Chrysler SOLD!

Hydrive53 · June 06, 2007, 03:25:47 AM

NO,GOD NO PLEASE don't let this hapen to a once GREAT car comp. I just love my mopars. What the heck am I going to do NOW?! The other two F--d & C---y are not that fare behind. We just did it to ourselves. I don't think that I will ever buy a new car as long as I live. I will keep getting the old used ones, and just fix them up, and drive that wonderfull old iron. God bless Chrysler. I told you all it was only about the darnd MONEY. It will (greed) kill us all. Whare will it end????????

Wm Steed · May 21, 2007, 12:34:08 PM

There is a very interesting article in the May 28, 2007 issue of TIME about the issues facing Chrysler and the rest of the Big Three.
The article starts off with the heading: "Buying a Used Chrysler". "It's a health-care company with car issues. And fixing it may require reshaping the U.S. auto industry".
Further on in the article is another very good bit of info: "Dig through the financial statements of the Detroit Three, however, and you can easily conclude that they are money-losing retirement and health-care organizations just masquerading as money-losing carmakers" ....Bill

Wm Steed · May 18, 2007, 11:47:47 PM

As I have already written.... I was at the bargining table when all of the fringe benifits were put in place.
The actual signing of the documents by labor and management was a no brainer..... it was good for everyone.

The one fly in the ointment was the life expectantcy of the persons being covered. In the early 1960's statistics showed that on the average a person would live eight years after he retired. It was also very common in the early years of company pensions that when the employee died his penson died. What was not planned for was the fact that the improvements in medial care would extend the life expectantcy of a retiired person to the point that in many instances people are retired from the company longer than they worked for the company. A person I know that retired in 1968 after working for the company for twenty years died last year, he was retired form the company for thirty eight years. When you factor in COLA's for thirty eight years, his retirement wages/pay had climbed to a point that they were higher than any amount he was ever paid by the company when he worked!!!!!..... for them.

I have no idea what the answer to this mess is, maybe the government will have to step in and take over the private pensions like they are doing with the company's that go bankrumpt. I think it is a fact that the Japaness owned company's do not have the burden of company paid pensions, etc. .....Bill

MRR41 COUPE · May 18, 2007, 08:02:34 PM

Your right, If it were not for the unions the ceo's could have made a lot more money. J P Stevens would still be operating their sweat shops in Chicago. LETS GET BACK TO TALKING ABOUT PLYMOUTHS. Personaly I love the 40 hour work week if gives me more time with my plymouth( thank you labor unions). I ALSO THANK THE LABOR UNIONS FOR BUILDING GREAT PLYMOUTHS, GOOD JOB!

POC-Admin · May 18, 2007, 04:44:27 PM

My father (rest his soul) always said the Unions killed American industry with the first big mistake when the Steel Workers got a 13 week vacation back in the early 60's - my dad was a Union man most of his life (boilermaker/teamster) but had enough sense to see that no company can pay people "Not to work" that type of agreement and the other mentioned benefits are what is killing our competitive edge.

The city of Duluth (I live next to Duluth in Proctor MN) is bankrupt and borrowing money from the State because they negotiated free health care for all retired employees about twenty years ago. Yes the City fathers made the mistake of signing the paper too but the whole problem is that common sense needs to be first - both sides of the coin - management and labor - work together to make everything work.

I too agree that this is the end of Chrysler - Dodge may survive but it may become part of some other company, Chrysler is pretty much dead I believe.

mrodady · May 18, 2007, 12:03:20 AM

I think what I am saying is that the unions have more power than most of us are willing to concede to. They are indeed capable and have negotiated themselves out of work.
I agree that the benifit programs established for the welfare of the retired has placed a massive burden on the working class. There is also the inflated healthcare system that has ALL of us over the proverbial barrel, including the employers. In an attempt to keep good staff on hand they do all they can to allieviate the monatary burden placed on the line workers in every factory and yet the cost for healthcare soars through the roof.
At the ripe old age of 52 years I have more than 33 years with the same company and retirement system but alas I am unable to retire because of healthcare.

