OT - Chrysler unveils the new Whatthef*ckisthat?

Oooooooooooooooooo, what a burrrrrnnnnn.

Taking into account Marilyn's A/Ced new Camry for long trips, the perfect vehicle for me would be one of those boxes on wheels, with a roof rack for ladders and other long stuff. Of course, I doubt that any "viagra-generation" man will be coming up to me to talk about "one like that" which his uncle brother once had.

Karl

(I might even add a Fiat 850 Spyder for fun, if I had the room! - It's the most fun car I've even had, with the only problem I can reacall being when the rubber band really did break!)

Pervert.

Dodge pick up trucks are shown being stored at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit, Tuesday, June 27, 2006.

DaimlerChrysler says incentives, inventory too high

Reuters / June 28, 2006 - 7:00 am

NEW YORK -- DaimlerChrysler AG Chairman Dieter Zetsche on Tuesday, June 27, said the company's U.S. unit was struggling with unacceptable levels of vehicle inventory and was spending too much on incentives to clear the glut.

"Our sales projection was too optimistic," Zetsche told reporters.

The remarks come just days before the Chrysler group is to roll out a new sales promotion campaign for July, expected to include employee-level pricing for any car buyer, money-back guarantees and a new advertising campaign featuring Zetsche as the face of the automaker.

Zetsche said that he expected overall U.S. vehicle sales would be near

17 million units on an annualized basis in June, up from May but down from a year earlier when GM first rolled out employee-level pricing, touching off a summer price war.

"For anyone but Toyota, it was a relatively slow month," he said of June.

Zetsche said that the company's marketing research showed that consumers had a favorable impression when the chief executive came out in direct support of its products.

The strategy recalls Chrysler's promotions of the late 1980s and early

1990s, when then-CEO Lee Iacocca brought the company back from the brink with an ad campaign that featured him and the memorable line, "If you can find a better car, buy it."

Zetsche, known for his trademark wire-rim glasses and walrus-moustache, conceded that he had very low name recognition outside the U.S. auto industry. "The vast majority of people don't know me," he said.

U.S. dealers who have seen the television ads featuring Zetsche say they promote Chrysler's German engineering and American heritage.

That marks a shift in marketing approach by the Chrysler group, which has so far kept itself at arm's length in the U.S. market from the parent company's German-based luxury-car unit, Mercedes-Benz.

But Chrysler group executives said last week that the company would promote next year's launch of a more fuel-efficient, diesel version of its Jeep Grand Cherokee by pointing out that its turbo-charged engine was being built by Mercedes.

And Zetsche, who also heads the Mercedes unit, said the Chrysler group had suffered in the market earlier this year because of the financial problems for rivals General Motors and Ford Motor Co.

"We were perceived as one of the Big Three," he said.

DaimlerChrysler's U.S. sales have fallen about 1 percent in the first five months of the year. The company has also had to resort to deep incentives of up to $5,000 on the Dodge Durango SUV in order to clear unsold inventory.

The average per-vehicle spending on sales incentives was just over $2,200 in June, according to the Power Information Network. But the Chrysler group was spending almost $4,000 on average, according to the market tracking firm.

Chrysler to offer deals till midnight

Automaker asks dealers to extend hours over July 4 holiday weekend to kick off new incentive drive.

Josee Valcourt / The Detroit News

DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group is turning the summer auto sales promotion on its head. In what may be a first for the industry, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep showrooms around the country will be open until midnight throughout the July 4th weekend as Chrysler rolls out aggressive new incentives to help reduced bloated inventories, according to several dealers familiar with the plans.

Chrysler is expected to announce the new discount program Wednesday, the dealers said. It will launch Saturday and run through Aug. 31.

The extended showroom hours, which begin Saturday and run through July 4, are yet another unusual marketing twist from Chrysler. The automaker's new program will also include a 30-day guarantee, a revival of employee pricing for all customers and free financing, dealers and company sources have said.

Chrysler spokesman Kevin McCormick said Monday that details about July incentives have yet to be finalized, but Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda said last week that employee pricing for all is under consideration.

The ultra-aggressive promotion plans signal just how much Chrysler needs strong summer sales to help clear out a daunting stockpile of 2005 and 2006 vehicles to make way for 2007 models.

The company currently has a 108-day supply of cars and trucks and wants to cut that to 89 days by the end of August. The ideal level is typically about

65 days.

"There was probably a lot of pressure to repeat employee discounts and a lot of pressure to bolster sales," said Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst with Waltham, Mass.-based Global Insight Inc. "But the fact that they want to keep the stores open until midnight is, dare I say, a little desperate."

