Old look to the new Chrysler
Jim Higgins
http://tinyurl.com/muwhhc
The new Chrysler, sprung from bankruptcy Wednesday, is not the old Chrysler.
Or is it?
It's leaner, smaller and lighter by 789 dealers. It's got a new CEO,
Sergio Marchionne, a promoted deputy CEO, Jim Press, and the makings of
a new board. It'll have four divisions, none of which are familiar names
to the folks in Turin, Italy, now players in the global auto industry's
latest grand experiment.
But Chrysler is under foreign management -- again. It still is beholden,
if indirectly, to the priorities of the United Auto Workers, whose
health care trust owns 55percent of Chrysler Group LLC. And its future
will be guided by the disembodied hand of the federal government joining
with the Italians of Fiat SpA, a curious combination that gives new
meaning to the clich? "strange bedfellows."
Decision a relief
No question, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to hear key issues in
the bankruptcy case -- an appeal pushed by three Indiana pension funds
-- is a collective relief to the thousands of Chrysler employees and
Chrysler communities desperate for the company to get one more chance
with Fiat, however draconian, to avoid liquidation.
No question, either, that Team Obama delivered a speedy tour through
bankruptcy that the experts (and more than a few seasoned CEOs) didn't
think possible. The trial run suggests bankrupt General Motors Corp.
will emerge, too, as a "New GM" by Labor Day.
But at a terrible cost, witness the Chrysler casualties. Nearly 790
dealerships were forced to relinquish their franchises Tuesday, the same
day the Supremes backed President Barack Obama's auto task force.
Thousands more jobs will disappear, more plants will be closed and
shutdowns of others will be lengthened, stressing the supply base and
state and local tax revenue.
Chrysler unwanted
It's scant comfort to say the obvious, that this had to happen, that
this sacrificing of some to save the rest was the only option this side
of complete shutdown. But it was. No one else in -- or interested in --
the global auto space wanted Chrysler. Not the Germans or the French.
Not the Japanese or the Koreans. Not the Russians, the Chinese or the
Indians.
And certainly not the private equity sharpies on Wall Street, who
watched Cerberus Capital Management LP's play to return Chrysler to
American hands blow up in its proverbial face. The bankruptcy was a
good, ol' fashioned thrashing for the firm named for the mythical
three-headed dog guarding the gates to hell.
So Auburn Hills, home to the battered and bruised, dissed and decimated
Chrysler, gets an Italian boss. In that, there's a faint symmetry to the
nine years under German control -- a European and his vaunted
"technology" will ride to the rescue of the folks who revived Jeep and
build the best minivan on the planet.
Let's hope the similarities end there, for the humbled Chrysler emerging
from bankruptcy was impoverished by nearly a decade of control by
Germans who refused to engineer the economies of scale that make global
auto companies work. Or fail, because high-end European luxury cars
could not be allowed to be tarnished by association with tawdry American
metal. Ja!
But how will Marchionne & Co. ride to Chrysler's rescue, beyond saving
Detroit's smallest automaker this week from an all-but-certain downward
spiral that would be devastating to Oakland County, southeastern
Michigan and pockets of Indiana, Ohio and other states that haven't
killed manufacturing?
Fiat isn't putting any cash into the deal because we, the American
taxpayers, are under terms of the deal with the feds. Fiat's capacity to
assume more debt is limited. And Fiat vehicles, focused on small and
subcompact cars with small displacement engines, are not expected to
appear in U.S. showrooms for at least 18 months.
That's a long time when, as Chrysler's representatives have been
reporting recently, the company has been losing $100 million a day. At
that rate, the American-Italian axis would pretty much consume the $6
billion in exit financing wired Wednesday to Chrysler from the U.S.
Treasury.