Plymouthcranbrook · May 17, 2007, 07:59:26 PM

Quote from: mrodady on May 17, 2007, 01:50:45 AM
as the owner of the one of the first Chrysler ecomomy cars, my 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe, that was considered "a dime a dozen" back in the day and the owner of a Chrysler PT Cruiser convertable turbo that i told my wife would someday be a very collectable .....I am deeply saddened . It is truly a shame that the American ecomomy and the Almighty workers union has saddly negotiated our labor force? right out of work. I am a true believer in the good that unions have done for the common worker but the outcome has been the outsourceing of american jobs and the crushing of factory employers.
gary olguin

Remember that there are two parties to each negotiation and two signers to each contract. I am sure neither one forsaw what was coming in manufacturing in the very near future.

mopardave · May 17, 2007, 06:56:56 PM

Today, I made the decision to sell my DaimlerChrysler stock.....it was a difficult decision to make.

Wm Steed · May 17, 2007, 01:17:03 PM

Everything that has been written about the relationship of Chrysler and Damler Benz in this topic has a large degree of truth with the exception of the placing of responsibility for the pending demise of world leadership by the Ameican auto industry, or for that matter the other American industries that are suffering from off shore competition, on the shoulders of organized labor.

With out knowing it, management started the demise of American industry in the early 1960's, yes I said the 1960's .... when management let the accountants talk them into offering pensions and paid health care in lieu of wage increases. The idea looked and sounded very good on paper because the fringe benifits were exempt from payroll taxes , only being taxable when the employee (s) collected the pension, etc.
I was on an industry arbitration committee for management when all of this was going on, speaking out that the defered benifits were going to come back and bite everyone in the back side. This is now refered to as the millions of dollars of UNFUNDED LIABILITY that so many America industries are faced with.

Another big mistake that American industry has commited is allowing the accounts, (bean counters) to gain control of the decession making policies of the company.
The term VALUE ENGINEERING has come home to haunt the majority of industries that have adapted this concept. Accounting is a very important part of a successful business, however, there is a standing rule in industry that you never let the "bean counters" anywhere near the R&D or sales departments.

I think Lee Iacocca said it best when he was the Chairman of Chrysler Corp.... "Management is nothing more than mottivating other people.... the speed of the boss is the speed of the team" .....Bill

TodFitch · May 17, 2007, 10:50:40 AM

Quote from: mrodady on May 17, 2007, 01:50:45 AM. . . and the Almighty workers union has saddly negotiated our labor force? right out of work. . . .

I was not aware that the unions were incharge of engineering, marketing and management in general.

mrodady · May 17, 2007, 01:50:45 AM

as the owner of the one of the first Chrysler ecomomy cars, my 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe, that was considered "a dime a dozen" back in the day and the owner of a Chrysler PT Cruiser convertable turbo that i told my wife would someday be a very collectable .....I am deeply saddened . It is truly a shame that the American ecomomy and the Almighty workers union has saddly negotiated our labor force right out of work. I am a true believer in the good that unions have done for the common worker but the outcome has been the outsourceing of american jobs and the crushing of factory employers.
gary olguin

Plymouthcranbrook · May 16, 2007, 11:06:44 PM

Quote from: mopardave on May 15, 2007, 07:31:21 PM
it will be a sad ending for a once proud corporation.? Ole Walter P would not like this at all!

If we had Walter here it would never have come to this.

12905 · May 16, 2007, 12:41:29 AM

Sale of Chrysler to a holding company was indeed a sad day. However, the really sad day, and the real end of Chrysler, was the day Daimler Benz took it over - a move that was headed for failure from the outset. I don't think the corporate and shareholder culture of Daimler Benz - Teutonic arrogance to the extreme - could ever have acceepted Chrysler as a worthwhile part of its operations. i don't think any DB employees or shareholders, except those few who decided to acquire Chrysler, ever wanted it to succeed. I read a quote from a DB official today who essentially said that the "American" public - I assume he included Canada in that - just would not pay more for the infusion of superior DB technology.

