Weeding out the faux Mopar crowd
When the takeover of Chrylser Group by Cerberus was announced, with the various promises by Cerberus regarding the future of the company, the return of the Pentastar, and such, there was a general mood of elation across America and Canada, as the people realized that a great American icon was to return, freed of its abusive masters.
There were exceptions.
With the Mopar
(I need to separate out the Fauxpars from the optimists. The Fauxpar lovers didn’t care about Chrysler until Mercedes bought it. The optimists hoped Mercedes would help Chrysler.)
The Fauxpar people were happy to give credit for the Hemi to Germany. Americans could never squeeze 340 horsepower out of 5.7 liters; Germans could do it easily (indeed, German automakers DO tend to push more power out of a cube than Americans do; but then, it costs far more.) Never mind that Toyota eventually got 380 horsepower out of the same size. Toyota’s run by Japanese people, who are almost as superior as Germans.
It was hard to argue with the Fauxpar crowd. The suspension in the LX series really was far better than that of the LH in terms of performance and, as tuned in the Charger, in terms of feel, too; and its basic rear suspension design was obviously taken from the E-Class. Stability control was also credited to Mercedes, though Hyundai, Toyota, GM, Ford, and just about everyone else also uses it. Any quality gains were of course due to Mercedes’ kind intervention, even though they couldn’t get their own cars
Meanwhile, Chrysler was being demolished. Suppliers were abused and cost-cut into bankruptcy; while before they were allowed to share in any proceeds from cost savings, so that if the supplier could save $20 on building the car they were allowed to keep, say, $2 extra profit for themselves, that was considered too generous and inefficient by Mercedes, so it was kicked out. The result was most likely greater overall costs; parts costs went down but quality of parts sometimes followed, and overall design efficiencies were lost. That particular program had saved $20 billion for Chrysler by its height. The bad feelings will take time to heal, if they ever do. Dealer relations were also severely damaged by a hack sent in by Mercedes, who as his penalty for practically destroying dealer relations and hurting marketing was given a Mercedes dealer franchise. Factories were closed, costs slashed, engineers kicked out, Brian Nesbitt given walking papers along with anyone who dared speak up against Mercedes. Many retired because they just couldn’t take the slow, methodical, arrogant people from that other company.
Thus, when Chrysler was released, it made the day of a lot of people, even those who supported the deal to begin with. When the deal was announced, the press - mostly, the people who were telling us how much Chrysler needed Mercedes to survive, right until the day Cerberus and Daimler reached an agreement - immediately started talking about how awful the Daimler occupation had been. It was hypocracy of the first order, but nearly everyone was rejoicing to some degree. Except for that small crowd of Fauxpars, the people who hated Chrysler but bought one because of the German engineering.
The Fauxpars love to talk about the K-cars, forgetting that they were great little cars when they were first brought out - highly profitable small American cars that rode well, accelerated well-for-the-time, got decent mileage, and were pretty durable for the most part. They love to talk about how awful those LH cars were. Whenever they compare, it’s to the present day - the Reliant 2.2 that can’t get out of its own way, with its 0-60 of 14 seconds. Y’know, that wasn’t bad when it was made… and though the K series was neglected for far too long in the end, even in the last year they were making Shadows, they were competitive.
The Fauxpars are sad now that Mercedes is leaving. If Chrysler does well, they might be able to claim it was because of Mercedes’ influence, but it seems unlikely anyone will believe them. There’s been a clear death spiral at Chrysler Group since 2001, and it might even now be too late; there has been too much taken out of the company and too little put back in. Even the popular PT Cruiser is being cancelled for lack of a factory to build it in (or because the execs still can’t bear to think it was a success after they said it was a flash in the pan?). But the Fauxpars have been claiming that Chrysler needs Mercedes, and if Chrysler succeeds, well…
I for one won’t miss the Fauxpars. Yes, it was nice of them to respond favorably to the “German Engineering” ad campaigns; I guess someone had to. But I’ve been painted Mopar blue for too many years to want a bunch of newcomers hanging around and dissing the cars I grew up with, drove, and loved. As the Mopar fold hopefully grows and thrives with new and returning owners, the Fauxpars will fade away and only be heard now and than, sarcastically talking about how all Mopars are rubbish and pointing to decade-old head gasket failures as proof.
Thank you.
Best as always,
Bob
Comment by Bob Sheaves — June 6, 2007 @ 7:04 pm
Wow Dave, I’m surprised to see this written. The Fauxpars were the main reason why I left Allpar years ago. I just couldn’t stand to see Chrysler being belittled by the Daimler supporters that thought that German management and engineering was the saving grace for Chrysler. It bothered me to see Chrysler put down and treated as a second class citizen. But, I must confess that I do lay some of the blame for this on Chrysler (mostly Eaton). If Chrysler would have said no to Daimler, we might never have experienced this horrible period in Chrysler history.
