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McCain's Statement
So the esteemed senator has nothing more to say, Ms. Buchanan? Just as well ... I didn't hear him come up with any solutions beyond a traditional bankruptcy, and I've seen more than one company try a traditional bankruptcy only to go out of business shortly thereafter.
The only exceptions are Delta Airlines, Delphi Corporation and United Airlines ... the only exceptions I'm familiar with, anyway. Granted, there are others that I'm not aware of, but most of the traditional bankruptcy situations I've heard about usually don't turn out as successful as these three companies.
Peters urges McCain to attend Detroit auto show; backs Chrysler survival
ChuckG, Fiat will put money into Chrysler, but not as a direct capital investment, as would usually be the case with deals like this.
Fiat's plan is to pay for the retooling of Chrysler plants to produce vehicles like the Fiat 500, which, last I knew, was slated to be produced at the Chrysler plant in Saltillo, Mexico.
McCain
Well said, Southern Gentleman. If McCain is so convinced that Chrysler's going to fail, where is his solution? What ideas does he have to keep that from happening?
So far, Marchionne is the only one that has come up with a solution, which he detailed in his plan 2 weeks ago.
Chrysler Quality
Well, jimboy, now that Sergio Marchionne is running things at Chrysler, it's possible you may see the proof for yourself. He had to deal with similar issues when he became Fiat's CEO and instituted special procedures at the Fiat 500 plant in Tychy, Poland ... procedures that reduced the number of defective cars from 20% in 1996 to 4% this year.
If you want to know more, go here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/business/global/15fiat.html
Chrysler zeros in on quality
Centerfield: "Can't wait to see those Mopars on Consumer Reports 'Recommended' list!"
You haven't heard, Centerfield? There IS a Chrysler vehicle on the Consumer Reports recommended list this year. It's the 4WD version of the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500.
You can learn more by going here:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/cr-recommended/best-worst-in-car-reliability-1005/reliability-findings/reliability-findings.htm
Peters' Answer To McCain's Challenge
Maybe McCain shouldn't have made his little challenge, because Peters has shown himself to be someone willing to take him up on it. The esteemed senator can call Peters unobjective as many times as he wishes, but he has clearly not learned a valuable lesson:
Be careful what you wish for ... because you just might get it.
As far as McCain's idea of a traditional bankruptcy is concerned ... well, Chrysler would have needed bankruptcy financing to pull it off, and unless I'm mistaken, with the banking industry nearly collapsing in the fall of last year, it was virtually impossible for Chrysler -- or GM, for that matter -- to come up with such financing, which left only the "debtor-in-possession" loans from the feds.
Under ordinary circumstances, a traditional bankruptcy might have worked, as it did for Delphi Corporation and two airlines, Delta and United, but these are hardly ordinary circumstances.
Besides, when I usually hear news about traditional Chapter 11 bankruptcies, it involves companies that go out of existence shortly thereafter, either by being bought out or liquidated, like 4 companies I named in previous posts here. That's why I have a dim view of traditional bankruptcies.
Chrysler a great company ???
Mr. Bo Jangles, I submit that Chrysler will only be a great company once Marchionne and his associates are through taking care of the problems it has, especially with regards to quality.
Provided everything goes his way, he can make Chrysler a great company. But make no mistake ... he has a lot of challenges ahead, and he won't have an easy time.
Traditional Bankruptcy For GM And Chrysler
Be that as it may, Mr. Dud, I will be more respectful of McCain's opinion when he shows that he can come up with a solution to the Chrysler situation that doesn't place the company at the risk of going out of business like the companies I listed in my previous post.
McCain's Solutions?
If the esteemed Sen. McCain is so convinced that Chrysler will fail, then he should come up with a solution to keep that from happening. So far, I have heard nothing beyond the fact that he believes that Chrysler and GM should have gone through a traditional bankruptcy.
Eastern Airlines, TWA, Circuit City and the original Pan Am probably thought going through a traditional bankruptcy was a good idea. Where are they now? Gone ... either bought out or gone out of existence.
