Chryslers grandson wants to save the brand

[DarkBlack]

I think Chrysler took a big hit when Daimler-Benz bought them. The many TV commercials with the 2 Germans speaking about how good the pickup trucks were, with their unmistakable German accents, turned off a lot of truck owners who identified with America, and owning an American made Dodge truck.

 

[2manyrocks]

Remember Lee Iacocca saving Chrysler in the 1980s?

 

[DarkBlack]

Remember Lee Iacocca saving Chrysler in the 1980s?

Yup, and the junk K -car

 

[Renze]

Remember Lee Iacocca saving Chrysler in the 1980s?

Yeah, but they had no plan B back then. It was death or glory with the K cars.

Right now its: Which of the 14 Stellantis brands takes the least amount of investment and effort, for the most amount of revenue?

 

[Oaktree]

Jeep could be saved. But the carve out can't include Stillantis debt. If it did then it would immediately go for Chapter 11. Fire everyone. Reorganize and rehire only engineers that want to make a simple, tough, utility vehicle as a niche, retro-marketed four wheel drive vehicle.

While I agree that some Jeep models are just rebadged Fiats, I disagree that making one niche vehicle is going to "save" a brand. I had 2 Grand Cherokees and both were good, capable vehicles. Couldn't see myself wanting a retro "mailman Jeep" that had the ride, handling and fuel economy of a tractor.

When I hear CEO automakers saying things, I get sort of mad. They are always concentrating on the same design of vehicle. "Oh Look at this new car! Its exciting." And it looks like this? They all look like that. You need an App, just to find your car in a parking lot. They are all betting on the same aerodynamic design and just who can make it cheaper. There is still vision, but few can afford those cars as new.

The CEO of Ford was recently quoted as saying he wanted to get away from "boring mundane" vehicles. Hate to break it to him, but that's what the majority of buyers want, not some pricey niche vehicle. I find it sad that Detroit has given up on sedans...if you want one you've got to get a foreign brand. Seems short sighted to me.

Actually, for the recent past years, Ram trucks have had higher reliability than Toyota trucks

Given my experience with toyota trucks that's not saying much. But I will say the 2 (pre-Daimler) Dodge trucks I had were both very good trucks.

I think Chrysler took a big hit when Daimler-Benz bought them. The many TV commercials with the 2 Germans speaking about how good the pickup trucks were, with their unmistakable German accents, turned off a lot of truck owners who identified with America, and owning an American made Dodge truck.

Agree that Daimler did Chrysler no favors. I look at the 3rd generation Dakotas...they may have had solid specs, but they looked wimpy and were rustbuckets.

 

[Renze]

I think Chrysler took a big hit when Daimler-Benz bought them. The many TV commercials with the 2 Germans speaking about how good the pickup trucks were, with their unmistakable German accents, turned off a lot of truck owners who identified with America, and owning an American made Dodge truck.

The German engineers endorsing Dodge trucks would mean something to us Europeans who buy family sedans from Germany. Yet apparently, for truck owners, American made is more important than quality made... OR the European brands can get away with selling junk in North America

 

[DarkBlack]

The German engineers endorsing Dodge trucks would mean something to us Europeans who buy family sedans from Germany. Yet apparently, for truck owners, American made is more important than quality made... OR the European brands can get away with selling junk in North America

People’s perceptions become their reality. Truck owners were accustomed to American deep voiced TV commercial narrators ,which exudes confidence, authority and trustworthiness, along with the visuals of bucking stallions and cowboy hats.
A couple average voiced Germans with their accent , didn’t convey that tough truck- cowboy image that many wanted.
They thought boasting German engineering would help.
I remember seeing an interview later, where they admitted that they didn’t understand the typical American pickup truck buyer, and what a disaster that initial advertising campaign was.
I knew the first time I saw it, that it wasn’t going do sales any favors.

 

[Renze]

People’s perceptions become their reality. Truck owners were accustomed to American deep voiced TV commercial narrators ,which exudes confidence, authority and trustworthiness, along with the visuals of bucking stallions and cowboy hats.

For a European audience, a deep voiced commercial narrator doesnt exude confidence, authority and trustworthiness: To us, it exudes "fat, lazy, and damn proud of it"

Thats what we Europeans hate the most about "real life" shows on Discovery Channel: The pompous narrator who exaggerates every drawback the crew faces.

When you see Bobby Goodson (Goodsons all terrain logging) after he ended the contract with Discovery he had his own show on Youtube. Without the Youtube producers influence, he was so different: Down to earth, realistic, honest. Almost European.

A couple average voiced Germans with their accent , didn’t convey that tough truck- cowboy image that many wanted.
They thought boasting German engineering would help.

Yes, German engineering is the no.1 sales argument in the rest of Europe. Whether it can live up to those expectations or not, but in the era (60s - 70s) that Italian small family cars rusted through in 5 years and French in 8, the Germans built that image. Yet you guys dont perceive it that way, because these small family cars were never sold in North America..

And German accent: The British made comedy about that, 50 years ago. They should know themself by now

 

[ruffdog]

"According to its local subsidiary, FCA US LLC, the total sales in the United States were 305,294 vehicles during the third quarter of 2024. Ladies and gentlemen, that is a sales drop of 20% compared to Q3 of 2023! It's the equivalent of a death plunge without a raft inside Niagara Falls or a skydive jump out of the airplane without a parachute – they'll need a miracle to survive."

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...orth-america-ladies-and-gentlemen-240756.html

 

[kozal01]

I am not a huge fan of Chrysler vehicles but I do hate to see a brand like it in decline like this. I sure hope they can get it turned around before it’s too late. In my line of work I see the affects of this across the industry from the tier one suppliers all the way down the line. The one Stellantis plant that I take care of is barely working at this point and many of my other customers that are suppliers to Stellantis are also struggling with low orders. Although we have predicted an automotive crash for some time.