June 27, 2008
The Detroit auto industry appeared to be imploding Thursday, according to USA Today.
Shares of General Motors (GM) stock hadn't traded so cheaply since the 1950s. Ford Motor (F) stock was at a 52-week low. Privately held Chrysler doesn't trade but still felt compelled to deny a rumor that it will file for bankruptcy protection.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth 
at 9:53 AM | Permalink
June 24, 2008
We recently profiled the Speedcraft Chrysler-Dodge-Volkswagen dealership on Old Tower Hill Road in Wakefield and focused on the smart redesign of the VW shop which was just being completed.
Now it seems Speedcraft is closing its neighboring Chrysler-Dodge dealership, although the company declined to comment on the possible development.
But with just a few new Chrysler vehicles outside and the Chrysler-Dodge brand names removed from Speedcraft’s Web site, it would seem the small dealership is being shuttered. The dealership is still signed Chrysler-Dodge.
Indeed, the only Chrysler vehicles listed for sale on the Web site are in the pre-owned category, although there do seem to be a bunch of new Dodge Nitros parked round the back.
Speedcraft, which is owned by Roderick and Lisa Lichtenfels, acquired the Fred W. Smith Chrysler-Dodge dealership, which had a long history in South County, along with its 30 or so employees in December 2005. The plan called for operating both dealerships alongside each other.
But both Chrysler and Volkswagen have been navigating declining sales.
With some exciting models coming out this year, VW could be on the verge of a comeback, especially with its clean diesel technology which is due with the new Jetta range of sedans and wagons, starting in August.
Chrysler, on the other hand, has been hit in the chops with the surge in gas prices, having only a limited number of small cars on its books. The Dodge Caliber may be holding its own, but even the PT Cruiser is not selling well, with sales down nearly 40 percent in the first five months of this year compared to last year, according to the latest edition of Automotive News.
Indeed, as I reported in last week’s blog, Chrysler has seen overall sales drop nearly 20 percent so far this year compared with the first five months of 2007, including a drop of nearly 25 percent in May.
As a result, it has made a number of moves to push sales, including the grand offer of guaranteeing $2.99 a gallon gasoline for 12,000 miles a year over three years for each new vehicle, and a decision to follow General Motors and sell certified used Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles on eBay.
The company also announced it plans to undercut GM in the pricing of its hybrid SUVs – the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango – but does anyone want such oxymorons anymore?
As for closing dealerships, all three Detroit manufacturers have been moving toward cutting costs and increasing profits by closing small shops and bringing all corporate brands under one roof in the remaining ones.
- Peter C.T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 12:55 PM | Permalink
June 18, 2008
Chrysler continues to flail in a market where it seems ill positioned, with its latest move designed to move its new hybrid SUVs off the lot.
But hybrid SUV was always a contradiction in terms – a case of wanting your cake (updating the outmoded SUV with green technology) and eating it too (big SUV-style profits) – that has now fallen flat in an age of high gas prices.
SUVs on the whole do not appeal to environmentally conscious consumers and the savings – going from around 15 combined miles to the gallon to around 20 mpg – are not necessary going to appeal to consumers seeking to save money at the pump.
This is the latest move from privately owned Chrysler which is lumbered with a lineup that include few small cars – the Chrysler PT Cruiser/Convertible and Dodge Caliber – and a bunch of big, aggressive vehicles seemingly from another universe - including the Chrysler 300 and Pacifica and Dodge Challenger, Charger and Magnum, let alone its SUVs and trucks.
Indeed, Chrysler has seen sales drop off nearly 20 percent so far this year compared with the first five months of 2007, including a drop of nearly 25 percent in May.
As a result, it has made a number of moves that seem to reflect a “We’ll pay you to drive them away” mentality.
They include the grand offer of guaranteeing $2.99 a gallon gasoline for 12,000 miles a year over three years for each new vehicle, and a decision to follow General Motors and sell certified used Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles on eBay.
Last week, chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli had a Jimmy Carter moment of crisis in the face of bad reviews from both Consumer Reports and J.D. Power & Associates, sending off an email to all employees asking them why they thought no one wants to buy the company’s products.
His recommendations included such corporate/marketing mumbo jumbo examples of the something obvious as: “Don’t hesitate to confront problems;” “Everything is about pleasing the customer” and “Raise the standard defining excellent quality.”
Excellent quality indeed!
Now the company has announced it will undercut General Motors in the pricing of its 2009 hybrid SUVs – the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango. Both will be priced at around $45,000 which is about $8,000 less than GM’s 2008 hybrid SUVs – the Chevrolet Tahoe and the GMC Yukon.
