Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, April 8, 2009
Economy The Death of American Automakers
Posted by Charles Mudede on Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 12:09 PM
At this moment in time, in the middle of a deep economic and environmental crisis, Chrysler unveils a new SUV, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, "which clocks in at 20 mpg in its two-wheel-drive version and 19 in four-wheel-drive...." Just last week, the White House reprimanded Chrysler for having no real plans for the production of small cars. The company is still building its future around trucks and SUVs! Amazing.
3
The mega-corporation big tycoons CAN'T change. They can't change because they don't even know they're supposed to. They don't even know there's a problem or a reason to change.
Their lives are completely outside the realm of normal people. They are totally unaware. Which is why they hear the government is offering money and they fly their private jets in to try getting some. They are completely unplugged from reality.
Their lives are completely outside the realm of normal people. They are totally unaware. Which is why they hear the government is offering money and they fly their private jets in to try getting some. They are completely unplugged from reality.
4
I am inclined to say let them fail. They obviously have blundered this bad. They are however holding many jobs as hostages. As was mentioned in the article on SLOG before any company too big to fail is a company too big to live.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200905/im…
This article deserves to be read over and over and over.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200905/im…
This article deserves to be read over and over and over.
5
Send Chrysler a couple of billion dollars of taxpayer money, STAT! They obviously know what they are doing.
8
The original jeeps were lightweight and efficient, weren't they? I mean obviously, a flabby vehicle that depends on a massive fuel supply isn't exactly your first choice to get you through austere terrain. Jeep doesn't even bother to compete against Subaru now.
Maybe we should spend the bailout money paying foreign car companies to build factories here and hire the unemployed and soon to be unemployed auto workers.
Maybe we should spend the bailout money paying foreign car companies to build factories here and hire the unemployed and soon to be unemployed auto workers.
9
I don't suppose it matters that the product cycle on a car is probably something like 5 years, so this monstrosity was probably greenlit in 2004 or something, and was too far into R&D to quit when things started to go south? We'll probably not see any results from the push for more efficient cars for at least three years. Of course, that doesn't mean that Chrysler et al. couldn't have been working on this a long time ago; they just didn't.
11
#9 right on the money.
It's probably more cost effective to release some models that are late in R&D than scrap them entirely.
It's probably more cost effective to release some models that are late in R&D than scrap them entirely.
12
Let them dies, let them die, let them die.
The government should put the auto bailout money towards public transit infrastructure. It's ridiculous that in this day and age there is no direct train route from Seattle to New York, or from DC to LA.
The government should put the auto bailout money towards public transit infrastructure. It's ridiculous that in this day and age there is no direct train route from Seattle to New York, or from DC to LA.
13
#1 is right, Jeep is SUVs--in fact, the original. Plus Jeep is the ONLY brand Chrysler has that is worth anything (i.e., profitable). However, given the current political and economic climate, it is confusing that Chrysler didn't showcase a hybrid or diesel model. With most customers opting for smaller CUVs over traditional SUVs, it is also confusing that the only new model unveiled by Chrysler is the Jeep Grand Cherokee, a traditional body-on-frame SUV.
@2: There will always be a need for trucks and SUVs. It will be tough to build a country without them. What is in the past, however, is suburban moms buying up trucks and SUVs to tow around groceries. Good riddance.
@2: There will always be a need for trucks and SUVs. It will be tough to build a country without them. What is in the past, however, is suburban moms buying up trucks and SUVs to tow around groceries. Good riddance.
14
By the time the Chevy Volt comes out, there will already be multiple models of electrics and plug in hybrids from Asian manufacturers that are cheaper and offer better performance. GM and others already shot themselves in the foot years ago with the introduction and swift demise of the EV-1. They lost their chance to get ahead. It makes little difference that the execs still delude themselves into thinking that they can design cars to the needs of Bushonomics and leave "going green" to the marketing department.
I say, fire all the executives, and let the engineers take over. They don't know from business but at least they can think rationally.
I say, fire all the executives, and let the engineers take over. They don't know from business but at least they can think rationally.
16
@2 What I mean is that the Jeep brand has always been about SUVs in some form or another. Jeep is also the best brand Chrysler has, so they can't exactly scrap it or reinvent it overnight. They'll probably have to refocus their brand at smaller vehicles like the original Willys Jeep, and or shrink down the Wrangler since it keeps getting bigger and heavier.
18
Way to post a two year old concept's picture to lead people on, way to also pile on a bread and butter vehicle, and way to assume that somehow, they developed a vehicle in a month. The new "SUV" is far more fuel efficient than the last one, and is meant for high capability. I know your job is to post incendiary, factless tripe, but maybe you could try to actually help things along rather than push them into their graves.
20
k, the picture posted here is a concept car, not an actual production model. The actual production model is a normal looking SUVish sort of thing. Jeep also offers a 6 cyl for the Grand Cherokee that gets significantly better gas mileage and they also have a diesel option which can be run on biofuel.
So yeah, post that pic and talk about the top of the line model that gets shitty mileage.
I hate to be a Chrysler apologist but this is what Jeep is. SUVs. And they aren't all bad.
So yeah, post that pic and talk about the top of the line model that gets shitty mileage.
I hate to be a Chrysler apologist but this is what Jeep is. SUVs. And they aren't all bad.