Did I say absolutely unwarranted arrogance? I have worked on a few Mercedes and failed to come away impressed - except by unnecessarily complex solutions to relatively simple problems.

chetbrz · May 15, 2007, 09:28:50 PM

Quote from: mopardave on May 15, 2007, 07:31:21 PM
it will be a sad ending for a once proud corporation.? Ole Walter P would not like this at all!

I agree..,

Without a long story my family consists of three generations of Chrysler, Plymouth, & Dodge ownership.? Life goes on but we are still here to represent the best of what American Car Manufactures had to offer, the ingenuity of their craft, their promise of the future, we are the guardian of what has passed, and we are still inspired by the freedom of the open road.?

At the turn of the century there were hundreds of car manufactures, in the fifties there was the big three, and today there is the future.? ?As my father would say.., " No sense in crying over spilled milk.

It is what it is..,? be thankful for being a part of an American story.

Chet...

mopardave · May 15, 2007, 07:31:21 PM

it will be a sad ending for a once proud corporation. Ole Walter P would not like this at all!

Cliff54 · May 15, 2007, 08:28:12 AM

Quote from: Plymouthcranbrook on May 15, 2007, 12:42:56 AM
Quote from: Plymouths on May 14, 2007, 06:41:27 PM
This will be the end of Chrysler. It will be broken up and it's divisions sold to make money for the holding company. No holding company buys and runs what it buys. I've seen it time and time again. The movie 'Pretty Woman'? is based around a guy that does this for a living. JEEP will bring the highest buck with Dodge not far behind. The Chrysler division will most likely die by the wayside. I expect Dodge and JEEP to be stand alone companies in our life time. Most likely owned by off shore money. Just wait and see. Walt must be spinning in his grave.? ?

Sadly have to agree with you.? Chrysler has lost almost all sembalance to the Chrysler we all knew and loved.? So wish the old Chrysler could come back to life with Excellent Engineering and Forward Look Styling.? I did have some hope when Mercedes bought them but sadly it was not to be.

I also agree... I think The Chrysler Corp. will become.... Dodge. ... Jeep will be sold off; just like it had been so many times. :-[

Plymouthcranbrook · May 15, 2007, 12:42:56 AM

Quote from: Plymouths on May 14, 2007, 06:41:27 PM
This will be the end of Chrysler. It will be broken up and it's divisions sold to make money for the holding company. No holding company buys and runs what it buys. I've seen it time and time again. The movie 'Pretty Woman'? is based around a guy that does this for a living. JEEP will bring the highest buck with Dodge not far behind. The Chrysler division will most likely die by the wayside. I expect Dodge and JEEP to be stand alone companies in our life time. Most likely owned by off shore money. Just wait and see. Walt must be spinning in his grave.? ?

Sadly have to agree with you. Chrysler has lost almost all sembalance to the Chrysler we all knew and loved. So wish the old Chrysler could come back to life with Excellent Engineering and Forward Look Styling. I did have some hope when Mercedes bought them but sadly it was not to be.

FourDoor · May 14, 2007, 06:41:27 PM

This will be the end of Chrysler. It will be broken up and it's divisions sold to make money for the holding company. No holding company buys and runs what it buys. I've seen it time and time again. The movie 'Pretty Woman'? is based around a guy that does this for a living. JEEP will bring the highest buck with Dodge not far behind. The Chrysler division will most likely die by the wayside. I expect Dodge and JEEP to be stand alone companies in our life time. Most likely owned by off shore money. Just wait and see. Walt must be spinning in his grave.? ?

Roadkingcoupe · May 14, 2007, 03:04:06 PM

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Chrysler was sold today. Any chance Plymouth will be revived?

Three months to the day after DaimlerChrysler (DCX, news, msgs)announced that "all options" were on the table for its struggling U.S. Chrysler unit, private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management said it would buy an 80.1% stake in Chrysler for $7.41 billion.

"We're confident that we've found the solution that will create the greatest overall value -- both for Daimler and Chrysler," CEO Dieter Zetsche said in a prepared statement today. "With this transaction, we have created the right conditions for a new start for Chrysler and Daimler."

Cerberus beat out two other bidders: a partnership between rival private-equity players Blackstone Group and Centerbridge Capital Partners, and Canadian auto-parts maker Magna International (MGA, news, msgs).