July 1 2006... a day that will live in the history books: Dodge announces that the Challenger will enter production late in the the 2008 model year. A personal site & blog created and run by a no-commercial-interest Challenger enthusiast!
Sad - but we've seen several of these dealers ourselves and they don't appear to be major movers and shakers. The worst thing is that Chrysler has an incredibly enormous supply of cars out on the lots and in the pipeline - along with a bunch sitting half-assembled in the shutdown plants.
Setting aside how Chrysler ever got this bad... how could it ever get fixed? Clearly the bankruptcy court is doing the right thing... despite the jackals at the union and certain creditors this company is going to be reborn in the right size - unless the dealers manage to sue and hold up the process for more than a few months. If Chrysler doesn't exit bankruptcy in a very short period of time, it cannot restart.
The US Government has determined that the plans submitted by GM and Chrysler were totally inadequate and must be re-done. Therefore, Chrysler has 30 days to partner or it will be allowed to collapse. GM has 60 days to meet the required goals (including more concessions from debt holders and other stakeholders) or it will face a "controlled bankruptcy". There will be additional aid for both companies, but only for this short period.
Meanwhile, CEO Rick Wagoner was told by the administration to resign and he did so immediately. And GM will announce on Tuesday the future of the Hummer brand - we know it's dead, and will know Tuesday if another company will buy the brand from GM.
Tools & Links for Chrysler - Dodge Challenger post number # 2612
Highlights of Chrysler LLC Plan Submitted Today to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services
Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli looks forward to testifying before the committees later this week
Chrysler will urge the immediate adoption of legislation that will allow domestic automakers to weather the current national economic crisis and continue to invest in industry-leading products, technologies and vehicles of the future
Washington, D.C., Dec 2, 2008 -
The first question is, what changes has Chrysler made to help itself? Since Chrysler became an independent company in 2007:
We eliminated over 1.2 million units of capacity, or 30 percent;
We reduced fixed costs by $2.4 billion and, separated over 32,000 employees – including 5,000 on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. And at the same time …
We invested in product improvements – over half a billion dollars in our first 60 days;
We improved our latest JD Power quality scores, and reduced our warranty claims by 29 percent; Part of our business model transformation includes alliances and partnerships – for example – the agreements to produce vehicles for VW and for Nissan. As a result, through the first six months of the year, Chrysler met or exceeded our operating plan, ending the first half with $9.4 billion unrestricted cash.
Why does Chrysler need the funding? We need to address the unprecedented drop in vehicle sales caused by the financial crisis. U.S. sales are down from a 17 million unit selling rate in early 2007, to an estimated 11 million unit selling rate for the fourth quarter of 2008 – a 38 percent decline. We lost 20 percent of our sales virtually overnight when the financial market crisis forced us out of the consumer lease business. With customers not buying … with dealers not ordering … with our plants not producing … Chrysler’s cash inflow has suffered.
So how will the bridge loan be used? Cash will support ongoing operations as we continue to restructure the business, including in the first quarter alone:
$8.0 billion in payments to parts suppliers
$1.2 billion for other vendors
$900 million in wages
$500 million in healthcare and legacy costs
$500 million in capital expenditures
Without an immediate working capital bridge, Chrysler’s liquidity could fall below the level appropriate to ensure operations in the ordinary course by the first quarter of 2009.
So, who is contributing to saving Chrysler? First and foremost, Chrysler and its extended enterprise will. That starts with me. I receive a salary of $1 a year. I have no employment contract, no change of control agreement, no “golden parachute,” and receive no health care or life insurance benefits from the company. We are committed to negotiate concessions from all of our constituents.
The next question - Does Chrysler plan to build cars and trucks that consumers want to buy, and that support the country’s energy security and environmental goals? Our product plan features 24 major launches from 2009 through 2012. For the 2009 model year, 73 percent of our products will offer improved fuel economy compared to 2008 models. We plan on launching additional small, fuel-efficient vehicles. ENVI is our breakthrough family of all-electric … and range - extended electric vehicles – similar to the one parked outside. Chrysler’s product plan includes the introduction of the Ram Hybrid and our first electric-drive vehicle in 2010 with three additional models by 2013.
Does Chrysler have a viable plan? With our requested bridge loan – absolutely! I also believe that further partnership, restructuring and consolidation would make the U.S. auto industry even more viable and competitive in the long run. Further opportunities for technology sharing would provide fuel-efficient cars and trucks more cost effectively and faster to market. The three-company alliance that developed the dual-mode hybrid is a good example. As a Country, we should not trade our current dependence on foreign oil for a future dependence on foreign technologies.
The final question is, when will Chrysler pay back this loan? We believe we will be well positioned to begin repayment of the federal loans -- in 2012. I recognize that this is a significant amount of public money. However, we believe this is the least costly alternative considering the depth of the economic crisis and the options we face.
Tools & Links for Chrysler - Dodge Challenger post number # 2552
This new video illustrates an important point we've made on this blog about how future performance vehicles *must* change technologies - but *can* still increase performance and improve dynamics. The future is not at all dark for driving enthusiasts!
The video has the 1st-gen prototype of a Chrysler Corp electric vehicle, against an old-school and very traditional performance car. In a drag race held by the Los Angeles Times, the EV won.
The Challenger weighs well over 4000 pounds, and the EV is closer to a thousand less. The EV is a pre-production mule based on an adapted Lotus gasoline-engine product that isn't sold in this country. The 1st-gen Chrysler electronics will certainly improve before production and are ultimately limited by battery technology as with other electric vehicles. Battery technology is certainly the #1 investment area in automotive research these days.
Chrysler's strategy to show off it's three electric vehicles at this point in time is interesting. Whether it's to appeal to Nissan (a potential suitor, who itself hasn't shown much in the electric field - yet) or to the Government for bailout purposes, it's a smart move at this point in time.
Tools & Links for Chrysler - Dodge Challenger post number # 2545
We've added a couple dozen additional super high-res images to Challenger.DrivingEnthusiast.net (suggest <right click> and <open in new tab>). Look under the Production tab for images and text.
This makes a total of >100 high-res Challenger images, all typically 3000x2000 pixels in size (with more to come). Use them to examine features in the most exacting detail, make desktop backgrounds, or screensavers. Choose your features when you order your own Challenger, and save the images for the long term as documentation as this car becomes a classic.
All pages initially show the image in a 450-pixel thumbnail. Click on the image to go to the high-res image. Samples are below. Note that the Camaro and Mustang sections also have several dozen images of this size as well!
How many of the >10,000 pages and >15,000 images on DrivingEnthusiast.net have you seen? You'll find this kind of attention to detail only on the DrivingEnthusiast.net network!
Tools & Links for Chrysler - Dodge Challenger post number # 2480
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