I am one of those individuals that was ecstatic when the news of the sale was gaining more momentum. I figured it was only a matter of time before the German stockholders would tire of the “merger”. It just wasn’t clicking and the sooner it was broken up the better. I am glad the “merger” is about to be broken up, but I’m hestitant to embrace the Cerberus deal just yet. I think we may wind up with another situation in which Chrysler has to be “saved” by another owner. Really, I’d like to see Chrysler do well on its own - much like Toyota and Honda are doing.
I am very happy the “merger” is over, but my enthusiasm for Chrysler just isn’t there like it used to be. Maybe its because I’ve seen what is available in the market and like it better. Maybe it’s because I’m just worn out from all the bs we had to go through over the last 9 years. I don’t know. I do know that I don’t feel like becoming as attached to Chrysler like I was in the past. That just leads to headaches and disappointments further on down the road. Chrysler is still under the hands of a new owner and if things don’t go well, we could be in for another roller coaster ride - and there isn’t much we can do to stop it.
So in essence, I’m thrilled to see the Fauxpars and the Daimler fans proven wrong. I’m just afraid the constant battling between the Daimler fans and Chrysler fans throughout this period took a lot of my enthausiasm away from Chrysler. I’m hoping I’ll get my excitement for Chrysler up over the years. I would like to come back some day.
Comment by AR2 — June 6, 2007 @ 9:06 pm
HA! HERE!!! HERE!!!
Comment by Curtis Redgap — June 6, 2007 @ 9:34 pm
It’ll take a few years for the new vehicles to roll out. I sure hope they move quickly, though, because I’ll be in the market soon - my wife is already evaluating what’s out there - and I’d love to see something more along the lines of what they should have, than what they DO have. My wife would get a 300 if it had a better interior and a little mileage boost. In a few years I’ll probably replace the PT and it would be good if they kept those going, but they won’t - no money for continued production (ironic, really, that one of their few real winners and profit-makers can’t be produced because they don’t have room for it. Wonder if the new owners would move it to Newark, thereby keeping a bunch of people employed and off pensions, and keeping all those foreign-car owners the PT attracted?)
Comment by Dave — June 7, 2007 @ 1:05 pm
Always well thought and well written, Dave. Keep up the good work. (Maybe it’s just because I generally agree with what you say!)
Comment by jimboy — June 7, 2007 @ 7:28 pm
The Fauxpars are having a field day with the Nitro and Sebring “duds”. I am refering to the June 8 Detroit News online article, “Chryslers Rethinks Designs After Duds”. Todd Lassa over at Motor Trend is about ready to start a dead pool on Chrysler because he says it will take billions to fix Chryslers mess.
It won’t cost billions to fire an ad agency. That now infamous Nitro ad had to be the worst product promotion in advertising history. It was anything but cute. The disrespect shown to past Chrysler products from within DCX is a big part of what is killing sales. That attitude affects design (”lets make the anti-Neon”), advertising, employee moral, dealership relations and customer satisfaction. I understand that at the Caliber introduction a speaker Joyfully exclaimed it wasn’t a Neon, suggesting the Neon was a POS. What is wrong with the Sebring? The benchmark for the Sebring shouldn’t have been a Toyota or Honda.The Sebring’s benchmark should have been the 99-04 Chrysler 300M. It sold well and brought in new customers. The LH cars earned only slighty more respect than the Neon with the Fauxpars.
I hope when the ink is dry on all the transfer papers, there will be a house cleaning in Auburn Hills.
Comment by Patrick M — June 9, 2007 @ 8:48 am
I don’t know who leaked the memo to Det News, but it’s brutal honesty really speaks well for the future of Chrysler: it’s leadership knows what it needs to do. Unshackled from Daimler, it can put more into the interiors and build more competitive cars.
The “fauxpar” crowd should realize it was Daimler’s bean-counting that resulted in the Sebring / Avenger and Nitro being less than the stand out vehciles they should have been. DCX was content with Chrysler products being merely good enough. But “good enough” is not good enough anymore. Daimler did not allow the bar to be set high for these new cars.
There’s really nothing “wrong” with the Sebring. But quite simply it is not special enough to make much of a splash in a crowded ocean full of Camrys and Accords (not to mention Fusions, Milans and Altimas). It just gets lost in the shuffle.
The LH made a splash because Chry Co really went the extra mile with the cars–it could have simply made a Chrysler copy of the LeSabre or Taurus. Probably would have saved money on design and made the cost cutters happy. But it would have gotten Chrysler nowhere. Chrysler Corp. always set the bar high in the days of the LH cars and other winning products. Returning to that mindset will, once again, give Chrysler some clear winners.
Oh, and I don’t know who comes up with all the negative comments about the K’s on the internet. The K’s were very impressive when new, and very popular. They provide some good lessons for today: Chrysler was in trouble and had to have a winner. Chrysler went the extra mile on those cars and it paid off. The cost cutters didn’t do a hatchet job on them. They reflected what American buyers really needed and wanted at the time. The K’s showed what Chrysler was made of: when the chips were down, Chrysler would stand and fight and make us all proud. They were symbolic of an America that went through some really tough times, and needed something to show us we stil had pride and ingenuity. I guess some things never really change.