But with consumers falling over themselves to buy small, fuel-efficient cars, it remains to be seen whether the SUV hybrid schtick will carry in a world of high gas prices.
- Peter C.T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 1:42 PM | Permalink
May 6, 2008
As presidential candidates spar over how to roll back gasoline prices, Chrysler on Monday said that it has come up with its own plan to bring back $2.99 gas, which it hopes will spur lagging sales, according to USA Today.
Chrysler announced a month-long "Let's Refuel America" program that will give buyers of most of its vehicles a card good for purchases of gasoline or diesel fuel that locks in the price at $2.99 a gallon for three years.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:58 AM | Permalink
April 15, 2008
Chrysler and Nissan announced a partnership Monday to build vehicles for each other in what may mark the start of a new wave of similar get-togethers amid falling sales in the auto industry, according to USA Today.
Chrysler will build Nissan's next generation of full-size pickups at a plant in Mexico. The truck will replace the Titan, made at Nissan's Canton, Miss., plant, starting in 2011, the two companies said.
Nissan will make in Japan a new "fuel-efficient small car" for Chrysler to sell in the USA and around the world starting in 2010. Chrysler currently does not have an entry in the subcompact segment. The two had said in January that Nissan would supply a version of its subcompact Versa for Chrysler to sell in South America starting in 2009.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:04 AM | Permalink
February 8, 2008
Chrysler is changing faster than you can say Mitt Romney.
The company, which was taken private by Cerberus Capital Management last year, says it plans to cut its range of models by as much as half and reduce the number of its dealerships by much as a third, according to the Detroit Free Press.
All this comes under a recently announced Project Genesis, as in beginning. Project Genesis replaces Project Alpha, as in beginning, which called for dealers to sell its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands under one roof.
Those initiatives follow the elimination of 12,000 jobs announced in November, following the elimination of 13,000 jobs announced last February.
The company also dropped four models in November, including the Chrysler Crossfire and Dodge Magnum.
While Romney’s presidential candidacy partly foundered on shattered credibility as he flipped former moderate positions to suit conservative voters, the moves by Chrysler are an aggressive effort to get on the same playing field with Asian manufacturers.
Analysts have argued, for example, that over half of domestic dealerships, which sell an average of 600 vehicles a year, need to be closed in order to compete with import dealerships, which average more than 1,200 sales.
Hopefully Chrysler’s changes will have the opposite effect from the reaction to Romney’s shifts and increase its credibility with the consumer.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 12:16 PM | Permalink
February 4, 2008
DETROIT -- Chrysler LLC plans temporarily to close four assembly plants and to shut down one shift at another due to the bankruptcy filing of one of its plastic parts suppliers, the automaker said Monday, according to the Associated Press.
About 10,500 Chrysler employees will be affected by the plant closures and shift shutdown, spokesman Kevin Frazier said.
Chrysler said the plants are in Sterling Heights; Newark, Del.; Toledo, Ohio, and the Belvidere plant in Rockford, Ill.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 4:18 PM | Permalink
February 1, 2008
Automakers report their U.S. sales for January today amid a continuing economic slowdown. But new information about last year's showroom sales already reveals who has momentum in the struggling market, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Ford was the biggest loser in U.S. retail sales last year, dropping nearly a full percentage point of retail market share, according to the latest retail sales estimates provided exclusively to the Free Press by the Power Information Network.
In all, Ford's share dropped from 15.1% in 2006 to 14.2% last year, a decline that represents about half the production for an assembly factory.
Meanwhile, Toyota and Honda picked up most of Ford's decline in the U.S. market. And General Motors has stabilized its retail share, with about 22% of the U.S. market.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:18 AM | Permalink
UAW Local 412 leaders claim Chrysler LLC broke their new labor agreement when it laid off 119 workers Thursday. The union leaders vowed to fight the move, making it the first union local to go public with a labor disagreement since new contracts were signed last fall with the Detroit automakers, according to the Detroit Free Press.
