RIP chrysler, plymouth, dodge

quaddriver

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The CEO of FCA died. He was one of the few supporters of keeping the 'C' part attached to the name, with the American penchant for no longer buying cars, and fiats never really that popular regardless of pitbull commercials the company is deadweight to the bottom line.

Rumor says Jeep will be retained as they sell every one of what really is a junkbox perennially lurking at the bottom of the quality ratings (even lower than fiat), without incentives, for generally close to MSRP.

Dodge trucks got spun off into Ram which they say is 50-50 to be kept alive but the reality is, in America 'ram' is the #3 truck company, behind ford, gm, and toyota has ever increasing sales and aside from the diesel - which they do not make or own - there are no real bright spots

that leaves what is left of the cars/vans...yeah the hell-vehicles are popular, but they dont pay for themselves and it takes a large cash infusion to retain bragging rights. and as for vans...the real push is for CUVs of which essentially the entire jeep lineup is.

perhaps they can save portions of ram trucks by slightly retooling the plants to resurrect the gladiator line? put a hell crate into a truck? Make a J-666? (obscure reference to jeeps of olde)
 
When was the last time anything appeared with a Plymouth name on it? or Chrysler?

Its been Dodge, Ram, Jeep for ages ...
In 2009, Manley became the CEO of the Jeep division, a position which he has continued to hold with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) since the merger with Fiat, with the addition of becoming responsible the RAM. Since Manley was appointed as head of Jeep, Jeep sales have risen from 320,000 vehicles in 2009 to 1.23 million in 2015. Manley said being appointed the head of Jeep was 'the turning point of his career'. In 2018, Manley was appointed CEO of FCA, as Sergio Marchionne stepped down for medical reasons. [This morning, NPR reported that Serge was scheduled to retire, but died shortly after being hospitalized]

FWIW, I was actual in car sales at an AMC/Jeep dealership in mid-76 ... before giving up on that career path (! - Love cars, hated car sales)
 
The Chrysler brand has been teetering for years. Their biggest blow was when Daimler demanded to be released from them. Their large cars when they were re-designed (in 2003) was their best effort and a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately they have run them right into the ground, especially the Challenger.

I'm not sure what's ahead for them. Its ashame because the Ram trucks are decent. Of course I love the Charger Hemi and Hellcats, but everyone knows that the Hellcat won't be around forever.
 
You know Chrysler corp is in trouble when the independent car and truck rating people say avoid anything Chrysler. I am not kidding it was in a top ten worst cars and trucks to avoid I don't remember who published it. Truth be told I am not all that thrilled with my Chevy truck either lots of cheesy electrical parts made in China.
 
When was the last time anything appeared with a Plymouth name on it? or Chrysler?

)

300...(200 is gone)

and FCA filed for the trademark to bring back the barracuda (as a 'Cuda?), GTX, superbird etc by 2020. A dodge name would just look...funny, to the purists

the fact that next year they are slated to cease v8 production muddies the waters

(just link to FCAauthority via allpar where these rumors all get traction etc)

from june 1 of this year:

CEO Sergio Marchionne said that Jeep, Ram, Maserati and Alfa Romeo will be the focus of FCA's new five-year plan, which he called "strong and courageous." The plan will be Marchionne's last before his expected retirement at the end of the year.

Chrysler will survive as a brand, Marchionne said, knocking down pre-meeting speculation that the company would end it.

"At FCA, we've learned to live with uncertainty and we are prepared to face any challenge," he said at the outset of the meeting.

Mike Manley, head of Jeep and Ram, said the Jeep plan is for two launches per year worldwide as FCA seeks to make Jeep the world's dominant utility vehicle. The company aims for 1 in 12 utility vehicles sold to be a Jeep by 2022, eventually reaching 1 in 5. In 2009, that figure was 1 in 23.

he was [extremely recently] the main cheerleader and regardless of who Manley is/was/will be, he aint italian and in the end, the orders will come from the med.


but also, and unrelated, I liked his movies with Clint Eastwood....
 
Not what I meant(for the individual who passed away), My meaning is I have no love for Chrysler products. I've owned 2 and as the saying goes, "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" - Never will there be a third.

Can't disagree with you there.
 
