[MoparNorm]

AND I didn't read anything from that interview that could be misconstrued as evidence that Dodge is being dropped, so all this ain't nothing more than a lot of noise out of an unsubstantiated rumor.

You must have this thread confused with the Barracuda thread.

 

[MoparNorm]

I remind you that all Japanese manufacturers as well as BMW ,Audi, Mercedes, ( and shortly even Porsche in all likelihood) produce in China to the same specs and quality levels that they do elsewhere.

I can't let that go....The specs are the same, the results not always so...
Having seen first hand the beautiful products built as samples and then later the garbage built under "contract", based upon those same samples, I can say that chinese quality is not consistient, nor trustworthy...unless it comes from Taiwan

 

[MoparNorm]

I disagree, not saying that it isn't necessarily true, but I've had both that kind of experience and also the opposite one...I will give you that it's not easy to find the right partner in China. It takes 10 good years to establish a good relationship with local management (it's a very person to person society), which is something not many westerners understand. Once you get a good partner and a good relationship, I wil put a Chinese made anything up against any US or European equivalent.

I actually agree with your last paragraph, however by the time you go through all of that and PAY the price for that quality PLUS shipping, it turned out to be more prudent to keep your manufacturing in the US and deal with improving efficiencies here...and keeping Americans earning enough in wages to actually remain consumers

 

[MoparNorm]

Do any of those actually exist?

I mean, 30 years ago, I could understand it, but I'd be that 95% of car buyers are well aware that the only difference between a Silverado and a Sierra is the badging.

Whoa! There is actually a GROWING number of Chevy owners who switched to GMC because of trim and quality differences. It's silly to me as well, but they are VERY passionate about it.

 

[MoparNorm]

of course platform = parts = architecture /s

No, platform = dimensions, not parts, not architecture, not chassis... how many times has Bob gone over this...???

 

[MoparNorm]

Grant was joking...

I certainly hope so!

 

[MoparNorm]

Until Australia has enough potential sales to justify the investment, yes it does.

Sadly, if the Commonwealth countries would place their steering wheels on the proper side, they could get ANY Chrysler vehicle in the line-up.
It costs to much to offer RHD versions when sales are so small, but if there are enough sales in the UK, South Africa and other places to justify it, you'll see the vehicle offered in Australia.
The other side of the coin is, no vehicle offered, equals zero sales, so until Chrysler is on firm financial footing, not much experimentation with RHD will be tried.

 

[MoparNorm]

The percentages aren't as biased as you might think, though, I understand 34% of the world's population is in RHD countries. Japan is a big one, of course, along with Australia and New Zealand. Samoa switched recently -- to RHD.

American Samoa???
Japan is the big RHD market, but since it's prohibitive to import to Japan, it doesn't count in the equation.

 

[MoparNorm]

What about the UK it's right hand drive

What about reading post # 44.
I mentioned BOTH the Commonwealth, which does indeed include the UK and I also mentioned the UK.

 

[MoparNorm]

The new Chrysler 300-basedLancia Thema saloon VM 3.0L crd MJ2 190HP and 224HP 550Nm 406 lb.-ft 5-speed automatic gearbox as standard.
300C UK

Yes, they have a RHD 300, it's the Charger and Challenger they beg for.

 

[MoparNorm]

The reason that they don't sell Dodge in RHD countries is because people in RHD countries don't buy Dodges.

It's completely flopped and disappeared as a brand in all of Europe.
It's got no presence in South Africa.
It's got no presence in Japan.
And there just aren't enough sales in Australia to make up for it.

To be fair:
Daimler trimmed the brand in Europe, but sales in England and parts of Europe are picking up under the new management.
There hasn't been a presence in SA since before Apartheid ended.
Japan does not allow imports. (There is a lesson here for both Japanese Imports and the future flood coming from china. A prohibitive Tariff against American products should eliminate ANY chance that you can export product to the US.)
Australia; You can't sell what you don't offer. I suggest, Challenger and Charger would sell better than 300.