Big job ahead
Amid near-depression industry sales numbers, the taint of a 40-day
bankruptcy and a truck-heavy lineup with a reputation for dodgy quality,
that won't be an easy trend to reverse. Even for a savvy Italian workout
guy credited with pulling Fiat itself back from the brink a few years
ago, partly by whacking away at what he perceived to be surplus layers
of upper management, it's a challenge enorme.
And more. Chrysler's bankruptcy cram-down, muscled by Obama's auto task
force, likely will reverberate across the investor class and capital
markets for years to come. Here, secured lenders are unsecured, and
unsecured debtors like the United Auto Workers are secured to receive
special treatment.
Even as Chrysler emerged from Chapter 11 and tied up with Fiat, the
administration chose the same day to announce plans to monitor the
executive compensation of firms -- including Detroit's automakers and
major banks -- that have received (or been forced to take) federal
dollars under various bailout schemes.
Just asking, but in a global market for executive talent, isn't an
administration whose interests and those of the taxpayers would be best
served by seeing the best and brightest running these struggling firms
merely succumbing to populist ranting and telling the talent to go
elsewhere?
Of course. Welcome back, Chrysler. You've been missed.
--
Civis Romanus Sum
News
Jim Higgins wrote:
> Old look to the new Chrysler
FIASCO - Fiat/Chrysco
Jim Higgins
For sure.
--
Civis Romanus Sum
MoPar Man
> But at a terrible cost, witness the Chrysler casualties. Nearly 790
> dealerships were forced to relinquish their franchises Tuesday,
And no automotive journalist has stuck their neck out to explain how
these 790 dealerships represented a direct cost to Chrysler, to the
extent that all the bad press, the PR nightmare and the resulting
unemployment that visited those 790 communities was worth the mythical
savings to be had by closing them.
> Chrysler (...) was impoverished by nearly a decade of control by
> Germans who refused to engineer the economies of scale that make
> global auto companies work.
Another way of saying that the Germans at Daimler fucked Chrysler up
really badly when they were controlling it and sucking the life out of
it.
> But how will Marchionne & Co. ride to Chrysler's rescue
Just as Daimler did, Fiat will have Chrysler design a new line of cars
which will be based on and use many Fiat components, drivetrain, chasis,
suspension, etc. Fiat will enjoy selling those parts to Chrysler, and
Chrysler will be stuck trying to get Americans to buy those micro-cars
as the price of gasoline goes up and down the rollercoaster from $2 to
$4. The failure of gasoline to sustain a constant price of $3.50 or
higher will cause the utter failure of these microcars in the US market,
if Chrysler survives the 12 - 18 months needed to actually roll one of
these pending failures out of it's factory.
> Fiat isn't putting any cash into the deal
Then why is this constantly being called a sale? Why are you and other
boobs in the media calling this a sale of Chrysler to Fiat?
> And Fiat vehicles, focused on small and subcompact cars with
> small displacement engines, are not expected to appear in U.S.
> showrooms for at least 18 months.
Where they will languish and collect dust - and laughs.
> Even as Chrysler emerged from Chapter 11 and tied up with Fiat,
> the administration chose the same day to announce plans to
> monitor the executive compensation of firms
And how soon will it be that we hear of salary and compensation
increases for the italian boss's at Chrysler, lavish parties,
multi-million dollar office decorations?
Bill Putney
> ...Chrysler will be stuck trying to get Americans to buy those micro-cars
> as the price of gasoline goes up and down the rollercoaster from $2 to
> $4. The failure of gasoline to sustain a constant price of $3.50 or
> higher will cause the utter failure of these microcars in the US market,
> if Chrysler survives the 12 - 18 months needed to actually roll one of
> these pending failures out of it's factory.
Not that it will be enough to ensure their sales, but Obama's successful
severe damage to the economy and plans that are guaranteed to run energy
costs up (thru shortages - i.e., no nuclear, run coal out of business,
do not allow drilling of our own oil - and, where that is not
sufficient, added fuel taxes) will, by design, get you your steady $4++
per gallon cost of gasoline.