View attachment 1243407 Ouch! Not much love here, eh? Can’t speak for the other brands, but at the Jeep plant we can’t keep up with orders. Temps are on 6 or 7 days and we just hired almost 2000 more production workers, and are looking to hire more. We are almost done retooling for the launch of the Jeep pickup. As most of you know, Jeep has a storied history in Toledo. It’s where my great grandfather helped build the iconic Jeep that helped win the Second World War. This is sad news, but we here are proud and strong. And we have a lot of talent. I think we will be just fine.

Chrysler burnt up all of it's brand equity with me when I was 15 or so and our Grand Caravan's engine ate itself at 80,000 miles. At that age the family boat was my favorite thing and the car trouble lead directly to having to sell the boat to fund a replacement.

The first-worldiest of first-world problems, but 15 year old me is still sore that a blown engine resulted in loss of a favorite toy.
 
Nope, no love for Chrysler products on my end. Most of the ones I've been around have been a hunk of shit. Especially my brother's Jeep Patriot. It was essentially ready for the scrapyard by 60k, and it was not like he abused it. The extended warranty he bought through them wasn't worth the paper it was written on, either.
 
Nope, no love for Chrysler products on my end. Most of the ones I've been around have been a hunk of shit. Especially my brother's Jeep Patriot. It was essentially ready for the scrapyard by 60k, and it was not like he abused it. The extended warranty he bought through them wasn't worth the paper it was written on, either.

That was the other thing that pissed me off about our Caravan experience. The dealer sold us an extended 3rd party warranty (which conveniently expired about 1000 miles before the motor went pop). At one point we had a problem with, if I remember right, the head studs after the motor got worked on for a recall or something. They tried to deny coverage because the warranty "Didn't cover fasteners."

Asinine.
 
That was the other thing that pissed me off about our Caravan experience. The dealer sold us an extended 3rd party warranty (which conveniently expired about 1000 miles before the motor went pop). At one point we had a problem with, if I remember right, the head studs after the motor got worked on for a recall or something. They tried to deny coverage because the warranty "Didn't cover fasteners."

Asinine.
The junky CVT slushbox in the Patriot started acting up at around 40k. If you pulled out and held it to the floor, it would barely accelerate and sit at 6,500 RPMs (red line) until you let off of it or shifted it manually. The stealer said that it wasn't throwing any error codes, and they couldn't find anything wrong with it.:bs: By 60k it went out all together. Then there were the front suspension problems... and it was already starting to rot out in places.

Don't get me started on Dodge Intrepids. I put reman crate engines in two of those piles of shit. The one actually came into the shop for paint work, and the timing chain tensioner failed and lunched the engine IN THE PARKING LOT of the shop. It only had 72k. The other one actually drove in with two broken connecting rods.o_O
 
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Yeah our van's engine was running fine one moment, the next it had zero power and was making horrible noises. Towed it to the shop and they found metal shavings in the oil pan.

"He's dead Jim!"

Probably the same V6 they put in the intrepids.
 
No love in my heart for 'em - my 63 Dodge Dart was a gem - but even then, electronics from them were ... iffy!
 
Odd that I've driven my 99 for sixteen years.
Not that there hasn't been things happen, there has-just kept up with getting them corrected and maintained.
HA! And people think I've got 'commitment'
problems!
 
Oh, No...Not Memory Lane! Back in the 70's my dad 'Sold' me this '72 RoadRunner with a 318"...It was the only car that I have had, (I've had Many) that managed to get Rot on the Top of the Front Fenders by the Hood....I gave it back to Him...Oh, one other thing that really Pissed me Off...For '71 they came with a Metal Hood Ornament of a RoadRunner...On this '72 it was a Decal that rubbed off from waxing..WTF??

72 RoadRunner.JPG
 
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RIP Sergio! Condolences to family & friends!

He tried and even gave the Viper another chance! Rust had sure become a problem, but I thought their engines were pretty well engineered and generally overbuilt like most US/NA ones. Sure there was the odd bad one and lemons were made like the minivan engine mentioned by Nate. I even bought stock in the company after the Viper came out and held on to it too long! I think if they use more galvanizing and improve the electronics quality they can survive! I like the old RWD based ones from the 70's and older! I think the new RWD based Challenger's to 300 have their place though along with the Jeep Wrangler and pickups. Some of the Alfa Romeo sports cars deserve a chance too!
 
The Cummins engines in the trucks was probably the best thing they've had going in a long time. Unfortunately the bodies tended to rust around the fantastic driveline.

I do like that they are (were?) making serious hot rod production cars though. 800+ horsepower in a street-legal car with AC and a warranty? Thats awesome.
 
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