More than 100 UAW members rallied at the local's Warren headquarters over the lunch hour Thursday, just hours after being told by the company that those salaried designers would be laid off indefinitely.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:16 AM | Permalink
January 29, 2008
Chrysler offered buyout and early retirement packages Monday to about 13,000 Detroit-area hourly UAW members as the automaker works to cut its overall hourly workforce by as many as 10,000 people, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Monday's effort aims primarily to reduce workers at support facilities that are seeing the domino effect of recent production cuts at the automaker's assembly plants.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:52 AM | Permalink
January 9, 2008
Already bracing for a slowing U.S. market, Chrysler LLC wants to reduce sales of vehicles to government and commercial buyers, such as rental-car companies, by perhaps as many as 200,000 autos this year, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The newly private automaker is undergoing dramatic changes -- from slashing as many as 25,000 jobs to cutting nameplates -- and the change in its sales strategy is part of Chrysler's efforts to make it a retail-based company that relies on what Chrysler President Jim Press calls a "pull-driven system."
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:04 AM | Permalink
January 4, 2008
NORWALK, Calif. — Instead of the stampede to inquire about year-end clearance sales, customers have been calling Ford dealer Norman Stutzke lately to offer condolences.
Stutzke shut down Keystone Ford this week after 39 years, one of hundreds of dealerships that face the ax around the country as Detroit's automakers downsize their retail operations, according to USA Today.
Having shuttered factories and eliminated hundreds of thousands of automaking jobs, Ford Motor, General Motors and Chrysler are now turning their attention to weeding out weaker dealers in bigger metro markets. They make fewer vehicles, so they don't need as many places to sell them.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 12:27 PM | Permalink
December 17, 2007
The new bosses at Chrysler LLC have made many good decisions so far -- hiring Toyota executive Jim Press, signing a cost-cutting labor deal with the UAW and moving to trim slow-selling models.
It's got a chance to make another wise choice now, but the early signs are not good, according to Detroit Free Press columnist Mark Phelan.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:38 AM | Permalink
December 10, 2007
How much would you pay for a pair of VIP tickets to see tonight's one-off Led Zeppelin reunion gig in London, asks thecarconnection.com
If they included a champagne reception and access to the aftershow party as well, would you pay $70,000? Oh yes, and you get a limited-edition Jeep Patriot as well.
With just three days to go to one of the most eagerly anticipated gigs in rock history, RGVA, a U.K.-based vehicle branding company, is offering just seven of the exclusive 4x4s. Each is a 2.0-liter CRD Sport edition, with air conditioning, cruise control, two-tone leather, privacy glass, six-speed manual gearbox, remote central locking, and a premium sound system.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:31 AM | Permalink
December 6, 2007
We are a bit backwoodsy here in New England when it comes to auto shows.
We may give them hifalutin names - the New England International Auto Show (Boston), the Connecticut International Auto Show (Hartford) and the Northeast International Auto Show (Providence) - but when it comes to auto shows, the top ones are ranked by the number of concept cars which are unveiled.
And while a number of concept are unveiled at the New York International Auto Show, most New England shows have to put up with concepts that are long out of the bag.
(I guess all these shows are "international" because they have foreign marques like Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Nissan; the glossier marques like BMW and Mercedes-Benz don't even make an appearance at the Providence show.)
So it was at the recent Boston Auto Show where such "concepts" as the 2010 Chevy Camaro Z28, the Jeep Trailhawk and the Chrysler Imperial were a treat to see but not exactly new.
At the same time, the Dodge Challenger SRT8 concept, which was first shown at last year's Detroit Auto Show - excuse me, the North American International Auto Show - is just gorgeous and a treat to see however late.
Indeed, not only is the production model due to be displayed at the Chicago Auto Show - it's actual name! - in early February, but Dodge dealers started to take orders last Monday and its selling like hotcakes.
Chrysler is only making 10,000 of the 2008 Challengers,which are priced at $38,000, and dealers have already taken over 6,000 deposits for the vehicles.
Listen, I am no muscle car man - I drive an old granola crunchy Volvo wagon - but I can recognize beauty when I see it. This car certainly has a juicy powertrain - a 6.1-liter V8 - to give it the raw oomph of the old Challenger, but it also has the lines refined to New VW Beetle level of sophistication.
It is smoothed out with just the right touches of power trim - the pipes, the stripes, the tires - to echo not only the car itself but an entire era as well.
I fell in love with this car and can readily understand why it is roaring out of the showrooms before it has even arrived!
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 2:20 PM | Permalink
A week after a top-level Chrysler LLC executive told a bunch of college students that the automaker was spending more than it was making, CEO Bob Nardelli delivered a similar message to a group of the company's engineers and designers, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Chrysler is poised to lose $1.6 billion this year, Nardelli reportedly said.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:54 AM | Permalink
December 3, 2007
The ink is hardly dry on the Chrysler-Daimler divorce papers, but already, another German carmaker could be waiting in the wings for the American carmaker, according to thecarconnection.com
David Cole, chairman of the Center For Automotive Research, said competition is forcing automakers to consider options they might not have contemplated only 12 months ago.
