). The platforms that they want to share should be Chry. Co’s.
All this could make some sense if they did deep-six Dodge or drop Dodge cars and make Dodge Ram a truck-only line. Other than the Viper, which could be marketed as simply The Viper, Dodge doesn’t really bring anything to the table anymore except unusually crappy compact and mid size cars.
A company as small as Chrysler is now doesn’t really need two lines of cars (c’mon, AMC figured that out in 1956!) and dumping Dodge would make room for Alfa’s, which won’t to sell in huge numbers, but could do almost as well as Dodge does now with a higher margin.
Yeah, I’m not seeing how Chrylser and Alfa would steal sales from each other.
Unlike GM, I think Chrysler could manage all these brands. The trick is to keep the product lines firmly defined.
Fiat- Like MINI, stylish, premium-priced, European, small cars.
Alfa Romeo- Stylish, full-size, upmarket European luxury cars.
Chrysler- Mainstream domestic sedans/wagons
Dodge- Trucks and SUVs
lol, if BMW dealers/customers couldn’t stand sharing a roof with MINI people, I can’t wait to see the Fiat/Alfa and Dodge crowd hanging out in the same waiting room.
Can’t we all just get along?
I don’t care if I have to step over a Sebring or a Ram to buy an Alfa Romeo Spider JTDM, I just want one with all the lust my brain can conjure. I want one bad. REAL bad.
–chuck
And I want a Mito.
…and DeLorenzo has yet to realize that there is no way to get hydrogen to burn in fuel cells (or anywhere else) without using more energy than you get back.
rnc: They could be considering it in the way that alot of people don’t associate Jeep with Crysler in a negative way (atleast the old cherokee and grand cher.), they may be hoping to do the same with their trucks.
That’s exactly why it could make sense.
It doesn’t make any sense given their financial situation, but if you’re trying to make an argument for sustainable, focused brands then the following isn’t awful.
Fiat- Compete with compacts
Alfa Romeo- Compete with upmarket vehicles.
Chrysler- Become king of the fleet.
Ram- Trucks and SUVs
Mopar- Cars with power
This would of course mean turning Mopar into an actual vehicle brand instead of just working in vehicle accessories (thus launching two brands). But, they’d be two brands with recognizable names and a clear niche.
With hundreds of recently cut-off Chrysler dealerships available, I’m sure they could find a few hundred willing to become Mopar / Ram dealers.
Is it possible that Pete’s irrelevant enough to no longer merit a mention? I stopped reading his blog about a year ago when I got tired of being told that Detroit’s problems were somehow my fault.
If they want to spin off a truck-only line, why not introduce a Jeep pickup and compact pickup then kill off the Ram name along with Dodge? Then Chrysler would sell cars and minivans, and Jeep would sell trucks and SUVs. AND NO BADGE ENGINEERING BETWEEN THE TWO!
Samuel –
Not only are Detroits problems your fault, but GM’s new products are so good they will blow your mind. No one outside of Sweet Peet knows what they are, but he’s seen them, and they beat every other car ever made and they will be available next year. Always next year.
Frank Williams : “why not introduce a Jeep pickup and compact pickup then kill off the Ram name along with Dodge?”
Kill off your best selling name and vehicle… yeah, wouldn’t that be brilliant.
If the new Chrysler wants to kill off brands or “rationalize” them (as they like to call it these days), why not just make Dodge a truck brand ala GMC? That would be the most direct and simple way to do it. But of course, in Detroit, nothing is ever simple.
Everyone’s an expert…
I do wish you guys would somehow kiss and make up. The little 4-way webcast y’all had a few months back was quite awkward to watch, although I don’t blame Robert at all. He was up against 3 Detroit apologists, and how dare he argue with facts….
Pete has settled down from his ranting of last year….
Pete is delusional. And what are some of you guys smoking? It must be good stuff. Dodge is the 5th or 6th best selling nameplate in the US. The Ram is a large part of that but not even the majority of sales. It makes no sense to cut the Ram off from Dodge or to do away with Dodge. This would be a bigger disaster for them than when they killed Plymouth, and trust me, it was a disaster for them. The majority of the 150,00 – 200,000 annual sales (and this was AFTER they starved the brand of product) went to Hyundai/Kia and others – not to Dodge and Chrysler.
Delorenzo’s had his increased page hits, let’s go back to ignoring him.
@pirkko: I don’t see any point in elevating “Mopar” from their parts and accessories brand into its own car brand.
Somehow, the carmudgeon got it into his head that TTAC (a.k.a. TIC-TAC) called him an asshole. Did we call him an asshole? Of course we didn’t call him an asshole. We don’t call anyone an asshole.
@RF: Maybe DeLorenzo drives an SUV? If so, then pch101 recently implied that he’s an asshole. (Sorry, couldn’t resist bringing that up.)
My guess is that Chrysler selling Alfas in their dealerships will be akin to Ford’s approach to selling DeTomaso Panteras at the Lincoln-Mercury dealership in the 1970s. They won’t setup a new dealer network, they’ll just show Alfas in selected Chrysler dealers.
I will take some of what all of you are having. (Including Peter DeLorenzo)
Chrysler killing Dodge or the idea of them branching the Ram off into its own brand is idiotic at best. The only brand I can see Chrysler killing is Chrysler: It has no brand value, it is competing in the luxury car market with no prestige, and after all the casualities take place it will only sell four models. If you ask me, it makes the most sense to kill Chrysler to make room for Alfa Romeo.
Where does DeLorenzo indicate that he thinks YOU think he’s an asshole? Somebody link me – that’s probably good for a laugh.
I’ve given up on Alfa.
I’ve been waiting four years for them to bring over the 159 and the Brera. For three of those years, they’ve been saying, within two years.
I’ve lost interest.
after all is said and done,I still enjoy reading Autoextremist every Thursday morning!
and I`ve never read anything ‘anti’ TTAC in any of his articles…
Sounds like HMS Titanic outdoor furniture repositioning to me. Doesn’t fix Chrysler corp’s problem of too many last place cars and almost no new product in a market with too much capacity. In the end Chrysler dies and maybe its few good car and truck designs get new asian owners.
The original phrase is actually “Using a steam hammer to crack a walnut”, but frankly, my dear….
Your original description of De Lorenzo (the one you didn’t use, really) is accurate and indisputable.
Why all the hating on DeLorenzo about this? He triple-demerits Chrysler about the rumour and even states the following in regards to it:
… the “word” on the street here in the Motor City is that Chrysler is expanding to four brands, which will consist of Chrysler, Dodge (car), Jeep, and Ram (truck). What part of this seemed to be a good idea? The “not selling” part or the “more” part? As we like to say around here at AE, you just can’t make this shit up.
He acknowledges that this is a rumour and states how idiotic it is. It is identical to the TTAC stand on the issue.