Out in the orbit of Orbitz

Unmentioned in our story on the Detroit Auto Show was getting to Detroit and back. Going was uneventful; returning was not.

On returning from Detroit, I called Avistar at LaGuardia after picking up my bags; I was told to walk outside. I did, and waited a while, then called again to make sure they knew where I was – I was asked which flight I had taken, and I said Northwest but that I was at the Delta terminal. While I was on the phone, the shuttle flew by, without slowing or stopping. I was told another was following, and would be by in a couple of minutes.

Ten minutes later, I called again, and was told to wait another couple of minutes. I asked if I should just get a cab and go to the parking lot, and the woman said no and hung up.

The next time I called, she just hung up as soon as I said who I was.

I had to wait for nearly an hour outside in the freezing wind with two heavy bags, waiting for a shuttle. I finally took a cab, at $5 plus a $5 tip (to help compensate for losing his spot in line), and found that the shuttle was sitting right in the parking lot, and four people were waiting in the warm booth.

Had they been honest in the first place I could have been home at a reasonable time. The plane was only delayed a few minutes, but their complete incompetence and lack of caring left me outside in a cold wind, with two heavy bags, walking back and forth until I was sensible enough to ignore their promises and take a taxi.

Hanging up on me was also anger-provoking but at least it finally got me into a taxi.

The irony here is that I used Avistar - which owns other airport parking services, by the way - largely to avoid standing outside in the cold for an hour, which is what invariably happens when I hire a car service. (New York area airports were all set up without any thought of linking to mass transit systems - especially ironic in Newark, by the way, since the airport is so close to the PATH rail system and the Northeast Corridor line used by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit; the Port Authority operates both PATH and Newark Airport but didn’t think to hook the two up!). With car services, I’ve found the routine to be calling from the airport, being told to wait outside for two minutes, and then getting picked up an hour later. The theft rate from the airports was a disincentive for driving and parking myself, then walking; that and the knowledge that I’d be festooned with heavy auto-show-covering gear.

Thanks to Avistar, Orbitz’s chosen provider of parking services, I ended up with heavy equipment slung over my back in the freezing wind for an hour anyway.

I did try complaining to Avistar; they said I hadn’t been there. Then I tried writing to their head office, but got no response. Then I tried Orbitz, which gives an e-mail address to send complaints to; they responded after a day telling me to call. I called and got passed off four times (each time they had to verify my record number, name, and address, of course), to someone who called Avistar, couldn’t get through, and told me to call back. When I did…you might have guessed…they wouldn’t put me through to the right department without demanding my record number. By then, of course, they couldn’t find me. Suddenly my record number was invalid. Yes, the same one I had used the day before. Oh, and my name and phone number apparently were gone, too.

Orbitz is supposed to send out a satisfaction survey to all customers within two weeks of their trip. I’m still waiting for mine, without optimism.

Well, a long time ago, a company named TARP did some research and found people who were angry at bad service told ten friends about it. I hope I’ve reached at least ten people today. As for the money I laid out, I have left it in VISA’s hands. We’ll see if I end up paying for services not rendered.

Dr. Z’s plan for Chrysler

Not that Dr. Z. This one. Yes, I have a Ph.D. - in organizational psychology, the study of people in organizations. Like DaimlerChrysler. And my last name starts with a Z.

In my opinion, the biggest problem faced by DaimlerChrysler in a volatile climate where most people believe the Japanese make the best cars, fuel crises may or may not arrive, cut-throat competition is coming from Korea and soon from China, and technology and government demands relentless move forward… the biggest problem faced by DaimlerChrylser is internal.

Look at the past year and see how decision making has been influenced by the fatal compulsion to prove to the world that the acquisition of Chrysler was necessary and beneficial even to Chrysler, and to prop up Mercedes’ reputation as the world’s greatest automaker. This result in the waste of huge sums of money, from insane advertising campaigns touting German engineering to the siphoning of funds out of Chrysler, which desperately needs them - and which would use the money to invest in the future, which would in the long run deliver much higher profits - and into Mercedes.

It seems at times as though all decisions at DCX are made with two objectives: to make Mercedes look good, and to make the acquisition look good. Saving face is primary. Brown-nosing seems rampant, and people willing to tell the emperor about the state of his wardrobe are dismissed. The state of affairs should have been obvious the moment Bob Lutz, the only Chrysler executive really capable of dealing with the “merger,” was left out of the talks. The apparent absence of Schrempp has only made matters quieter, not better.

Once again, I make my humble proposal to end this state of affairs and return Daimler-Benz to a position where it can make decisions that are best for its long-term survival, as well as Chrysler’s. This means taking Chrysler Group public as Chrysler Corporation (or using a less confusing name, such as American Motors, so the Chrysler brand and the corporate entity would clearly be different). The new corporation would be incorporated in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and DaimlerChrysler, AG, would retain 49% of the stock.

In the short run, this would give Daimler an instant cash boost - American indexed funds would have to buy the stock, giving a huge capital influx to Daimler-Benz, as the seller of the stock. It would also raise the overall capitalization of Daimler-Benz. The German stock buyers who hate Chrysler Group would start valuing Daimler more highly as well, as an added bonus. Once the US company was indexed and its stock had gone up, DCX could sell off more Chrysler stock while still remaining majority shareholder and retaining effective control. This could be an excellent way to raise capital and pretend to be earning money.