"There is going to be another round of mergers in the auto industry and the one company that matches up well with Volkswagen is Chrysler," he noted.
Volkswagen already has a joint project with Chrysler to develop a new minivan, which will be assembled by Chrysler in the next couple of years and will be sold in the U.S.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:55 AM | Permalink
November 29, 2007
Oh Baby! I love this car which is currently on view at the New England Auto Show in Boston. A really classy retro muscle look.
You can satisfy your craving for some Dodge-style musclecar love, but it will cost you-$37,995, to be precise, according to thecarconnection.com.
Dodge says the new 2008 Challenger will be priced from that point. And more importantly, for those flush with cash, is that the Challenger will go on sale next Monday, December 3, qualifying the Challenger as a 2008 model. Deliveries will happen in spring 2008.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:53 AM | Permalink
November 28, 2007
Chrysler officials have not ruled out the possibility of layoffs at the Auburn Hills automaker if they fail to get enough salaried workers to leave with voluntary buyouts over the next month, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Bob Nardelli has warned employees to expect a tough 2008, leaving open the possibility of job cuts even beyond the 25,000 already announced, a figure that include the buyouts.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 3:31 PM | Permalink
November 26, 2007
Forget about dropping or radically redefining brands. Chrysler LLC needs to focus on patching the holes in its model line, sharpening the definition of its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands and developing first-rate vehicles to cure what ails it, according to the Detroit Free Press's Mark Phelan.
"It can be done," said Jim Hall, managing director of 2953 Analytics, a Birmingham-based industry analysis firm. "Chrysler can become a premium brand, Dodge could appeal to younger buyers, and Jeep could be the tough, off-road brand."
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:25 AM | Permalink
November 23, 2007
DETROIT — Chrysler will introduce three concept electric vehicles next year that are designed to be totally electric or supplemented by diesel motors or hydrogen fuel cells, the automaker said Tuesday, according to USA Today.
The concepts, to be unveiled in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, are an effort to call attention to the company's research in futuristic power systems.
But none will be powered by the advanced systems yet, a company spokesman said.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:29 AM | Permalink
November 13, 2007
Magna International plans to build a $500-million factory in Russia to assemble Chrysler vehicles, a Russian business newspaper reported Monday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The Russian plant will have the capacity to build 150,000 vehicles per year with the possibility of doubling that amount, Kommersant reported, citing an application filed with the Russian Ministry of Industry and Energy.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 1:52 PM | Permalink
November 2, 2007
DETROIT — Over the last two years, the three American auto companies have vowed that their plans to slash nearly 80,000 jobs and close more than two dozen plants would be enough to transform them into leaner and nimbler competitors, according to the New York Times.
But the housing downturn and soaring oil prices have forced Chrysler and General Motors to make another round of surprising cuts, with no guarantees that these will be the last.
On Thursday, Chrysler announced it would eliminate 11,000 hourly and salaried jobs in the United States and Canada, and cut shifts of workers at five plants. The decision comes on top of a plan, announced in February, to eliminate 13,000 jobs and close a factory in Newark, Del.
Taken together, Chrysler will be reducing its 2006 work force of about 80,000 employees by 30 percent.
General Motors also recently said that it would eliminate shifts at three assembly plants in Michigan. The moves, announced after G.M. union workers approved their new contract, will most likely cut 3,000 jobs, though G.M. has not confirmed the total. Two years ago, G.M. announced 30,000 job cuts as part of a broad revamping.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 7:16 AM | Permalink
November 1, 2007
DETROIT -- Chrysler LLC said Thursday it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs, or up to 15 percent of its workforce, as part of an effort to slash costs and match slowing demand for some vehicles, according to the Associated Press.
The automaker will cut 8,500 to 10,000 hourly jobs and 2,100 salaried jobs through 2008. The company already had begun cutting 1,100 temporary workers Wednesday. It will eliminate shifts at five North American assembly plants and cut four vehicle models from its lineup.
The cuts come in addition to the 13,000 layoffs Chrysler announced in February as part of a massive restructuring plan. Those cuts included 11,000 production jobs and 2,000 salaried jobs. The new round of cuts was expected to involve buyouts or early retirement packages similar to those made in February.
