List of Chrysler Dealers closing

[Builder]

Where as today GM/Ford/Dodge/etc. meet some kind of maximum safety standard? You've already been sitting in vehicles that meet the minimum safety standard... just paying much more for it due to high labor costs. If GM/Ford/Dodge start making cars in China you will be sitting in the same quality vehicle that is available today and paying the same price... but the companies will be solvent and I guess that's whats important from reading here. Gotta keep our 'American' brands around.

There's plenty of US made cars that exceed minimum saftey standards. In fact, I'd argue that US brands on average have higher safety than foreign because they're larger & heavier. Possible exceptions being MB & Volvo.

I've bought plenty of Chinese products supposedly built to "America quality standards" that have fallen apart faster than their previously US made counterparts. Chinese welding & metallurgy is substandard compared to US.

I agree that US labor costs are too high, but what is your solution? Eliminate all American manufacturing?

I don't care what the commercials tell you, American car manufactures products are crap. They are missing 'attention to detail' and by the time you assemble all those loosely made pieces you get a big hunk of low-quality 'mystery rattle', 'little squeak' 'leaky' hunk of $&!#.

Every time I make a foray into a Big 3 car or truck I regret it. Even rentals... I rented a Mustang two years ago... what a rattly, crappy driving piece of poo. I leased a Ford Expedition a few years back as a test. In the dealership at least once a year for warranty work... a lot of it the same transmission problem over and over again. Then the whole tire deal where the dealer wouldn't replace the tires until forced to do so by the recall. Even though, since the news had just broke when I bought it, the salesman promised to change the tires out before we took delivery. Steered like crap too. Turned it back in and got a Toyota Sequoia, 6 years and 87,000 miles later and I haven't done anything but change oil/tires/brake pads/one battery. No squeaks, no rattles, still as air-tight as the day I drove it home.

I am not a Big 3 hater... I feel very sad for them, especially when they start touting 'quality' in their commercials.

I just turned in a $60,000 Volvo XC90 AWD with a Yamaha V-8 that had plenty of squeaks & quality control problems. Good thing it was under warranty.

I agree some US makes are worse than others, but some are outstanding.

 

[charlz]

I agree that US labor costs are too high, but what is your solution? Eliminate all American manufacturing?

There needs to be a reset of some sort.

Clearly quality of American made cars has improved drastically since the last bail out of Chrysler (1980). The K car we had for a duty car in the Corps was a prime example of the times... couldn't drive it the 3 miles to the other side of the base without it boiling over.

Labor costs can't be the only problem... many 'foreign' cars are made right here or in Canada...same place as 'American' cars. In our family we all once bought Honda Civics. One was made in Canada, one in the US and the other in Japan. You couldn't tell the difference between them without looking at the little sticker. Why is it so hard for American companies to compete when their competitors can make cars in three different countries and still be competitive?

Clearly the companies are dysfunctional and/or carrying too much 'baggage'. Letting the dinosaurs die and new, more agile and competitive companies give it a go might not be a bad plan. Doing the same thing (bailing out auto manufactures) over and over but expecting different results is the definition of insanity

 

[Builder]

There needs to be a reset of some sort.

Clearly quality of American made cars has improved drastically since the last bail out of Chrysler (1980). The K car we had for a duty car in the Corps was a prime example of the times... couldn't drive it the 3 miles to the other side of the base without it boiling over.

Labor costs can't be the only problem... many 'foreign' cars are made right here or in Canada...same place as 'American' cars. In our family we all once bought Honda Civics. One was made in Canada, one in the US and the other in Japan. You couldn't tell the difference between them without looking at the little sticker.

They weren't "made" in America, they were "assembled" in America from primarily foreign parts.

Why is it so hard for American companies to compete when their competitors can make cars in three different countries and still be competitive?

GM builds more cars overseas than they do in the USA. They build cars on almost every continent. GM is profitable overseas. So is Ford. It's not that they can't build the right cars, it's the gov't meddling in their affairs, taxing them to the point of leaving. Labor is also another reason, they just can't compete paying people $50+/hr to assemble cars. Add a horrible recession and doubled fuel prices in one year and it's not hard to see why an already wekened company can die.

Clearly the companies are dysfunctional and/or carrying too much 'baggage'. Letting the dinosaurs die and new, more agile and competitive companies give it a go might not be a bad plan. Doing the same thing (bailing out auto manufactures) over and over but expecting different results is the definition of insanity

I agree. Bankruptcy & reorganization is the way to go. I hate the gov't having their hands in it. Everyone knows our gov't SUCKS at running a business. Sell the divisions off to smaller companies and let them improve the product.

 

[Renze]

I agree. Bankruptcy & reorganization is the way to go. I hate the gov't having their hands in it. Everyone knows our gov't SUCKS at running a business. Sell the divisions off to smaller companies and let them improve the product.

The last recession in the 90's in Scandinavia, the Swedish government bought a lot of banks, and sold it back into the commercial market 5 years later when the economy was booming again: this gave a great profit for the government, which means indirectly the tax payer.

Government owned doesnt necessarily means bad: its all about the right people in the right places, with a commercial salary and a commercial goal and commercial consequences when these goals arent met. In other words, keep these government owned companies completely out of the hands of political processes but let commercial guys run the place.

 

[Builder]

The last recession in the 90's in Scandinavia, the Swedish government bought a lot of banks, and sold it back into the commercial market 5 years later when the economy was booming again: this gave a great profit for the government, which means indirectly the tax payer.

Government owned doesnt necessarily means bad: its all about the right people in the right places, with a commercial salary and a commercial goal and commercial consequences when these goals arent met. In other words, keep these government owned companies completely out of the hands of political processes but let commercial guys run the place.

You don't know the American government. They can ruin anything.

 

[Bird]

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