Mercedes would still be able to siphon off billions of dollars from Chrysler in the form of mandatory consulting fees and royalties, while benefitting from Chrysler’s low-cost (compared to Mercedes) engineering excellence, economies of scale, and expertise in flexible manufacturing and larger vehicles.

The new corporation could validly claim to be an American company, which would help in the heartland and if we ran into a new patriotism somehow. The German-engineering campaign has failed, with sales dropping every time the ads run. Unfortunately, for this to work, the brown-nosers in the executive suites would have to get some pride in their own country and not be such incredible suckups. Calling the new corporation DaimlerChrysler, Inc. would sink the plan instantly.

There would be a morale boost among most of the Chrysler owners and employees. I know there are some people who really believe Mercedes has been great for Chrysler, even among those who realize the Hemi came from Auburn Hills, not Stuttgart. But as far as I can tell, the vast majority of people do want Chrysler to be independent; they just don’t want it to be tossed out on the street with no assets, and they would like to be able to tap into Mercedes’ parts bins when needed. This is likely with a spinoff that is still majority Mercedes owned. On the lighter side, bad decisions - like using Mercedes diesels when VM or Cummins engines are available - could be avoided, and Chrylser could do what is best for Chrysler. This would make more money from Mercedes even if it didn’t provide quite the same ego boost.

This would not change how the vehicles are engineered or built. We would not lose ESP, the five-speed rear-drive car automatic, VVT, or any of the other post-acquisition technologies. However, we would gain credibility, pride, and money. The Daimler would be gone from outside the factories; the Chrysler media web site would not require a trip to DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes-obsessed site; and journalists would no longer continually point out that Dodge is German.

Let’s hope that’s what the Zetsche is considering now - and that they go whole hog and do it right. Unfortunately, I suspect what they are really planning is more of the same death spiral - cutting, cutting, cutting, and hoping that by cutting Chrysler’s roots, the group will somehow grow. Trying something that hasn’t ever worked before, and hoping for success, is insanity. I’m hoping Zetsche and the Stuttgart crowd are ready to try something new.

Postscript:

In reality, I expect the plan unveiled next month to be more like this:

1) Tighten control
2) Send over quality teams from Germany
3) Send over cost-cutting teams from Mercedes, known for its ruthless financial discipline and efficiency. Oops, it’s the opposite, isn’t it?
4) Early retirement for engineers and other valuable people who can be snapped up by competitors

5) Shut down Delaware
6) Eliminate some models and engines
7) Outsource something that isn’t already gone
8) Shut down and/or sell more parts plants, forging plants, etc.
9) New “German cars are better” ad campaign
10) Get the head of Willy the Mail-Boy

Canadian 2006 Auto Sales Wrap-Up

Canadian Sales December: 2006

Chrysler Group: Total Sales for the month of December
December 2006 - 18,589
December 2005 - 14,695
November 2006 - 17,200

The CG had a very strong last month of 2006 with reported sales being UP 26.5% or 3,894 units relative to the same period last year same year.
The CG was also up 8.1% or 1,389 units relative to last month (November 2006).

Car sales for the month hit 4,213 units which is up over 58.1% or up 1,548 units from last December. Truck sales were also up a respectable 19.5% or 2,346 units to a total of 14,376.

Notes of Interest For December 2006
The Chrysler Group outsold Ford Motor Company (not including Volvo, Jaguar, & Land Rover) and the Toyota Motor company for the month of December 18,589 to 17,191 and 12,189 units respectively.  By including the sales of partner Benz, DCX ended up with 20,154 total sales for the month beating Toyota by 7,965 units. Including Volvo, Jag, & Land Rover sales into Fords number bumps then up to a total of 18,108 vehicles sold.  GM was the head of the pack for the month with a whooping 36,258 units being sold. 

Sales of Interest for December
Jeep Wrangler sold 793 units
Dodge Ram pick up sold 3,485 units (up 8.0%)

Chrysler Group Year-to-Date Numbers for 2006
2006 - 220,553
2005 - 216,857
This translates to an increase of 1.7% or 4,696 units relative to last year. The total Canadian market, however sold just over 1.6 million units (1,618,261) which translates to an increase of 2% over last years number of 1,586,416 units being sold. Therefore the increase of that the CG saw was just on par with the rest of the market.

Market share for the CG decreased to 13.63% relative to last years number of 13.67%. Which translates to a decline of just 0.04% or just 647 units.

Car sales for the year increased to 55,549 units which is up over 6.1% or up 3,178 units from 2005. Truck sales were also flat at +0.31% which translated to an increase of just 518 units to a total of 165,004 units being sold.

Sales of Interest for 2006
Dodge Ram pickup sold 39,837 (up 6.3%) ***All time record***
Dodge Sprinter up 26.8 per cent over last year’s totals
Dodge Caliber sold 19,524 units
Dodge Charger sold 7,440 units (up 155%)

Here are the number for the entire field for 2006.

Underlined are the Highest and Lowest gains/losses in percentage and units.