Chrysler's future - Fiat!

[JackLuis]

I caught this photo essay on what the "New Chrysler" might be offering when Fiat comes to town.

In my mind the Fiat's of the 60's were cheap disposable fun cars. I did have a Fiat 128 econo-box. It gave me 60,000 miles before the timing belt failed. Valve job and it was good as new.

But what is the 21 century to offer?

 

[Boxlicker101]

I caught this photo essay on what the "New Chrysler" might be offering when Fiat comes to town.

In my mind the Fiat's of the 60's were cheap disposable fun cars. I did have a Fiat 128 econo-box. It gave me 60,000 miles before the timing belt failed. Valve job and it was good as new.

But what is the 21 century to offer?

I had the idea that Chrysler had a working arrangement, maybe even a partnership with Daimler-Benz. I wonder what happened about that.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I had the idea that Chrysler had a working arrangement, maybe even a partnership with Daimler-Benz. I wonder what happened about that.

Daimler sold off Chrysler to a private equity group two years ago. Not their problem anymore.

 

[ChainedEros]

Most of those cars would never sell here in America. I'm all for more efficient cars, but they should do some serious market research before trying to sell those cars here.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

David Halberstam wrote a book, THE RECKONING, about the woes of the American car companies.

The car companies are caught between a rock and a hardplace. They know how to build small, efficient cars, but no one wants them.

In America cars are a status symbol. Fiat doesnt signal status. Peasants buy Fiats.

If Americans can find the money, they buy Cadillacs and SUVs. They buy econo-midgets only when they have to.

 

[oggbashan]

European tax regimes make a significant difference too.

The cost of fuel is much higher because of tax. Some countries penalise larger engined and less fuel-efficient vehicles. In France for example it is almost impossible to buy or run a car with an engine larger than 2 litres because the tax becomes punitive.

In the UK the circulation tax (Vehicle Excise Duty) is being raised for vehicles that produce more emissions, and reduced for cars that produce little or no emissions - to zero for the lowest.

Fiat's new 500 is popular because it attracts low tax, low insurance and is economical on fuel.

Whether Fiat can produce a car that US buyers will like? They have never been successful with their larger cars.

Og

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

OGG

The other thing I noted while in Europe was: Public transportation is convenient, reliable, and inexpensive. Its possible to board a public conveyance and travel to your destination with a minimal amount of toil and expense.

In America the peasants and wildlife ride the buses. The stations are located in the most dangerous areas and unsupervised and unprotected. Staff is enclosed in thick plastic cages, and the public is on its own at the staion or traveling to the station. Passengers are routinely dumped at stops with no provisions for the weather or their safety.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

If the Alpha Romero can be made clean enough to run in California, it will sell. It was always a byword in the driving public that all you had to do to get someone to buy an Alpha was to let them drive an Alpha. The rest was paperwork.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

VM if that was true Alfa Romeos would fill the roads.

 

[R. Richard]

Fiat's new 500 is popular because it attracts low tax, low insurance and is economical on fuel.

Og

I have been told that, back in the 1960s, kid in the US would buy the old air-cooled VWs because of low insurance costs and low fuel costs. Then the 'beetles' were treated to chrome wheels, fancy paint jobs, etc.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

RICHARD

In the 60s kids bought hotwheels like Pontiac GTO, Mustang, Barracuda, Chevy Impala SS, Chevelle SS. About 1968 the muscle cars came along Dodge CHARGER, Pontiac FIREBIRD, Chevy CAMARO, AMC Javelin, Mustang MACH 1.

Pointy-headed dweebs with pocket protectors and sliderules bought Beetles, Renault Dauphines, Fiats, and Simcas. A girl wouldnt be caught dead in a little car or a van or a pickup.

