You've been saying this over and over, but I'd like to see a reference. And the argument that bigger cars are safer cars doesn't take into account the risk that large cars have to pedestrians, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and small car drivers. Not everyone can afford to pilot a 2.5 ton vehicle around. And the planet can't supply enough fuel and atmosphere.
There has to be a balance between safety and other desirable attributes in a vehicle: low price, fuel economy, and driving enjoyment. I for one would be glad to see more Smart-like cars in this US. They'd reduce our fuel consumption and reduce traffic congestion. They could be a valuable addition to our transportation needs.
What can I say. Americans may not be fit but probably are clever. They sold a nosediving Chrysler Corp. for rising Euros. You miight want to accumulate some extra body fat for warmth in the coming long European economic winter.
"Ric" hat in Betrag news:blv6q5$n7s$ snipped-for-privacy@news-reader4.wanadoo.fr dies gedichtet:
The main point of a smart (compared to other subcompact cars) is that the smart features two real seats instead of four too small seats. I am 6ft 9in high and not very thin. I do fit in a smart, while a Ford Ka or a Fiat Seicento are impossible for me. In Germany smart made a strange commercial of two quite fat persons fitting in a smart and in no other car.
Even our former federal cancellor Mr. Kohl fits in a smart :-)
If the Chrysler folks were so clever, then what about ol Jerkin Shrimp's lie's & deceptions? He initially called it a "merger of equals", then admitted later it was a takeover all along, he just called it a "merger" to get Chrysler to agree. Chrysler was profitable for years before being swallowed whole by McBrue's buddy, 'ol Jerkin Shrimp, but he fixed that in a hurry.
So, clever Europeans, who's the joke on NOW?? HAH, HAH!!!
"Gerald G. McGeorge" hat in Betrag news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com dies gedichtet:
Well, currently _no_ american car manufacturer really is pofitable. AFAIK GM is the only car builder which produces positive revenue, but only due to their financial services.
If I were DaimlerChrysler, I had to decide between two choices: 1. Shut down chrysler, throw away my investment and lay off ten thousands of american workers. 2. work hard and wait for better times.
I think it is not a bad idea to have a multi brand strategy. The potential market share of Mercedes cars in the US is limited. If you want to sell more cars, you have to offer different cars. In Germany Mercedes had to learn that it is quite hard to sell a subcompact Mercedes successfully. I doubt that a smart would work with a Mercedes star on the bonnet.
All goofing aside, the purchase of Chrysler was a bold move by Daimler Benz and had the potential of allowing them to enter markets and product segments, particularly trucks, that would have been virtually impossible to do with the MB brand.
Daimler has some serious product issues on both the MB and Chrysler sides of the house. Years of cost and content cutting have resulted in poor quality and customer satisfaction ratings for Mercedes Benz in North America. This has tarnished the image of the brand tremendously. While Chrysler has traditionally been a quality bottom feeder their scores have steadily risen in recent years. However, even before the merger they scooped the domestic industry many times by not only being very profitable, but by offering innovative, exciting products Ford & GM couldn't match. Further, they proved they could fast-track products to market. The Neon, the mini van line, the Jeeps, Viper, Prowler, PT Cruiser, the Dodge trucks, etc. are all very distinctive, exciting products that have sold well. Thus, comparing Daimler Benz's decision on Chrysler to BMW's with Rover is silly, the latter was an antiquated disaster, propped up by the British Govt. for decades with massive, wasted cash flows. And while the US Govt. loaned Lee Iacocca's Chrysler money in the late '70's, they quickly paid it back and developed a momentum that made it one of the success stories of all time. Not that there wasn't a bit of "smoke & mirrors" to the whole thing.
The hope would be that Daimler will do more than just slash costs looking for short-term profits. They have a very serious problem with MB long term if quality doesn't turn around. My dealer and other sources are concerned about the leadership of MB here in the States, claiming anyone who had tenure was either fired or early-retired, only to be replaced by inexperienced, career-centric MBAs who have no clue and don't care.
On the other side, their approaches to the Chrysler issue look rather enlightened. Time will tell.
As a former VW manager here in the States, with many friends still working for them, every time I mention the Phaeton I get red faced stares! VW needs to deal with their quality problems and soon, sales are slipping and it reminds me of the same head-in-the-sand mentality that nearly killed them back in the 80's.
Actually, the government didn't loan any money to Chrysler. Instead, it guaranteed $1.5 billion in loans to Chrysler, which made it possible for Chrysler to get the loans it needed through normal market sources. Chrysler ultimately borrowed about $1.2 billion against these guarantees.
The government assumed the risk of Chrysler defaulting on these loans, but as you note, this was not a problem--the loans were in fact repaid early. And, as part of the deal, the government received Chrysler stock warrants that produced a big profit when the company recovered.
And what about Bentley? Isn't that in Phaeton's price class?
As as has been said before, how many people will spend that much on a VW badge when they can have a Bentley badge or an M or a Three-Pointed Star and change etc...?
"Dori Schmetterling" hat in Betrag news:3f8a8e48$1$246 $ snipped-for-privacy@news.dial.pipex.com dies gedichtet:
A Phaeton starts at 68.100 Euro, that is the 3,2 litre V6 engine with front wheel drive and 6 speed manual gearbox, no additional options. The big W12 engine with AWD and auto gearbox starts at 102.000 Euro. A Bentley Continental GT starts at 160.000 Euro, a Bentley Arnage, which is a 4 door sedan and size-wise comparable with a Phaeton, is at least twice as expensive as the Volkswagen Limo.
What I wanted to say: VW Phaeton and Audi A8 have a lot of similarities: Size, price, technological standard. Nevertheless the Audi A8 sells a lot better than the Volkswagen, which leads me to the conclusion, that it is almost impossible to sell a car in this price range under the label of Volkswagen (which means People's Car, by the way). VW would have done a lot better if they reanimated one old brand like Horch for the Phaeton.
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