Instead of constantly criticizing Chrysler for its problems, why doesn't he offer suggestions to help them correct those problems? At least Marchionne is working on that, which is more than McCain has done.
Traditional Bankruptcy For GM And Chrysler
McCain believes that Chrysler and GM should have gone through a traditional bankruptcy, eh? He also thinks that Chrysler and GM could have emerged as vibrant companies through traditional bankruptcies?
Perhaps he should ask the employees of the original Pan Am, Eastern Airlines, TWA and Circuit City about how their companies emerged from traditional bankruptcies to become vibrant entities. Oh, I forgot ... those companies are out of business, either bought out or liquidated.
If this is the best answer that McCain can come up with on how the U.S. industry should be helped, it's a good thing he didn't become president. And he came up with this idea for what ... because he's worried about whether the UAW got a sweetheart deal or not?
In any case, where exactly did the UAW get a sweetheart deal? As the McCain article clearly states, the UAW agreed at both GM and Chrysler to $7 an hour in givebacks in wages and benefits, gave up the right to strike through 2015 and swapped billions in health care payments owed to retirees in exchange for equity in the automakers. I would think someone as supposedly brilliant as McCain would have access to such information, but clearly that is not the case.
Chrysler's Survival Issues
Apparently, Mr. McCain has forgotten that Chrysler DID go into bankruptcy ... an expedited Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He also forgot that Chrysler emerged as a new company with a healthier balance sheet.
Lastly, what does he mean about the UAW owning 55% of Chrysler and the U.S. Government owning the rest? The UAW VEBA owns 67.69% of Chrysler while the U.S. owns only 9.85% and Canada owns only 2.46%, with Fiat owning the final 20%.
If he's going to complain about U.S. tax dollars being used to help the auto industry, the least he can do is get the facts straight.
As for wanting to meet someone who thinks Chrysler is going to survive, I would have no qualms about answering that call if I could get to Arizona, because I believe Chrysler will survive ... as long as nothing goes wrong and things go Chrysler's way, that is.
I am well aware of the possibility of something going wrong or things not going Chrysler's way, If Chrysler goes out of business as a result, I know there's not much I can do about that.
Until then, however, I will continue to support Chrysler in its efforts to avoid that fate. If McCain doesn't want to stand by Chrysler, that's his problem ... not mine.
Chrysler 300C Engineering Mule
I only hope they can rework the LY chassis to have lighter suspension components than the current LX chassis. Since the current Challenger was built on a variant of the LX -- the LC platform -- it's heavier than its Mustang and Camaro competition, even though the Challenger is one of my favorite Chrysler vehicles.
FORD FUSION HAS RECORD YEAR
Does the fact that the Fusion is made in Mexico make it an import? Well, Wisdom, that depends on how much domestic content it has.
If a high percentage of American-made parts went into its manufacture, then the Fusion would qualify as a domestic car. How high that percentage would be escapes me for the moment.
Chrysler's Market Share Goals
As a MOPAR fan, I understand that people have a reason to be skeptical about Chrysler's chances, given their current situation. Indeed, the car market is different from the time Marchionne turned Fiat around, and Chrysler may lose more market share as time goes by.
But we have to remember that, as Sean McAlinden pointed out, Chrysler had their market share go down to 7% on two separate occasions in the past 30 years, only to regain market share thereafter. Also, Marchionne has experience in turning companies around, as his work with Fiat has proven, and he is aware of how different the car market is nowadays. As such, he knows he has a big challenge ahead of him.
I, for one, am going to give him a chance to see what he can do to fix Chrysler, since he is the only one who has developed anything remotely resembling a plan for this task.
CyberSurvey: The restructuring plan
If I had to guess, Klavernman, GM's probably continuing to build these vehicles because there are those who need such vehicles to haul the heavy loads on a work site or farm. You can't tow a trailer with a Chevy Aveo or Volt.
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