Chrysler officials said falling demand for vehicles in the U.S. market made the cuts necessary. Chrysler's sales were down 3 percent in the first nine months of this year, according to Autodata Corp., and the company said it expects sluggish sales to continue in 2008.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:47 AM | Permalink
October 26, 2007
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union faces its final challenge today as one of the largest Chrysler plants votes on whether to ratify a proposed contract with company, according to USA Today.
About 700 of the 4,000 workers at the Belvidere, Ill., assembly and stamping plant are temporary employees.
A key sticking point for many of the 45,000 workers in the USA who would be covered by the Chrysler contract is that it doesn't contain provisions to hire temporary workers as full-time employees.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:05 AM | Permalink
October 24, 2007
Two UAW locals in Indiana representing about 5,300 workers voted down the proposed Chrysler national labor contract yesterday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The rejections continued the up-and-down fortunes of the pact and raised the stakes for how four metro Detroit factories -- adding up to 20% of the total Chrysler membership -- will vote today on the landmark agreement.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:16 AM | Permalink
Chrysler dealers have a new outlook about their business, an emotion many say they haven't faced in decades, according to USA Today: optimism.
With new leadership in place — including Jim Press, a former top Toyota executive — struggling Chrysler is set to make a rapid recovery, dealers say.
They're even embracing the idea that Chrysler has to reduce its number of dealers and offer fewer models, moves that in the past would have been expected to stir up controversy.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:09 AM | Permalink
October 16, 2007
In a sign that the proposed Chrysler-UAW labor agreement might not be ratified as easily as the deal with General Motors Corp., the council of local union leaders that gathered Monday in Detroit did not vote unanimously to recommend ratification, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Unhappy local leaders voiced displeasure with the apparent lack of specific future product guarantees and the failure to move temporary workers into permanent positions, both of which are features of the GM contract.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:54 AM | Permalink
October 15, 2007
Chalk up this past week as a big win for the home team, Detroit's three automakers, writes Tom Walsh of the Detroit Free Press.
General Motors workers ratified a new labor contract by a ratio of nearly 2-1.
Chrysler and the UAW forged a new tentative pact with only a hiccup of a 6-hour work stoppage.
Ford Motor Co. lured marketing hotshot Jim Farley away from Toyota Motor.
GM stock surged past $40 a share for the first time in more than two years, closing at $42.64, up 11.6% on the week. Ford shares rose 10% to $9.20.
If it's too early for Detroit to declare victory over automotive competitors from Japan, Korea and Europe -- and yes, it is too early -- we can at least enjoy this spate of good fortune for our much-maligned home team.
Still skeptical? OK, but have a listen to Maryann Keller, a relentless critic of Detroit's auto industry for the past three decades as a Wall Street analyst, author, consultant and now a director of two auto-related companies, Lithia Motors and Dollar Thrifty Automotive.
"For the first time in 30 years I think that Detroit is going to finally turn around," Walsh said Keller told him Friday.
"The cars are better, the management is smarter and the costs are down with these new contracts. The UAW and Big 3 have finally figured out how to save each other and create a headache for the Japanese."
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:51 AM | Permalink
October 12, 2007
DETROIT -- As they assembled cars Thursday, workers at Chrysler's Sterling Heights assembly plant were talking about their new labor contract, wondering if Wednesday's six-hour strike was enough to get a good deal from the company, according to the Associated Press.
Even as they waited to hear the details, industry analysts were predicting crosstown rival Ford will try to get more concessions than Chrysler.
Some workers were skeptical about job security promises, one worker said.
UAW leaders have yet to brief the rank-and-file on the tentative deal, which abbreviated the strike when it was reached late Wednesday afternoon.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:38 AM | Permalink
October 11, 2007
If this round of UAW contracts is indeed a transformational turning point that will make Detroit's auto companies competitive with their Asian rivals, there was bound to be drama and brinksmanship along the way, according to the Detroit Free Press's Tom Walsh.
And there was. Union workers struck Chrysler plants for about six hours Wednesday before UAW President Ron Gettelfinger announced a tentative contract deal at Chrysler just before 5:30 p.m. He also said workers at General Motors Corp. have ratified their contract, reached after a two-day strike, by a ratio of nearly 2-1.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:02 AM | Permalink
Chrysler and the UAW, after a 6- 1/2 hour strike involving 34,000 workers, reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract Wednesday, dramatically easing tensions throughout a U.S. auto industry bracing for the impact of a second major work stoppage against a Detroit carmaker in 2 1/2 weeks, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Details of the tentative deal were not immediately made public, as is tradition with UAW negotiations, though it was described as sticking with the pattern set by the landmark agreement reached Sept. 26 between the union and General Motors.
