The speed (or sloth) of private equity
The Cerberus management of Chrysler has repeatedly lectured us on the speed of private equity versus the sloth of the corporation. That may be true if you’re comparing the current Chrysler LLC to the Daimler-led Chrysler Group, but let’s look at the 2009 models to see if it’s really true as an absolute.
Observers have made it clear that they think Chrysler interiors are subpar. The Dodge minivans, once the market leader, have been losing share to Toyota, Honda, and Chrysler since the redesign; all other vehicles are plummeting in sales. Jim Press smiles and says that’s okay because Chrysler is going to be a pioneer in moving from a large company to a small one. That’s all very well and good, but there’s a big difference between losing some sales to gain some profits, and slashing your sales in hopes of gaining some profits. It’s the difference between replacing the Spirit and Acclaim with the Cirrus and Stratus, and jettisoning Plymouth and the Neon.
What I wanted to see for the 2009s was not just a revised interior for the Compass/Patriot and a slashing of possible build combinations - though both were welcome. I also wanted to see someone addressing the sales of the Dodge Grand Caravan, which, like it or not, will be a major component of the company’s minivan sales for a long time - unless they drop it and keep just the Town & Country. Now, I want brand consistency as much as anyone else, but I remember all too clearly what happened when the Plymouth Neon and Plymouth Voyager were dropped: the sales went not to Dodge and Chrysler, but to other brands. Those customers were lost, and there is a core of Dodge Caravan buyers who will not go to the Chrysler Town & Country.
I also understand that the Chrysler brand is now essentially the Plymouth brand, with a different name and vague pretensions towards a high end exterior appearance.
Still, given that the Dodge has traditionally been the volume seller of the minivans, I’d have hoped that Chrysler would have done something to reverse its constant slide in sales, instead of encouraging it and hoping T&C sales rise enough to gain a #1 slot. Instead of that, we have ended up with individual model sales eclipsed by Honda and Toyota. I realize Jim Press professes not to care about sales, but this is still a big deal. Dodge and Plymouth used to hold the #1 and #2 minivan positions, not #3 and #4.
The old Chrysler Corporation would have acted instantly. Neon changes were made constantly, as needed, in the 1990s; they didn’t wait for a new generation. When buyers complained about the interior of the Cirrus, it was immediately changed. When problems arose, they were fixed quickly, in most cases - with a few exceptions, most notably the Neon head gaskets, which went until 1998 or so (probably because that’s how long it took for problems to appear).
The new Chrysler talks a good game, but the Caliber’s problems remain pretty much as they were. The Dodge Caravan remains woefully under-ornamented compared with the Town & Country and both are fairly spartan compared with the prior generation and the Toyota. The “identical suspension” game saved money but that should have been fixed, too. A Chrysler should be plusher than a Dodge, the Dodge should corner better. A Chrysler should start with luxury items standard.
Other models were largely untouched. I wanted to see Chrysler match GM’s XFE models; change the axle ratio, wheels, and tires, and see what kind of mileage you get. Play with the shift point programming. Do something to get the mileage up and the lead out. Even doing a Feather Duster type remake would have been worth its cost in publicity, because many people aren’t shopping for gas mileage, they’re shopping for perceptions of gas mileage — that is, they go to the dealerships of the company they think makes high-mileage cars. Chrysler is rarely on that list, and for good reason. GM is often not on the list, but with the XFE they’re trying hard to get there, and I think they’re largely succeeding. So is Ford. I doubt many dealers will disagree when I say that Chrysler is increasingly not even on the list of prospects, much less at the top.
I do not share a vision of Chrysler as a niche automaker, as Daimler seemed to see it; nor do I see it as a cute little automaker like Subaru, as Jim Press seems to see it. It’s hard to reconcile that with the knowledge that Chrysler Corporation once dominated auto technology and was a force to be reckoned with… and a perennial “must test drive” on most Americans’ shopping lists.