How much longer will Chrysler last?

[heptofite]

Ford is dropping the manual tranny?

that's going to alienate people.

 

[Will]

It won't be american cars that fill the void if they don't go away either, Fiat has big plans to bring over their European cars to fill up the car line.

It's already that way. The Diamler injection was obvious.

Fiat has a lot of work to do to bring a car here. Renault despaired and ran away when I was in highschool. A European car generally doesn't pack the gear to meet our crash standards and needs to be redesigned to adjust to the weight. In Europe a motorized shopping cart would be an acceptable conveyance. Here, where we are not socialists, lawyers buy $400,000 houses with the proceeds on one wrongful death suit and we tend to view shopping carts as things for putting groceries in, not things for strapping our children into. The French will have to swallow a lot of pride to actually ship an acceptable car here after the Renault debacle of the 80's. At age 16 I proved that I could pick up either end of a LeCar (Renault 5 in France, not a Renault Car). I mean, no wonder it flopped. We ship a car to France and call it a phukiing Ford Car? They should have been beaten with tomahawks.

 

[Ozwynn]

the rumors suggest that Dodge (Fiat) is going to drop the Cummins in favor of a Fiat designed, Iveco produced diesel engine.

 

[Ozwynn]

Ford is dropping the manual tranny?

that's going to alienate people.

not enough to matter..... otherwise they would not be dropping it.

 

[kcm1582]

I think Fiat is going to use Chrysler to get their foot in the door of the US market. After that who knows what will happen to them. Jeep and Dodge have a few things going for them but I'm not much of a fan of anything they currently have out.

 

[Hopman]

I wouldn't mind having a 500 Abarth.

 

[Jay FX4]

In a few days, I'll see what they have to offer at the auto show. Last year, their display was a joke, mostly hybrid and electric vehicles that we all know damn well they will never put into production.

The only vehicle in their lineup that appeals to me (aside from the low volume Viper) is the 300. But to me, that fact that it has remained unchanged all these years is a good example of how the company overall is spinning it's proverbial wheels.

 

[TaddeoEG]

There will definitely be changes. They're spinning off the Dodge Ram into a brand of its own, separate from any Dodge cars. I suspect the latter are pretty much doomed.

The Fiat 500 is on its way over, probably sold as a Fiat through Chrysler dealerships. Most likely following the Mini model where BMW dealers were required to put Minis in a separate building. The 500 has been a huge success in Europe and the Mini proved that Americans will buy small cars IF...

I suspect Chrysler will be around for quite some time, but with major changes. Ram and Jeep might be more tightly aligned to fill gaps in both lineups. Remember that Chrysler killed the Jeep pickups in order to move buyers to Rams. A dual badged Jeep/Ram might well appeal to Jeepsters. Without Ram the Dodge lineup is pretty weak - mostly the performance niche vehicles like Challenger and Charger. It could easily vanish leaving Chrysler to market mostly larger cars and mini-vans along side Fiat small cars, Ram trucks, and Jeeps.

Or I could be completely off base.

 

[mjonesjr]

There is an engine plant in Walesboro, Indiana that is going to close if Dodge goes under. The trucks might be screwed together in Mexico, but those engines are built right here in the middle of the USA.

Exactly. If Dodge goes under, so does 1 or 2 Cummins plants in the heartland of Indiana.

 

[GoodOld85BlueBalls]

Fiat is very large in Brazil. My wife's family there owns lots of them. But I never really feel safe in one. I don't forsee that the same models would ever make it here. They would need a complete redesign or a new model to get it sold on our markets. But with Fiat being the world's 6th largest carmaker anything is possible.

 

[mjonesjr]

There will not be any car sold here that doesn't meet DOT safety standards.

 

[GoodOld85BlueBalls]

There will not be any car sold here that doesn't meet DOT safety standards.

That and EPA stadards, which goes hand in hand.

As for a Fiat, I would sooner drive a smart. Particulary this one:

http://trashcars.net/videos/919/smart-4x4.html

 

[Hahnsb2]

the rumors suggest that Dodge (Fiat) is going to drop the Cummins in favor of a Fiat designed, Iveco produced diesel engine.

Just like in 2007 they were gonna start using a Benz engine...

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[JohnnyO]

It's already that way. The Diamler injection was obvious.

Fiat has a lot of work to do to bring a car here. Renault despaired and ran away when I was in highschool. A European car generally doesn't pack the gear to meet our crash standards and needs to be redesigned to adjust to the weight. In Europe a motorized shopping cart would be an acceptable conveyance. Here, where we are not socialists, lawyers buy $400,000 houses with the proceeds on one wrongful death suit and we tend to view shopping carts as things for putting groceries in, not things for strapping our children into. The French will have to swallow a lot of pride to actually ship an acceptable car here after the Renault debacle of the 80's. At age 16 I proved that I could pick up either end of a LeCar (Renault 5 in France, not a Renault Car). I mean, no wonder it flopped. We ship a car to France and call it a phukiing Ford Car? They should have been beaten with tomahawks.

There is a reason why Fiat hasn't sold cars in America for about 25 years (because they're shit). Fiat only rocks in Italy because of that country's protectionist trade laws.
The smartest thing for Fiat to do would be to keep the minivan, trucks, Challenger, and Jeeps, and scrap everything else. Too much saturation from all the automakers, we don't need every one of them having 10 different lines of vehicles.

 

[iceracer60]

true johnny but first they should fix the front suspension geometry on the trucks so it doesnt tear the front end apart every couple of months