 

[MoparNorm]

Sorry Norm I missed it saw it after the fact and figured I would get a correction out of it :lol:

Ha! Ha! I thought you and Bob might be sharing reading glasses.

 

[MoparNorm]

...and the California standards affect ONLY the emissions, not the rest of the car like the ADR's.

Was not the point of the EPA adopting CA standards last year, so that there could once again be 50 states vehicles, without CA specific emissions?

 

[MoparNorm]

If his long term plan really is to kill off everything but Jeep, then Fiat will die shortly therafter. If any brands in the united company are to die, Fiat should be first on the list. I also still think creating Ram and SRT as seperate brands was dumb. Plymouth should have been added again before anything else if he wanted more brands. And NO I do not mean Fiat's badged as Plymouth's Dart's!

Fixed it for you. :innocent:

 

[MoparNorm]

Seems to me that Dodge Journey would be more valuable if and when the Freemont comes.
Has this rumor been confirmed?

 

[MoparNorm]

It's not official until it's "official".
I have also read that they have been rethinking the "Dodge only in the US" idea.
Dodge does very well in Canada. Australia's best hope is for England and South Africa to get RHD Mopar's, to spread the development costs.

 

[MoparNorm]

. I think its the other way around Norm.
England, South Africa, New Zealand and Japans best hope, is that Australia gets more RHD Chryslers.

Looking at Chrysler UK and Ireland Sales, they are no longer registered...They are all under the Lancia brand now.
Sales data says...." Lancia sales also include a "token" number of Chrysler brand sales in the UK and Ireland"

Whats a token number of sales? 100? if that?

Chrysler South Africa only sold 7348 vehicles for all of 2011, and the majority of them were Jeeps. .

Australian sales are about double this...mainly Jeeps of course.

Chrysler US hasnt sent any new Chrysler/Dodge vehicles to Australia for near on 6 months, the last lot of new 300Cs we got were mid 2011.
Yes, Chrysler is a very switched on World company...... Not... .

The gist of the problem is those countries are all right hand drive.
The demand for the US mode (left hand drive) is so high and the cost to design, engineer and manufacture the right hand drive makes the small number almost too expensive to run.
It's a problem that won't go away until all countries drive on the same side of the road.

 

[MoparNorm]

No you can't, and I'm not saying I agree with the "Dodge/Fiat" premiss, I'm just putting some of the reasons out there.
Back in the 60's, when Chrysler was only selling a few thousand Power Wagons per year, my truck still had the frame punched out for a right side steering gear box and a modular dash (just like the TJ and JK).
With production running at near maximum capacity, sometimes I think they just don't want to be bothered with disrupting the rhythm of the line.
I know it's frustrating for you guys.

 

[MoparNorm]

I understand what you are saying, but You do realise the ALL US manufactured cars, prior to around 1908, were
ALL RIGHT HAND DRIVE!!!!!! All the Fords, All the Olds, all the Cadillacs etc etc.

Actually not. Some were right, some were left, many were center drive and some had tillers.
LHD was the results of standardization for the sake of clarity and safety (driver familiarity).
The point being, it would go a lot easier if OZ was driving on the right side of the road.
With India and China adopting the same side, the die is cast.
I'm not saying RHD makes it completely cost prohibitive, I'm just saying it's another excuse for the bean counters to veto future models from going to Australia.

 

[MoparNorm]

India drives RHD cars on the left hand side of the road (most of the time ). Same as we do.

I know India did drive on the left under the Commonwealth, I thought they had changed?
Anyway, how can you tell?
Regardless of the history, most of the worlds cars are built for left hand drive, so it's a moot point.
The current reality is that the models you want to see, have costs associated to develope for right hand drive. So you're going to have to make your case on current ROI, not history.
I'd like to see Challenger and Charger sold there, I'm just telling you why you are not likely to see it without a real vocal customer demand.