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Online columnist Bob Lonsberry, who has had Chryslers since the Valiant (but currently drives a GM), criticized DCX's current ad campaign, saying it is "re-writing, in a condescending and dishonest fashion, history...First it claims the hot dog, calling it a frankfurter, citing it as a German-American partnership. Then the company's advertisements get ridiculous, and speak of the German-American effort to conquer the moon.... I do know about the flight to the moon, and I know that it had nothing to do with Germany.... 'German rocket technology' was intended to drop bombs on civilians... Granted, some German rocket scientists were taken by the United States from the ruins of the Third Reich. .... But left to its own devices German rocketry would have never been anything but a crude instrument of destruction....The trip to the moon was paved by American dollars and vision, as well as a hundred essential technologies that had nothing whatsoever to do with either rocketry or German expertise."
He goes on to express an opinion we suspect many radio listeners have, but have not put into words quite so well: "...maybe Chrysler is Daimler's junior partner, but America is not Germany's junior partner. And they're not going to sell many cars in this country by insulting us."
Want to read the full article? click here.
One week after completing a rare sweep of four major racing series, with wins in the NASCAR Winston Cup, NASCAR Busch Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck and ARCA series, Bill Elliott grabbed his second straight Winston Cup win Sunday at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And Sterling Marlin retains a solid lead as Winston Cup, the world’s most popular racing series, heads into its home stretch.
Dieter Zetsche said that Chrysler's future products will be designed to gain a larger share of cars, with two-thirds of the 21 new and refreshed vehicles showing up in model years 2003, 2004, and 2005 being car-based. Currently, Chrysler's mix is about 70 percent SUVs, minivans, and pickups, 30 percent cars. Zetsche called Chrysler "a great American auto company with a storied past." However, he didn't seem to say much specifically about Chrysler's strengths (as far as we can tell from Chrysler PR), preferring to cite Mercedes' "leading reputation for product innovation" and DaimlerChrysler technology. He said technology was "flowing both ways," noting Chrysler technological contributions in areas such as cost-efficient emissions controls, occupant sensing technology and computer-aided engineering which will be adapted company-wide (yes, even Mercedes, we assume - though he did not mention Mercedes). Zetsche again held up the 2003 Chrysler Crossfire as the car of the future, with a "combination of creative American design and solid German technology." That is, it's a Mercedes with Chrysler sheet metal and nameplates.
According to Detroit News, two busloads of workers from Chrysler's New Castle metalworks plant are protesting in Auburn Hills today to show their concern over the sale of their plant to Metaldyne, as well as Chrysler's recent sales or closures of other plants (including Dayton, McGraw, Ajax, Huntsville, and Graz). The New Castle plant makes suspension, engine, and transmission components, but new Chrysler models will be using mostly Mercedes and Mitsubishi engines, transmissions, and suspensions.
For the moment, New Castle is supposedly being turned into a joint venture with Metaldyne, but announced plans had Metaldyne owning the facility outright after the union contract expires. The factory is one of Chrysler's oldest plants, which in itself inspires some loyalty and concern, but Chrysler also has higher pay and a real pension, while Metaldyne workers get a 401(k) and, in their Indiana plant, a top salary of $17 per hour (roughly $34,000 per year).
UAW Local 371 president Dan Hubble was quoted in the article as saying that the action was largely to help prevent other plants from going on the block: "It might be too late for us, but we want the world to know what's going on."
An employee at the Chrysler St. Louis plant has gotten 330 signatures on a petition to investigate the DaimlerChrysler merger for potential fraud, following concerns over the closure of a number of parts plants and recent deals to switch to American-made Hyundai four-cylinder engines and Mitsubishi car platforms. One specific concern is the opening of new, non-union plants in the South even as current DCX plants are being closed, with accompanying economic issues in their communities.
The employee who gathered the signatures noted, "I was a little shy at first - but once I saw the overwhelming response it was a piece of cake.... " She requested that reports visit chryslertakeover.com's "Top eleven reasons to investigate DaimlerChrysler for corporate fraud."
Genciu wrote: "...saw a dealer's book on the 2003s. Not much new was listed. Neon has new front and rear, as we've seen, as well as the Stratus and Sebring coupes. All looked much improved. ...It [listed a] new dash with white gauges for the coupes.