That deal, officially ratified Wednesday by rank-and-file members, ended a two-day strike against GM.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:00 AM | Permalink
October 10, 2007
DETROIT -- Thousands of Chrysler LLC autoworkers walked off the job Wednesday after the automaker and the United Auto Workers union failed to reach a tentative contract agreement before a union-imposed deadline, according to the Associated Press.
It is the first UAW strike against Chrysler since 1997, when one plant was shut down for a month, and the first strike against Chrysler during contract talks since 1985.
The UAW apparently is staying on the job at the five plants that Chrysler already had shut down this week because of sagging sales of some models, according to a person familiar with the walkout who asked not to be identified because the situation is in flux.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:39 AM | Permalink
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers says it knows it needs to help Detroit's automakers cut labor costs to reduce the gap in production expenses with Asian rivals. But as talks continue on new contracts, the union also is questioning why top executives at the automakers are paid what they are, according to USA Today.
"As much as workers do, workers can't do enough, and as much as executives get, they cannot get enough," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said during last month's two-day strike against General Motors.
During talks with GM, the UAW pointed out that while the automaker has complained that hourly wages and benefits are dragging it down, it has continued awarding bonuses to its top executives.
GM CEO Rick Wagoner earned $9.3 million in salary and bonus in 2006, nearly double what he earned in 2005.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:51 AM | Permalink
DETROIT -- Progress was reported as contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers union and Chrysler LLC extended into Wednesday morning, but several key issues remained unresolved with a strike deadline a few hours away, according to a person who had been briefed on the talks, according to the Associated Press.
Negotiators worked all night at Chrysler's Auburn Hills headquarters, and discussions continued well into the morning, said the person, who asked not to be identified by name because the talks are private.
The UAW set an 11 a.m. deadline for an agreement or have about 49,000 workers leave their jobs at 24 U.S. factories and other sites.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:35 AM | Permalink
October 9, 2007
DETROIT - With just over a day remaining until a strike deadline, representatives of the United Auto Workers union and Chrysler LLC bargained into Tuesday morning in a bid to reach a new contract for some 49,000 U.S. factory workers, according to Reuters.
The union has given Chrysler a deadline of 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday and threatened to call the second national strike against a U.S. automaker in less than a month if a new deal on wages and benefits is not reached by then.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:10 AM | Permalink
October 4, 2007
BERLIN -- DaimlerChrysler AG Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche reassured shareholders Thursday that the automaker was not forgetting its history with a proposed name change to Daimler AG - instead of Daimler-Benz, the company's name for much of the 20th Century, according to the Associated Press.
The Benz name would remain in the company's flagship luxury brand, Mercedes-Benz, and get plenty of attention, Zetsche told 4,700 shareholders before a vote on dropping Chrysler from the name, a formality after selling a majority stake in the U.S. automaker earlier this year.
Zetsche said the company needed to clearly differentiate its individual product brands from that of the corporate entity, and that surveys showed that Mercedes-Benz was "the most coveted automobile brand in Germany."
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:33 AM | Permalink
October 3, 2007
Despite a difficult overall market, General Motors and Ford found a receptive audience for new and redesigned vehicles in September, giving hope that their evolving lineups could win back U.S. customers, according to the Detroit Free Press.
GM reported Tuesday U.S. sales in September of 334,974, up 0.3% from the same month last year. Sales of the redesigned Cadillac CTS were up 66.8% to 6,416.
Ford's U.S. sales, hurt by slumping truck figures, dropped 20.4% to 189,037. But a redesigned Escape was a bright spot with sales increasing 10.3% to 11,132.
GM and Ford were not the only automakers helped by new products. Sales for Honda Motor Co., which launched a redesigned Accord in September, were up 9.4% to 127,000.
Nissan was up 6.7% to 94,269 thanks largely to the Altima, redesigned in late 2006. A new coupe version was added this year.
Toyota's U.S. sales fell 4.4% in September to 213,043 vehicles, marking the third straight month of declines.