Some dealers are also wary.

"We think they're making a big mistake with keeping the stores open until midnight on Saturday," said Dan Frost, president of Southfield Chrysler-Jeep, who will instead keep stores open until midnight July 3- 4.

"A lot of people head north on the weekends so why stay open on Saturday? I believe in Chrysler's sale. I just believe they picked the wrong day."

The new incentive program is expected to be announced Wednesday by DaimlerChrysler CEO and former Chrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche, who is set to appear in a television ad campaign launching this weekend that will tout Chrysler products as offering the best of American and German design and engineering.

Detroit automakers have been trying to refrain from offering deep discounts, which can bolster sales but eat into profits. "(But) it's just too competitive," said Erich Merkle, an analyst with Grand Rapids-based IRN Inc.

Amid news of Chrysler's plans, GM and Ford are also on the move with incentives as the summer selling season heats up.

GM said Monday that it is bringing back its 72-hour sale, which begins Thursday and ends July 5. The program offers free financing for six years for 2006 models, excluding the Corvette sports car, the Pontiac Solstice roadster and G6 convertible, Hummer H1 and medium duty pickup trucks.

Free financing is also available for 60 months on 2006 Cadillac, Saab and Hummer H2 and H3 vehicles, and for 36 months on select 2007 SUVs and the Chevy Avalanche pickup.

GM spokesman John M. McDonald said the move to offer incentives on 2007 models does not contradict the automaker's goal to curb incentive spending.

"What we've said is we'll be very strategic and tactical about our marketing programs," McDonald said. "This is very limited."

Ford Motor Co. spokesman Jim Cain said Chrysler and GM are playing catch-up.

"Ford struck first," Cain said when asked if the automaker plans to roll out employee discounts or extend store hours.

The company's "Drive on Us" clearance for 2006 models, which began this month and includes commercials featuring "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks, has been "phenomenally successful in terms of buzz," he said.

Chrysler's plan to bring back employee pricing for everyone comes as analysts predict weak June sales compared to last year.

In a report Monday, Merrill Lynch analyst John Murphy predicted that June U.S. auto sales will come in 12 percent below June 2005 levels, a strong month that saw demand grow 12 percent.

Merkle said Chrysler's employee discounts will likely spur the automaker's July sales, but he wasn't sure if extending store hours for four days would generate sales.

"People will find out that the employee discount is for two months and so they'll say, I'll check it out some other time," he said.

Chrysler infuriated by Smart car ad

The Chrysler Group - the American wing of the DaimlerChrysler organization - was not too happy when images began circulating on the Internet of a billboard on South Africa for DaimlerChrysler's Smart ForFour. The ad showed a polished studio image of the ForFour, with the words, "German engineering. Swiss innovation. American nothing." Chrysler Group PR man Jason Vines said in a statement to the press today that the billboards are now "in some landfill in South Africa." He also recalled one of Lee Iacocca's famous idioms, saying the billboards "went beyond dumb and all the way to stupid." The ad agency insists it meant no harm in creating the ads.

As much as I love my Stude truck, reality is sitting in, and I have to admit that it is not practical for me. I have contemplated selling it next fall.

If a good deal was to be had on a new Dodge truck, I think I'm about ready. Actually, when I bought the Stude truck, I had first gone to the local Dodge dealership, in an effort to get as good a deal as my eldest son had just gotten. Alas, I was too late, the rebates and incentives were gone, and I could get nowhere close to the deal he got. So, I bought the Stude instead. No regrets, other than the fact that it just doesn't make sense for me to continue to attempt to use the truck as I like on one hand, and trying to keep it as nice as it deserves on the other hand.

One thing I considered when I bought the Stude truck was that I figured I could keep it for awhile, and if things didn't work out, it probably would not depreciate like a new one would. I still think that will be the case, but the fat lady has not sung yet.

I love my Stude truck, but I love Dodge trucks, too.

My brother bought a 1500 last year, he said he has not had the least bit of buyers remorse. I tried to talk him into a Toyota Tundra, but he had to "go check out the Dodge truck first".

Lee

I gotta tell ya, I have been really amazed how well the ol' Stude cruises down the highway. Drives straight and true, purrs right along, and doesn't jar your teeth out when you run over the shadow of a highline wire.

That is not to say that it rides like a new Dodge truck would, but it's just not all that bad a ride.

That said, it will remind me, from time to time, when I use it like a truck, on "off roads," that it is an older 3/4 ton truck, and suspended accordingly. THAT said, it's still not a bad highway cruiser, and that continues to surprise me.