--
Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')
Dori A Schmetterling
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Bill Putney
thing that people seem to be too stupid to realize.
--
Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')
Ted Mittelstaedt
> Whether it is or isn't, the effect is/will be the same. That is the thing
> that people seem to be too stupid to realize.
>
I don't think that as many people as you think are too stupid to
realize it.
There's an increasing number of people who view this as a choice for
America.
On one hand we can continue to have the kind of society we have
right now, a society of consumption, where fuel is (relatively) cheap,
but we have to make a large number of compromises to our morals
to support it. Such as, speaking softly when we see dictatorships
(like in Iran) kill their own citizens. or immoral people in Israel ordering
the genocide of Palestinians, because we are afraid of that jugular vein
of oil we are getting from the Mid East, being cut.
On the other, we can lose many of the "things" that we take for
granted - such as 2 cars in the driveway, dinner at McDonalds
every night, or processed food TV dinners in front of the TV, with
an acre of green grass for both front and back yard. In exchange
we get a lot healthier cooked-from-scratch meals, less obesity,
and the ability to tell the Saudi's and the Islamic Republic that they
are horribly repressive people who use religion to suppress the
rights of their citizens, espically women.
Yes, if Obama gets his way, life in these United States in 50
years or so is going to look fundamentally different than it is
today.
But it's not going to be a bad life. Bill, you have to understand that
the lifestyle envisioned by the industrialists back in the 50's, for
Americans, only focused on the positives. What was overlooked is
that there's a lot of bad things that came with it.
For example, today we have fantastic media and entertainment
choices.
With the result that kids today spend most of their time indoors
glued to the TV set and Nintendo, and get obese as a result.
Walk down to your neighborhood school and look at it's field.
You will see baseball backstops with weeds growing in them.
For example, today cars are a lot cheaper, (when adjusted for inflation)
last twice as long, and are much safer
With the result that many more people have them, drive many
more miles, congest freeways, and now we cannot afford to
fix our roads anymore.
For example, today processed foods are cheaper and taste better
and save a lot of time.
With the result that families no longer sit down in the evening at
the dinner table and talk, and many people don't know how to
cook anymore, and when periodic salmonella or industrial poisoning
accidents in food happen, it takes out a large swath of the
population (when was the last time you ever heard of a potato
recall?)
Ted
Dori A Schmetterling
of what goes on in the Middle East...
DAs
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>
> "Bill Putney" <bp...@kinez.net> wrote in message
> news:79t12rF...@mid.individual.net...
[...]
or immoral people in Israel ordering
> the genocide of Palestinians, because we are afraid of that jugular vein
> of oil we are getting from the Mid East, being cut.
[...]
Bill Putney
For the record - Dori's quoting Ted - not me. Ted and I seldom agree,
and that's another example.
Dori A Schmetterling
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Ted Mittelstaedt
"Dori A Schmetterling" <nob...@spam.co.uk> wrote in message
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> Errm, I guess you don't have a clear idea of what genocide really means,
> or of what goes on in the Middle East...
>
I know what goes on in the Middle East.
Just because the Palestinians are doing the best they can to kill
Israelis does not make it right for Isralies to kill Palestinians, or
take their land through settlement action. Granted, what Israel
is doing now isn't any different from what the Europeans did to the
Indians during the settlement of North America.. But, I will also point
out that despite what you read
from Indian apologists, the DNA record for ancient humans
in North America shows that the American Indians themselves
are descendents of Siberian migrants over the land bridge -
who themselves displaced (re: exterminated) an earlier human
people on the North American continent who were here before
them. See the following:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennewick_Man
It is no more right today for Israelies to displace Palestinians
than it was for Europeans to displace American Indians than
it was for American Indians to displace the earlier peoples in
North America that they displaced.