Chrysler LLC's sales were down 5.4% to 159,799. The Auburn Hills automaker emphasized that Jeep brand sales were down 10.6% to 37,460 in September because of a planned fleet reduction.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:17 AM | Permalink
October 2, 2007
At a time when Chrysler LLC is trying to win historic concessions from the UAW, news broke over the weekend in Germany that Chrysler President Tom LaSorda and former Chief Operating Officer Eric Ridenour were paid bonuses worth millions for their help with the sale of the Auburn Hills automaker earlier this year, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Erich Klemm, the top German labor representative on DaimlerChrysler AG's supervisory board, is quoted in a German newspaper calling the bonuses "unreasonably high." The exact amounts of the bonuses were unknown.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:30 AM | Permalink
Ford and Chrysler probably lost U.S. market share last month as consumers spurned their pickups and SUVs in favor of fuel-efficient cars made by Honda, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Sales at Ford may have plunged 15% from a year earlier while Chrysler's fell 5.9%, according to the average estimates of seven analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Honda sales probably rose 9% while General Motors' gained 1%, helped by discounts, analysts said.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:26 AM | Permalink
September 27, 2007
With a tentative agreement in hand with General Motors, the UAW expects to move quickly to lock in similar labor contracts with Chrysler and Ford, according to the Detroit Free Press.
"I think the pattern bargaining is still very much in play," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said shortly after announcing the GM deal. "We expect this will basically be the same agreement."
Gettelfinger suggested that the UAW may try to finish up talks with Chrysler and Ford simultaneously.
During the past two contract talks, it took the UAW between 20 and 40 days from the day the first tentative agreement was reached until deals with all three automakers were ratified. If that holds true, a deal with all three of Detroit's automakers could be wrapped up in a month.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:35 AM | Permalink
September 26, 2007
With a tentative agreement in hand with General Motors, the UAW expects to move quickly to lock in similar labor contracts with Chrysler and Ford, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“I think the pattern bargaining is still very much in play,” UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said this morning on WJR-AM radio. “We expect this will basically be the same agreement.” He said there could be some modifications for the individual automakers but “for the most part it will be a pattern agreement.”
Gettelfinger suggested that the UAW may try to finish up talks with Chrysler and Ford simultaneously.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 7:40 AM | Permalink
September 19, 2007
DETROIT -- As General Motors and the United Auto Workers enter their fifth day of bargaining under hour-by-hour contract extensions Wednesday, the unique issues that each of the Detroit Three automakers faces could make it difficult to use an agreement with GM as a pattern contract for Ford and Chrysler, according to the Associated Press.
All three companies are grappling with dwindling market share, high health care costs and too much factory capacity, but Ford may negotiate temporary wage cuts, for example, because its financial situation is the most dire, and Chrysler's status as a private company could affect its contract.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:29 AM | Permalink
September 17, 2007
WASHINGTON — Chrysler said Friday it would recall nearly 300,000 sport-utility vehicles to fix potential braking problems while driving uphillm according to USA Today.
The recall involves more than 156,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Commander SUVs from the 2006-2007 model years, more than 90,000 2007 Jeep Wrangler SUVs and nearly 50,000 2007 Dodge Nitro SUVs.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:38 AM | Permalink
September 14, 2007
The UAW has selected General Motors Corp. to be the lead negotiating partner, also known as a strike target, in the year's national contract talks, leading workers, analysts and labor experts to believe the union has agreed -- in principle -- to establish the retiree health care trust that the nation's largest automaker so desperately wants, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The union has agreed to indefinite contract extensions with Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, those companies acknowledged.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:14 AM | Permalink
September 12, 2007
At a time when crosstown rivals are seeing their U.S. market share decrease, Chrysler LLC has been able to hold steady in large part because of its new Jeep vehicles, according to the Detroit Free Press.
For Chrysler, it's been a mix of incentives on Chrysler and Dodge vehicles and the introduction of new Jeep products -- Compass, Patriot and the four-door Wrangler -- that are helping prop up the Auburn Hills automaker in a year when General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have seen significant declines, experts agree.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:56 AM | Permalink
DETROIT — Negotiations between the United Auto Workers and Detroit automakers are intensifying as both sides try to settle on a new contract before the current four-year pact expires at midnight Friday, according to USA Today.
After Friday, the risk of a strike increases. Negotiators worked through last weekend attempting to hammer out a new contract, but deliberations are focusing on a complex health care deal that might take longer to hash out.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:53 AM | Permalink
September 6, 2007
Chrysler LLC, remaking itself as a private company, has raided the executive suites of Toyota once again, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Chrysler this morning named Toyota Motor North America President Jim Press as its new co-president and vice chairman.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:58 AM | Permalink
September 4, 2007
Toyota, Ford and Chrysler each reported sales declines last month, but General Motors surprised industry analysts on Tuesday by showing an increase in a declining U.S. auto market, according to the Associated Press.
Toyota's 2.8 percent sales drop, Ford's 14.4 percent decline and Chrysler's 6.1 percent decrease were symptoms of what analysts said would be slumping U.S. auto market due to high gasoline prices, rising mortgage payments and turmoil in the financial markets.