THAT said, it's nice to have the 3/4 ton suspension when I haul a car.

I think that is all I have to say. -¿Ö

Just turned 103,000 on my '95 Ram 2500 V-10. Made two trips in the last couple of weeks without even considering that it is high miles (1100-mile round trip to South Bend, 450-mile round trip to pick up my Wagonaire on my car trailer). I have never added oil between changes- was down a half quart at the last change (about 3500 miles). My biggest problem with it is holding down the speed. When you are going 55 it feels like 30. Going down I-95 Monday to get my Wagonaire I looked down and found that I was going 85 with my 1600-pound car trailer in tow. Yes, it can suck up gas, but my overall mileage for the 103,000 miles is a little over 11 mpg (much trailer towing including a 35-foot fifth wheel and much 4x4 beach driving). Press that right pedal and it goes- 488 cubic inches, 300 hp, 450 ft-lbs torque. Paul Johnson

Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge has been doing that 30 plus years...

I remember seeing pics back to at least 1973. they build out in the spring, and twist the dealers arms to take what they build, meanwhile, they sit at the Fairgrounds

In 1997, Chrysler ended the year with about one million more orders than they could build and they were turning down almost all fleet business for more profitable retail business.

2006 operationally is looking more like 1975-1979. A 108 day supply!

I drove nothing but Mopars and Studes for 25 years. I liked the 2005 and previous Ram, but the new 2006 "Fat Lip" Rams and Dakotas repulse me.

I'm past the point of being sour about the "merger". And I'm still a believer in the old Chrysler. But the blush is coming off the German mismanagement of what's left, and from this point forward the designs will stand on their own merit. The Germans have no one to blame but themselves now.

You should e-mail John Begian... He can get you a very real corporate deal... Jeff

"Dave's Place" wrote...

"German engineering. Swiss innovation. American nothing."

They built the last Jeep at "Parkway" ("The Overland" if you're from Toledo) yesterday. I'm in the mood for some unfair stereotyping.

Three-quarters of North Cove is landfill already. Despite its 1910-or-so origin, this was the most automated line in the industry when The Master Race came calling. The plant produced not only the war-winning 1/4-ton utility truck, but also key components of the Corsair. They will dynamite the "Overland" smokestacks in a few weeks. Some former President once said it's time the American people stopped thinking of their country as the victor of WWII. Sore losers with a Wagnerian sense of revenge, we say. For the pissant tax-funded Liberty they killed the Cherk, creator of its genre and the best-built new car I ever owned.

The Snark is a blend of Swiss fashion and German efficiency, a mating from hell. Those who judge quality by JD Power's "90-day-afterglow" survey will pop a hemorrhoid to hear it said, but I have some experience of the pure Benz product and it is a f**king joke. Upkeep and build flaws are so bad they make Renault look acceptable. Middle-income buyers are ashamed to admit how bad they are, and wealthy owners sit around The Club chuckling over how much the old bus cost them last month. People who use Neons and Malibus would never accept this, but safely ensconced up at their end of the spectrum, after all, it's a mur-saaaay-deez. BT, DT, sucks.

A friend worked at Chrysler Belvidere when the tony Swatch crew was brought through to see how cars are made. Their mouths fell open at the intensity of activity, and how hard people were working. When presented with the total number of employees, they said that a German plant would have two or three times as many people on the payroll. Friend inquired what the hell they would all be doing.

Smart has endured a torturously long PR rollout to create an instant MGTC, a niche that's just so darn cute that "the creative class" (sad to note, but t he more New Urbanist city plans you unpack, the clearer it becomes that they mean "gay activists" when they say that) will embrace it despite its obvious uselessness. Well that worked with the fake Mini-Cooper, but anyone who calls the Smart "utilitarian" had better shut the hell up about the Pacer.

We bought a new Wrangler last night. I'm going to miss those leading-link semi-elliptic cart springs. I mean it.

You also have to keep in mind, they just announced the Smart ForFour and the Roadster has been discontinued, which may suggest why the billboard is in the landfill. There's not enough sales of those body styles to turn a profit on them. They're just going to concentrate on the ForTwo.

Craig

One of our most interesting SDC members (Potomac Chapter, Keystone and Greater Virginia) was a German born man, Doctor Dieter Schildwachter ("Doc" to anyone who knew him), now deceased. One of his favorite things was to point out that they had to keep drip pans under the cars at the Benz Museum in Stugartt. Paul Johnson