We recognize this, (at least in the US) today, which is why
we are opposed to Mexican immigrants displacing American
European descendents in the US today, and why we are allowing
all the Indian tribes in the US to setup casinos and use them
to siphon money out of the white European descendents too
stupid to understand house odds. (it's payback)
This is exactly why the right course of action is for the US
to disentangle itself from the Mid East, and get it's energy from
solar, not oil.
China is doing exactly this, they see the handwriting on the wall.
Once we are no longer dependent on the Mid East we can
simply point our nukes to all the MidEast countries and pull our
support from Israel and warn them that if they want to have
a limited nuclear war within the Mid East (which, ultimately, is
what they all really want to do) that we won't stop them but
if they target anyplace outside the MidEast, we will wipe all of
them out.
Once Israel and Iran finish nuking each other out of existence,
then in a few thousand years when the radioactivity has gone
down, we can repopulate the region with a more sensible people.
Perhaps the Scandinavian countries might supply the breeding
stock.
In the meantime, the MidEast people have nothing to offer
the rest of the world other than oppressive religions that
glorify death. (and that is just as true of the Jews as of the
Moslems) And, technology has advanced to the point that
we really don't need their oil anymore, so why bother with
them. Just fence them off and let them kill each other, thats
what they really only want to do.
Ted
tango
@news.ipinc.net:
Ted you are a Genius.
drcooley
was not burden on Chrysler at all. An while I am on the point, one
has to ask how many dealswers really were shed. In the case of theone
I know the franchise was MOVED to the Pontiac dealer that adjoins the
former Chrysler property so there was no reduction in that case.
As for the greater question of changing the country. Bear in mind the
US auto companies, at least GM and Chrysler, have been terribly
managed for a long time. Chrysler especially has been run by bean
counters who had no desire to build cars - simply promote debt via
Chrysler Financial.
That said, the big three have been victimized by crooked dealing in
the energy speculation - yes it has been proven the oil spike and
gasoline spike was due to total hyping of the price by traders who did
not buy/sell to MAKE a product but to transfer money from one pocket
to their own.
Than the banking crisis vapor locked credit, induced this recession,
costing jobs and auto sales. Enough said there.
DRC
Dori A Schmetterling
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Dori A Schmetterling
Christianity glorified death these days.
DAS
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[Everything else...]
[...]
oppressive religions that
> glorify death. (and that is just as true of the Jews as of the
> Moslems)
]...]
Ted
>
>
Ted Mittelstaedt
> QED (about your lack of knowledge). Furthermore, I was not aware that
> Christianity glorified death these days.
>
Jews are not Christians, besides which Christianity is a very
minority religion in the Mid East these days.
If you didn't think Christianity glorified death you wern't
paying attention in Sunday School when they discussed
the Crucifiction.
Jesus said not to fight back when your enemy struck you.
However, he never said that he expected people to sit
there and be repeatedly beaten. Your other cheek turns
to your enemy because your supposed to be getting the
hell away! If you knew anything about Christianity you
would know that Jesus's entire life was spent avoiding
confrontation with the religious leaders in Jerusalem, until
the very end, when he deliberately went to them, knowing
they would likely kill him.
If Jesus were alive today in the Mid East he would almost
certainly be telling all the Jews to leave the land to the
Moslems, that it was more important to live and convert
the rest of the world to Christianity, than to stay and be
killed by the Muslems. One of the biggest things Jesus hated
was attaching religious significance to objects because he
felt this diverted people from the path to the Father. Quite
obviously, both the Muslems and the Jews are doing exactly
this when it comes to the West Bank, and Palestine - they
are doing exactly the opposite of what a Christian should
be doing. They are setting the land as a holy religous icon
and putting it between them and God.
I find it very ironic you accuse me of lack of knowledge of
Christianity when it's clear you aren't even familiar with
the basics.
Ted
Dori A Schmetterling
parts of it.
Additionally, I am not aware that Christian ministers go round these days
glorifying martyrdom/death, even if they talk about Jesus's death.
DAS
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