Comment by Jeremy Mutz — June 9, 2007 @ 1:33 pm
Tell ya what, Chrysler would sign up for a car that had the returns of the K car and its offspring in a heartbeat.
Comment by Rich — June 10, 2007 @ 4:42 pm
Remember, there are many of us who wanted to see the merger work, not because we believed in it from the start, but because we thought Chrysler itself was still strong enough to overcome Daimler’s oppression and eventually become the dominant side of the company. Bob Lutz wrote in 1998, he believed Daimler would become more “American” than Chrysler would become “German”. He added, “I believe they are enlightened, and they want us to show them how it’s done”. Were they? Perhaps - Daimler learned a lot from Chrysler, arguably more than Chrysler did from Daimler. Were the Germans good stewards of Chrysler? Not really, though it did seem Dieter Zetsche at least tried to be. Bottom line, when a merger happens for all the wrong reasons, such as this one did, it is doomed from the start. Some of us knew that all along, others did not see it, and still others did but hoped for the best. You cannot throw out the broad generalization that anyone who supported Chrysler during the last ten years is a “Fauxpar”. Nor can anyone logically argue that there were not successes under Daimler, which may or may not have happened had Chrysler been independent. To write off the whole era as a disaster is short-sighted. Let’s acknowledge the good things as well as the bad, and hope for a better overall future for Chrysler!
Comment by FreeLantz — June 11, 2007 @ 6:30 pm
David, those aren’t the people I meant. I meant the ones who ONLY started following Chrysler BECAUSE Mercedes was there, the ones who thought Mercedes would “save” the awful low-quality, poor-engineering, dumb-American Chrysler, the ones who thought that the only good thing about any Chrysler was the E-Class type suspension in the 300C and the Crossifre…
Comment by Dave — June 11, 2007 @ 9:12 pm
Thanks for the clarification…… I suppose a few Mercedes fans who followed Chrysler only during the last few years might jump ship now.
Comment by FreeLantz — June 12, 2007 @ 9:08 am
Many years ago, when I had bought a used 1960 M-B 220Sb, back in the mid 1960s when they had all but zero trade in value (I just liked them) I dealt with one of the Studebaker dealers (!) who had German immigrant mechanics. Also, at the time, I had experience with an assigned Plymouth Interceptor. I happened to mention to the German mechanic that Chrysler products had an American reputation for stellar engineering yet when a “dark cloud went over the damn thing wouldn’t start. And if it rained, forget about it completely.” Willi’s answer was: “Ya - Choost like a Mercedes.”
Soon after they became not drivers’ cars but purely status symbols and I got off the street, became a safety engineer, tried out Plymouth company cars and was forever after hooked on Mopars from the 1967s on.
But Teutonic arrogance all but drove my wife and me away from the local dealers after many years of loyalty and I’m glad to see that one dealer we bought her last new Stratus from just ISN’T any more. It was that arrogance that trickled down so that unless you bought something off the showroom every year or two, you were treated like dirt.
No thanks.
Glad to see the Pentastar shining once more. C’mon, UAW - MAKE IT WORK! You guys can do it! Show ‘em how!
Comment by Moparnut — June 12, 2007 @ 11:50 am
I AGREE! many people say that chrysler benifits from daimler… but daimler benifits from chrysler. i have one good question… why did the quit making the Neon i-4 in favor of the GEMA i-4? It cost more money.. and they already had the 1.8, 2.0, 2.4 neon engines… and why isnt there a neon replacement yet? not this overweight underpowered ugly truck! when i saw one in front of me when i was going down the road the first thing i asked my mom is when did they start making eagles again? she laughed. and whos bright idea was it to add the compatriot twins? they are a waist! if i want a small jeep ill buy a liberty! i cant believe that the already straped for cash DAIMLERchrysler did this? and when chrysler was sold what happend to Chrysler Corprations stake in Mitsu? did they get it back? i cant believe that this horriable 9 year marriage is over… i mean look at all the ugly children that resulted from germans! the crossfire? ugly, waist of money. pacifica, kinda ugly… r-class copied it. and why isnt chrysler engneering its own small cars? they caliber/compatriot avenger/sebring are both mitsus in disguse. its sad. but im jumping for joy now that DAIMLERchrysler is over! now its Chrysler Holdings or Chrysler Corpration and we will get the Pentastar!!!!
- Small Town Boy
Comment by bryce owens — June 20, 2007 @ 12:13 am
They lost the Mitsu stake. Daimler decided that it was wasting too much money for them to keep it and sold it off like two years ago. Now Mitsu is making money again, and building and designing desirable products, and Chrysler is out of luck. Thanks Daimler.
Comment by Nick — June 21, 2007 @ 10:19 pm