"Intrepid was the same except a few colors and the SXT will be a late availability package to the ES model. Stratus Sedan SE and SE Plus lose four-wheel disc brakes to disc/drums. The also have new colors and wheels.
Caravan now has a cargo van version.
"Couldn't tell for sure, but the 300 M looked like the headlights might be in tinted glass??? Really didn't look like there were many updates for 2003."
For a rundown of models being introduced over the next three years, click here.
Courtesy David Harris
It was a magical day for Larry Morgan and the blue Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T. The Newark, Ohio, resident regained some of his old-time Pro Stock glory by winning his ninth NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event today at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.
Morgan, who won his first NHRA Pro Stock category event since Englishtown, N.J., in 1994 and participated in his first final since Heartland Park Topeka (Kan.) in 1997, used two holeshot starting-line advantages en route to victory.
“I can tell you right now, Bob Glidden helped me get this victory,” said a jubilant Morgan. “I can’t tell you what we figured out, but what we did really helped me out. If it was not for him, I’d still be struggling.”
In the final, Morgan took a .437 to .483 starting-line advantage on Greg Anderson; and his 6.845-second elapsed time at 201.58 mph was enough to hold him off. Anderson clocked a quicker 6.799-second elapsed time at 202.45 mph.
The semifinal was a similar story for the Newark, Ohio, resident. Morgan, after staging a brief burn down with 2000 champion Jeg Coughlin, Jr., slapped a holeshot of .431 to .493 to gain the victory. Morgan clocked a 6.842-second lap at 201.31 mph, which was just enough to beat out Coughlin’s 6.809-second run at 202.61 mph.
“I figured I’d better get them (on the tree),” Morgan added. “Those kids I’m racing are sure good on their lights though. The thing is, I never go in there with a game plan. I usually get up there and don’t plan on doing anything. I just got lucky and everything went my way. It was Bill Elliot’s day, and it was mine too.
“We’ve worked real hard at this new Hemi program,” Morgan continued. “I left General Motors in 1999 to work on this program because I knew there was a big future in it. As you can see, it is all starting to come together because we had six Hemi cars in the program today. We’re just real proud of that fact alone. Without the support from Mopar, we wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are today.”
Morgan advanced by defeating Mark Whisnant in the first round and fellow Hemi-powered driver Greg Stanfield in round two.
Bill Elliot, driver of the No. 9 Dodge Motorsports Intrepid NASCAR Winston Cup Series entry, won today’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway; making it the second-straight weekend that at least two Dodge’s have visited victory lane.
In other news, Dodge driver Larry Morgan knocked Greg Stanfield out. Stanfield and the DBP Motorsports Hemi-powered Dodge Neon R/T ran a solid 6.832-second elapsed time at 202.27 mph.
Stanfield advanced to the second round with a holeshot (.441-.492) victory on point leader Jim Yates in round one. The Bossier City, La., resident logged a slower 6.842-second lap at 202.55 mph, but it was too much for Yates’ 6.793-second run at 202.76 mph. “It was Dodge against Dodge out there,” Stanfield said. “We knew it was going to be a tough run. We still have a lot to learn with our car. I’m real happy with where we are right now. I think we have decent power; I’m not sure that we have top of the line power just yet. I need time. The biggest commodity of today is time.”
Dodge is reportedly going to call its LX the Charger, and will offer it with four doors and maybe as a coupe as well. The four door version will have coupe styling, and Motor Trend portrays it with old-fashioned "maximum opening" doors (the rear doors having the hinges at the rear). The Charger drawings show a trendy, small coupe-like design. Engines slated for the Charger include the 3.7 V6 (the Ram's base engine, based on the 4.7 V8), the 4.7 V8, and, for the Charger R/T, the 5.7 Hemi. All three engines were designed for Dodge trucks, and would probably have more horsepower in car use, if the modified Mercedes transmissions are up to it. All are also substantially more powerful than current LH car engines, which max out at 3.5 liters and 255 horsepower, and run on regular gasoline.
Once again, thanks to Bill Cawthon, we have detailed analysis of July sales. Note that these figures may not correspond exactly with mainstream news media analyses - Bill's taken some effort to correct sources of bias. Bill wrote:
Putting things into perspective, Ford's July sales rose about 1.5 percent compared to 2001, although YTD sales are down about 9 percent. Chrysler actually has more domestic models outperforming their 2001 pace than Ford, which has only three (Explorer, up 0.6 percent; Sable, up 2.6 percent; Mountaineer, up 1.1 percent). Ford's brand-new Expedition is down 14.2 percent compared to July 2001. [Note that Ford is discontinuing the Excursion.]
