Chrysler - did Cerberus blow it?

Well, you can sure say Mercedes owners don't buy for styling. Mercedes hasn't used any. If styling was important, Mercedes would have gone out of business 40 years ago.

I'd have to disagree with that. Most Mercedes (other than the "SUV's") look great. You don't think an SL500 looks sharp? Even the little 230 Kompressor looks pretty hot.

So? You can get a V8 in a Chevy Impala for less than a Cadillac, or in a Crown Vic for less than a Jag.

You knoweth not of which you speak.

You knoweth not of which you speak.

That is patently false. Chrysler _had_ no cash.

BS. DC was profitable before the merger and except for 1 year, it's been Chrysler dragging down the profits ever since.

Yep, those low cost Compass and Caliber interiors.

If anyone cares to think about it, the troubles in this country grow from Wall Street -

when corporations which had been happily moving along for years making money and reinvesting it back into new products, research and so on - all of a sudden had to learn to concern themselves about stock prices, how to TRY to keep from being the victims of a hostile take over and having years of profits burned up to light some billionire's cigar, and most importantly how to keep the market happy and support all the Wall St. silk suited parasites that have sucked the blood out of and destroyed so many fine American companies, to line their own greedy pockets.

WHO CARES about how many Americans we put out of work, let's squeeze out another Gulfstream Bizjet, Custom yacht, Million dollar one bedroom apartment or $500k sports car for us....

If the people that originally started the NYSE could see it today, they would most probably be first ashamed at the way it has been corrupted over the years, and then probably burn it down...

I do hope I don;t appear too harsh =)

Bill

Yes in the past Mercedes cars were a bit ugly, but you obviously haven't looked at the recent Mercedes E series of cars. IMO they are lovely looking. Mercedes passed on the ugly looks to the Chrysler 300.

Not too harsh at all. Wall Street Casino Inc.

The only way a company can survive today is to be "privately owned" and "closely held". To H311 with shareholders and public greed.

Geez, what an objective statement. You might inform yourself that many people consider a number of MB models gorgeous -- especially the S, CL, SL, and CLS. OTOH, the Compass, Caliber, Charger... need I go on?

Lloyd Parker leases a Mercedes because he is "fiscally conservative".

Right Lloyd ?

Dave Milne, Scotland

You appear stupid, since you obviously aren't aware what has been going on. While the Big 3 have shown token interest in reasonably sized cars the "import" manufacturers have been building what consumers want at very good quality.

Nothing to do with the NYSE or the UAW, just very poor management by the Big 3.

I don't think the OP is necessarily "stupid"...he's right about greed in US business, but you're right about Big 3 management...THEY'RE the culprits, and have all the money in the world to deflect blame onto the floor workers through Rockefeller-like "PR" campaigns and sniveling to their press puppet, the WSJ...one of the least credible news organs on the planet.

Is the low-sulfur diesel available all over the US yet?

DAS

For direct replies replace nospam with schmetterling

On the whole Mercs have been and are classy and timeless.

That's why a 20-yr-old Merc can still pass muster today.

DAS

For direct replies replace nospam with schmetterling

Timeless is a nice way to put it. They certainly aren't out of style. 20 year old Mercs don't have any character lines on them anywhere, or any kind of styling features. They weren't really styled at all, just basically a block of soap.

I admit new ones are quite a bit more styled. I was just saying they didn't actually use styling for a long time, say 1960 to 2000. I'm not saying I didn't like the styling - I'm saying there wasn't any. If you don't put lines on something, it's just flat.

We have it in OR also. What the ironic thing is, is that this mandate is one of the reasons fuel prices went up - it's more costly to refine heavy crude to get rid of the sulfur - yet the diesel prices here are lower than gasoline.

Ted

I don't know what the knew mandate actually costs but in general diesel is far cheaper to refine than gasoline.

Diesel here in Georgia was more expensive than premium unleaded a year ago, about the same a month ago, and 20 cents a gal cheaper now. The interesting thing is, diesel has stayed the same, around $2.80 a gallon, while gas has gone up.