Little GTO, you're really lookin' fine
Three deuces and a four-speed and a 389
Listen to her tachin' up now, listen to her why-ee-eye-ine
C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO

Wa-wa, (mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa
(mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO")
Wa-wa, (mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa
(mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO")
Wa-wa (mixed with "Ahhh, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa

You oughta see her on a road course or a quarter mile
This little modified Pon-Pon has got plenty of style
She beats the gassers and the rail jobs, really drives 'em why-ee-eye-ild
C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO

Wa-wa, (mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa
(mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO")
Wa-wa, (mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa
(mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO")
Wa-wa (mixed with "Ahhh, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa

Gonna save all my money (turnin' it on, blowin' it out) and buy a GTO (turnin' it on,
blowin' it out)
Get a helmet and a roll bar (turnin' it on, blowin' it out) and I'll be ready to go
(turnin' it on, blowin' it out)
Take it out to Pomona (turnin' it on, blowin' it out) and let 'em know (turnin' it on,
blowin' it out), yeah, yeah
That I'm the coolest thing around
Little buddy, gonna shut you down
When I turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO

Wa-wa, (mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa
(mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO")
Wa-wa, (mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa
(mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO")
Wa-wa (mixed with "Ahhh, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa

 

[Boxlicker101]

My late father retired after many years of working for AMC/Chrysler. He had good benefits, as good as I had working for the state of CA. My brother has also retired from there, and had the same bennies. I recently had an email that he and his wife have lost some of their insurance, but he still has his pension. Medicare might take over some of them, but not all.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

My late father retired after many years of working for AMC/Chrysler. He had good benefits, as good as I had working for the state of CA. My brother has also retired from there, and had the same bennies. I recently had an email that he and his wife have lost some of their insurance, but he still has his pension. Medicare might take over some of them, but not all.

America went to hell when we got the idea that we could make a living swapping insurance policies and blowjobs, and not do anything else.

 

[cloudy]

I caught this photo essay on what the "New Chrysler" might be offering when Fiat comes to town.

In my mind the Fiat's of the 60's were cheap disposable fun cars. I did have a Fiat 128 econo-box. It gave me 60,000 miles before the timing belt failed. Valve job and it was good as new.

But what is the 21 century to offer?

My first car was a Fiat - a spider. I loved it, and it ran great. The only bad thing about it was finding someone to do any type of work on it at all. It was a really fun car for a high school senior to have.

 

[TE999]

FIAT used to stand for Fix It Again Tony...the majority of their cars imported here in the 70's were not designed for our type of driving and quickly failed. I doubt if their current products will be popular either except for some die hard enthusiasts.

Americans love big things...big cars, big houses, big guns, big hamburgers, big movies, big malls. It's going to take a heap of intervention by the Nanny State to turn that attitude around...and woe betide the pol who initiates legislation in that regard or votes for it.

 

[SimonBrooke]

FIAT used to stand for Fix It Again Tony...the majority of their cars imported here in the 70's were not designed for our type of driving and quickly failed. I doubt if their current products will be popular either except for some die hard enthusiasts.

Americans love big things...big cars, big houses, big guns, big hamburgers, big movies, big malls. It's going to take a heap of intervention by the Nanny State to turn that attitude around...and woe betide the pol who initiates legislation in that regard or votes for it.

Yes, but that's exactly your problem. You're bankrupt (you're not the only ones, so are we); we're all going to have to get used to (and get good at) being a lot poorer. The reason all the US car makers are bankrupt is not just that the US is bankrupt; it's also that they have spent the last twenty years making products which cannot compete on quality or efficiency with cars from anywhere else in the world.

Fiat, by contrast, is doing well - even by the standards of the best European makers. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Fiat fan, I drive Citroen. But Fiat make a range of (mostly) stylish, practical, economical, well finished and above all efficient small cars. You don't like em? Well, tough. You won't buy 'em? How on earth do you think you're going to get around a sprawling US city with typical US mass transit infrastructure, if you don't have a car you can afford to put fuel in?

You will buy 'em. You'll be glad to.