In reality, Ford's sales boost came solely from Jaguar and Land Rover: every other blue oval brand is down from last year. Ford down 9.4 percent, Mercury down 14.9 percent, Lincoln down 14.5 percent, Volvo down 16.8 percent. Jag and Land Rover, Ford's smallest divisions by unit sales, were up 63.4 and 63 percent respectively.
Counting only domestic models, as Chrysler does, Ford's year-to-date sales are really down by over ten percent.
Chrysler U.S. Sales Summary Thru July 2002
Month Sales DR % Sales CYTD DR %Model
Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Curr Yr Pr Yr Change
Cirrus 0 0 0% 0 371 -100%
Sebring Sedan 4996 4095 17% 37041 32057 16%
Sebring Coupe 1797 1145 51% 7679 10174 -25%
Sebring Convertible 3280 3242 -3% 31431 30725 2%
Concorde 2188 1534 37% 19814 17579 13%
300M 2852 2253 22% 19563 20557 -5%
LHS 0 545 -100% 552 6930 -92%
Prowler 106 125 -19% 1035 526 0%
CHRYSLER CAR 15219 14983 -2% 117720 145530 -19%
PT Cruiser 11735 10697 5% 87395 82992 5%
Voyager 3410 3712 -12% 26682 27579 -3%
Town & Country 10891 10648 -2% 81380 86110 -5%
CHRYSLER TRUCK 26036 25057 0% 195457 197021 -1%
CHRYSLER BRAND 41255 40040 -1% 313177 342551 -9%
Wrangler 5782 6068 -9% 37690 42871 -12%
Cherokee 0 6208 -100% 0 66793 -100%
Liberty 13586 10562 23% 87228 21048 314%
Grand Cherokee 20167 18627 4% 123465 126158 -2%
JEEP BRAND 39535 41465 -8% 248383 256870 -3%
CP CAR 15219 14983 -2% 117720 145530 -19%
CPJ TRUCK 65571 66522 -5% 443840 453891 -2%
CPJ DIVISION 80790 81505 -5% 561560 599421 -6%
Neon 9149 6597 33% 77245 69523 11%
Stratus Sedan 6568 5317 19% 55086 59170 -7%
Stratus Coupe 2789 1688 59% 11919 14305 -17%
Avenger 0 0 0% 0 143 -100%
Intrepid 8141 5665 38% 77640 75109 3%
Viper 142 104 31% 974 871 12%
DODGE CAR 26789 19371 33% 222864 219121 2%
Dakota 12388 12933 -8% 80251 94343 -15%
Ram P/U 33616 37133 -13% 228955 208814 10%
Caravan 19565 18589 1% 163703 156150 5%
Durango 9718 12383 -25% 64097 77939 -18%
Ram Wagon 865 1072 -23% 10024 15670 -36%
Ram Van 1871 2612 -31% 16153 24190 -33%
DODGE TRUCK 78023 84722 -12% 563183 577106 -2%
DODGE DIVISION 104812 104093 -3% 786047 796227 -1%
TOTAL CAR 42008 34354 17% 340584 364651 -7%
TOTAL TRUCK 143594 151244 -9% 1007023 1030997 -2%
TOTAL CAR & TRUCK 185602 185598 -4% 1347607 1395648 -3%
Total Minivan 33866 32949 -1% 271765 270179 1%
Total Sport Utility 49253 53848 -12% 312480 334809 -7%
Selling Days 25 24 178 178
[Webmaster notes - not Bill speaking] Year to date, Chrysler seems to be doing fairly well in minivans considering that the Kia Sedona arrived and that the Honda Odyssey has been ramping up. B-Series van sales are understandably down since they will be discontinued, while the Durango seems to be feeling the impact of the TrailBlazer, with its newer engines and superior sales force. The severe decline of Sebring/Stratus coupe sales means little to Chrysler enthusiasts, since those are modestly redesigned Mitsubishi models (though it may bode ill for a future Chrysler where all Sebrings and Stratuses are based on Mitsubishis, albeit with more Chrysler intervention).
Thanks again to Bill Cawthon for making this information available.
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