So Chrysler is finished ?

[F Body]

Well may be not

Last month Ford's iconic Mustang was outsold by the Dodge Challenger by 293 units in February, as the Dodge coupe racked up 3,283 sales during a very challenging month

[FUBAR]

It IS a Cool Car

[philoldsmobile]

Quoting: F Body

the Dodge coupe racked up 3,283 sales during a very challenging mont

HO-LE-SHIT!!!!!!

no wonder the big three are going to the wall.. in Italy alone Alfa Romeo sold 10,000 MiTo's in january / Feb!

Alfa expect to shift 8000 of them in the UK in 2009 - according to one of the dealers on alfaowner.com its looking very likely they will far surpass that.

[HardRockCamaro]

When you consider how many Fiestas Ford will shift I wouldn't get too excited...  

[philoldsmobile]

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

When you consider how many Fiestas Ford will shift I wouldn't get too excited..

i would - the MiTo outsold the fester in Feb!!!

[VIPER]

But its still Crap.............

[Rob]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

Alfa Romeo

Not really a very good comparison.......

[Titsy]

Quoting: Rob

Not really a very good comparison.......

I don't get the MiTo comparison either... he's put a £30k 'muscle car' against a £14k supermini... They are totally different markets...

I tried to look for a fairer comparison on AlfaRomeo.com, but I got a message saying  'AlfaRomeo.com is currently experiencing technical problems...'

Go figure...

[FUBAR]

[Andy]

Did whoever it was that photoshoped that picture know that the Dukes of Hazzard drove a Charger?

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Andy

Did whoever it was that photoshoped that picture know that the Dukes of Hazzard drove a Charger?

Yeah, but in fairness the new Chargers are four doors.

[philoldsmobile]

Quoting: Titsy

I don't get the MiTo comparison either... he's put a £30k 'muscle car' against a £14k supermini...  They are totally different markets...

exactly......

if you were a cash strapped car maker, nearing bankruptcy  which market would you be concentrating on? the mega bucks generating superminis, or slow (read non existent) selling dino-cars...

the charger / camaro / mustang may look cool, but its not going to ensure the survival of the brand.

Italy 1 - USA 0

[philoldsmobile]

Quoting: Rob

Not really a very good comparison......

because its part of the fastest growing auto group on the planet? FIAT auto spa made their highest profit ever in 2008 4th 1/4 - where both GM and chrysler are right on the edge of oblivion.

Alfa Romeo / Fiat seems a very good benchmark to judge other car makers by at the moment in terms of both financial viability and profitability.

yes, VW make more money and more cars, but their output hasn't grown at the same rate.

[HardRockCamaro]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

he mega bucks generating superminis, or slow (read non existent) selling dino-cars...

The problem with small cars is that they're not mega bucks generating as the margins are smaller.

The Big 3 in Detroit concentrated on trucks and SUV's as (A) that's what people wanted as witnessed by the sales even last year, and (B) they are very profitable as the material and assembly cost on one of them does not rise proportionally with the sticker price.  They make *WAY* more money then they do on small cars.  Toyota and Nissan also realised this and hence brought out their own massive trucks.


I agree that when fuel costs are high Americans have always switched to economy cars, but where the American consumer has lost the plot is with their vehicle turnover.  They used to finance a new car and keep it for 7-10 years.  That became 5 years, then it dropped to 2-3 years and they rolled the finance to the next vehicle.

If they did what they used to, which was to keep the vehicle longer the big unstressed engine and stronger construction would be a better choice but that's not how the consumer has been thinking of late.

I do agree though that they haven't really got a balanced vehicle portfolio and as with every other time in history, when the bad times hit they find themselves scrambling to find something good to sell..

[HardRockCamaro]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

yes, VW make more money and more cars, but their output hasn't grown at the same rate.

That's inevitable when you're bigger.

If I sell 10 cars a week normally, and next week I sell 15 cars that's 50% sales growth but that level of growth is never sustainable as you get bigger.

If Ford were selling 10,000 cars a week, to get the same growth they'd have to sell an extra 5,000 per week which is not as easy to do as an extra 5.

[Andy]

Quoting: Roadkill

Quoting: Andy
Did whoever it was that photoshoped that picture know that the Dukes of Hazzard drove a Charger?


Yeah, but in fairness the new Chargers are four doors.

Touché

[Rob]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

Alfa Romeo / Fiat seems a very good benchmark to judge other car makers by at the moment

But you were comparing just one model........

Different market
Different Class of car
Different continent