21
Here's the actual new Jeep Grand Cherokee, please note the flex fuel V6 with variable valve timing as the BASE engine.
http://jalopnik.com/5203662/2011-jeep-gr…
http://jalopnik.com/5203662/2011-jeep-gr…
22
Thanks, monkey. You've shown us what is going on inside the minds that run Detroit.
Not worth saving.
Not worth saving.
23
#21 Flex fuel engines are bullshit moves designed to lower the apparent fleet mileage without actually producing any real world gains. Being able to run on gasoline OR ethanol is meaningless in a world where there is no ethanol for sale. My ten-year old Ford Ranger has a flex fuel engine and in driving between here and Texas I've never seen any ethanol for sale.
And reading through the stats in your link, I see no direct mpg numbers, only the briefest, vague mentions that the new engine is maybe 11% more efficient that the gas-hog 2009 mile (12/15 mpg! Jesus Christ!) and the aerodynamics may yield 7% improvement over the 09 model.
And reading through the stats in your link, I see no direct mpg numbers, only the briefest, vague mentions that the new engine is maybe 11% more efficient that the gas-hog 2009 mile (12/15 mpg! Jesus Christ!) and the aerodynamics may yield 7% improvement over the 09 model.
24
Want to rescue the Big Three?
Have them go back to making at most 5 models of vehicles.
And don't permit "fleet" mpg - make each model conform to the MPG requirements with fuel easily found (gasoline, diesel).
Have them go back to making at most 5 models of vehicles.
And don't permit "fleet" mpg - make each model conform to the MPG requirements with fuel easily found (gasoline, diesel).
26
@13: you can't build a country without SUVs, huh? What about this one? There pretty much WERE NONE when I was growing up. Trucks, yes; but not SUVs. Oh, sure, the odd enthusiast might have had a Jeep or a Chevy Suburban. But what build this country was, in fact, station wagons.
They were built like cars, and drove like boats, but everybody had one in the years that suburban America came into its own. We had, consecutively, a Rambler, a Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon, and a Ford Country Squire, shit brown and a mile long, with the fake woodie decal trim. God, I can feel the teenage angst coming back on just thinking about it. I tore my high school diploma to shreds in a sobbing fit in the front seat of that car.
Where was I? Oh, yeah. SUVs are bullshit. Nobody has any need for one; there isn't anyplace you're going that a passenger car can't get to just as well, and if there is, tough shit, you shouldn't be going there. SUVs are a prime example in what I call "the crisis of masculinity" (which affects women too), wherein people adopt the stupidest tough-guy attitudes and accouterments just to prove they're not girlie-men. SUVs, Guy Fieri, fight club, NASCAR -- it's all the same bullshit. Real men drove station wagons then and boring minivans today.
They were built like cars, and drove like boats, but everybody had one in the years that suburban America came into its own. We had, consecutively, a Rambler, a Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon, and a Ford Country Squire, shit brown and a mile long, with the fake woodie decal trim. God, I can feel the teenage angst coming back on just thinking about it. I tore my high school diploma to shreds in a sobbing fit in the front seat of that car.
Where was I? Oh, yeah. SUVs are bullshit. Nobody has any need for one; there isn't anyplace you're going that a passenger car can't get to just as well, and if there is, tough shit, you shouldn't be going there. SUVs are a prime example in what I call "the crisis of masculinity" (which affects women too), wherein people adopt the stupidest tough-guy attitudes and accouterments just to prove they're not girlie-men. SUVs, Guy Fieri, fight club, NASCAR -- it's all the same bullshit. Real men drove station wagons then and boring minivans today.
28
The car that fascinates me is the Nissan Versa.
No power windows...just cranks. No power door locks...you reach in the back to unlock. No radio! Buy your own at Good Guys (ooops, no more).
Basically it's a car for any-somethings who would be buying a 10 year old silver used compact car for under $10,000.
I saw one on the road today and it looked...like a car...just a car...now isn't that refreshing?!
No power windows...just cranks. No power door locks...you reach in the back to unlock. No radio! Buy your own at Good Guys (ooops, no more).
Basically it's a car for any-somethings who would be buying a 10 year old silver used compact car for under $10,000.
I saw one on the road today and it looked...like a car...just a car...now isn't that refreshing?!
31
I'd kill for a chance to buy one of those new-generation Fiat Cinquecentos.
Oh, and "flex fuel" is bullshit. Ethanol is worse for the environment that gas is. Hell, ethanol uses MORE GAS than gas does.
Oh, and "flex fuel" is bullshit. Ethanol is worse for the environment that gas is. Hell, ethanol uses MORE GAS than gas does.
33
You know, the original jeeps were fairly small and nimble, and got fairly decent gas/diesel mileage.
The current monstrosity doesn't deserve to be called a Jeep.
The current monstrosity doesn't deserve to be called a Jeep.
36
"This is a very important vehicle for us. It's one of the primary legs of the Chrysler stool," Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau said."
You'd think he could have chosen a better word than 'stool'.
To be fair, this vehicle has probably been years in the making...which doesn't excuse, but it partly explains their launching this new..umm, stool.
You'd think he could have chosen a better word than 'stool'.
To be fair, this vehicle has probably been years in the making...which doesn't excuse, but it partly explains their launching this new..umm, stool.
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