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Bob Hinds wrote: "The Car and Driver Television show segment on the [Plymouth] Furys of the 1950s will be aired on Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16 on TNN. Hopefully this show will be aired again later this year." The Plymouth Fury was an astounding car when first introduced, and the name survived in one form or another through the 1980s.
GM's current chairman, Jack Smith, will be stepping down in April 2003, roughly one year from now. In his eight-year stint, Smith oversaw the careful dissolution of Oldsmobile, the rejuvenation of Saturn, a reversal in market share losses, increased quality, and the failure of transplanted Proctor & Gamble branding people - as well as the universally acclaimed hiring of Bob Lutz. There has been no word on who will follow Smith, but if CEO Rick Wagoner is promoted up to chairman, Bob Lutz could end up as CEO of the world's largest corporation.
Following articles describing the lack of recent investment in China by Chrysler (Beijing Jeep) comes news that Mitsubishi will soon be selling cars under its own name in China. Mitsubishi's product line is largely similar to Chrysler's, right down to capable off-road vehicles.
lio45 pointed out that the Chrysler Design site now lists the Voyager as a Chrysler. While the Voyager was indeed sold as a Chrysler overseas, it started out as a Plymouth. Likewise, the Prowler - which also shows up as the "Chrysler Prowler" - was a Plymouth until that marque disappeared. The Pronto concept was never a Chrysler...until now. To be fair, there are no Dodge vehicles on this site either, which appears under the Chrysler brand, and to reach the few Chrysler vehicles from before 1990, visitors must scroll all the way to the right.
This is still at the rumor/speculation level, but the next plant to be sold may be New Castle - with the buyer being Metaldyne. An insider noted a number of interesting signs pointing towards sales of the plant (see chryslertakeover.com's forum).
Chrysler is pushing its 7/100 warranty and minivan cash-back/low-interest programs to July 8, partly to counter GM and Ford incentives.
Despite claims of rosy financials from Auburn Hills, yet another Chrysler plant is going down - this time, an Ajax, Ontario, plant that makes seat-back covers. The CAW has arranged for nearly three quarters of the plant's 600 employees to retire with additional benefits, and the rest of the union members will get buyout packages. There are also 46 nonunion employees. The plant supplied covers for Canadian-production LH sedans and minivans. Additional plants are rumored to be on the block, as well.
(Courtesy Genciu) - Chrysler sales are up 4 percent compared to same month last year for Chrysler. Ford and GM are down for the month. High spots include Chrysler brand minivans (though Plymouth was present last year, which distorts the numbers), Dodge Caravans, and the PT Cruiser, which last year had supply constraints. The Sebring sedan and Concorde are starting to rise, as well. Neon sales are down - slightly if you look only at Dodge, quite a bit if you include Plymouth. We'll have more details tomorrow, we suspect, including the models which fell - presumably that includes the 300M, the coupes, and the convertible.
(Courtesy Rick) - the Center for Auto Safety published a list of the vehicles with the largest ratio of NHTSA (government) complaints to sales. While this information is routinely collected, it is not released to the general public. The complaint index ratio is a standardized number which adjusts complaints to sales.
Mazda MPV 11,090
Kia Sportage 7,204
Ford Excursion 6,682
Ford Windstar 4,550
Mercury Cougar 4,342
Honda Passport 3,691
Honda S2000 3,510
Mitsubishi Eclipse 3,421
Isuzu Rodeo 3,393
Ford Explorer 3,039
Land Rover Range Rover 3,034
Audi A6 2,982
Hyundai Tiburon 2,954
Honda Odyssey 2,825
Lincoln LS 2,753
Jeep Grand Cherokee 2,744
Volkswagen Passat 2,676
Buick LeSabre 2,555
Suzuki Grand Vitara 2,552
Chevrolet Blazer 2,541
Chevrolet Impala 2,463
Jeep Wrangler 2,456
Toyota Tundra 2,454
Dodge Dakota 2,380
There are three Chrysler vehicles on the list, all trucks - the Dakota, Grand Cherokee, and Wrangler. All are at the low end of the list. Ford (including Mercury) has three of the top five. Honda's rebadged-Isuzu truck and their roadster are near the top of the list, while the Honda Odyssey minivan appears aov any Chrysler vehicle. (Note that Chrysler minivans are conspicuously absent. Though Chrysler has more models than Honda, they have fewer that made the list - a good thing for Chrysler. Volkswagen-Audi group is over-represented along with Ford and Honda. It is worth noting that the single Toyota is near the bottom of the list, and is a truck.
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