But GM, led by increased pickup truck sales, showed an increase of 6.1 percent, while Nissan Motor Co. reported its sales increased 6.3 percent for August compared with the same month last year.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 3:59 PM | Permalink
August 29, 2007
FRANKFURT, Germany -- DaimlerChrysler AG said Wednesday that its second-quarter profit fell 14 percent and disclosed plans to spend about $10.2 billion buying back nearly 10 percent of its shares as it moves forward without its Chrysler division, according to the Associated Press.
DaimlerChrysler's profit decline excluding results from Chrysler and its finance arm - which did better in the latest quarter than a year ago - was a steeper 20 percent.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:21 AM | Permalink
August 23, 2007
DETROIT - Using advances in high-strength steels and new design techniques, Chrysler LLC expects to improve fuel efficiency by reducing vehicle body structure weight by 13% over the next three to six years, a company executive said Wednesday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The reduced weight -- 120 pounds from the vehicle's skeleton -- should improve fuel efficiency by 1%, said Bill Grabowski, Chrysler's director of body core engineering.
The method also will improve vehicle safety by strengthening its structure, the company said.
The move comes as Chrysler takes other steps to improve fuel efficiency, such as investing $3 billion in more efficient engines, axles and transmissions.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:02 AM | Permalink
August 22, 2007
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — From the executive suite to showroom lots, Chrysler L.L.C. is wasting no time in trying to persuade customers that it has come out from under the wing of its former German owners, according to the New York Times.
On Wednesday, Chrysler said it had hired Deborah Wahl Meyer, vice president of marketing at Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota, as its new vice president and chief marketing officer. She will start Aug. 28.
Her appointment came just 10 days after Chrysler’s new owners, Cerberus Capital Management, hired Robert L. Nardelli, the former chief executive at Home Depot, to run the auto company.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:05 AM | Permalink
WINDSOR, Ontario — The first of Chrysler's next-generation minivans rolled off an assembly line Tuesday as the company celebrated the launch of a product it hopes will help return it to profitability, according to USA Today.
Chrysler launched the new 2008 vans, which feature a wider look and a second-row seat that swivels so passengers can sit on two sides of a table, after investing $511 million in the Windsor Assembly Plant.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:53 AM | Permalink
August 17, 2007
Bob Nardelli, chairman and CEO of the new Chrysler, made his first public appearance yesterday since taking charge, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The former GE executive and Home Depot chief drove his black-and-silver Prowler onto the company's museum parking lot in Auburn Hills, a little self-conscious that his is a simple stock version of the eye-catching coupe. There he rallied with fellow Prowler owners.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:53 AM | Permalink
August 14, 2007
Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealerships across the country are planning to celebrate the automaker's ownership change tomorrow night, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management took majority ownership of Chrysler LLC on Aug. 3 and two days later put in a new CEO, Bob Nardelli, the former head of Home Depot.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:18 AM | Permalink
August 9, 2007
That Cerberus Capital Management is keeping Tom LaSorda in a leadership role at Chrysler is an indication of how important he is to the ongoing labor negotiations with the UAW, according to industry watchers cited by the Detroit Free Press.
Robert Nardelli being officially named Monday the No. 1 executive at Chrysler and LaSorda being demoted to the No. 2 position by the Auburn Hills automaker's new owner comes at a particularly awkward time for the company, which already is engaged in contract talks with the union to craft a new agreement. The agreement is to replace the current one, which expires in September.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:20 AM | Permalink
August 8, 2007
It's a business goal that sounds simple enough: make money on the products you sell.
It's also the biggest and most obvious challenge that lies ahead for Chrysler's new Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli, the former GE executive and Home Depot chief who took charge of Detroit's No. 3 automaker on Monday, the Detroit Free Press reports.
The size of his challenge grew substantially last year, according to a study by Laurie Harbour-Felax, who recently joined consulting firm Stout Risius Ross.
Her analysis, released Tuesday at the Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, found that Chrysler lost $1,111 for every vehicle it sold in North America last year, as the company continued to churn out fuel-thirsty SUVs that sat on dealers' lots. In 2005, Chrysler made $144 per vehicle, according to Harbour-Felax's study.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:53 AM | Permalink
August 7, 2007
Yesterday I stated that Chrysler workers and investors must be delighted by the news that former Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli had been named to head the car company.
I sincerely hope readers understood such a sentiment to be ironic in the extreme. As I noted, Nardelli is most recently remembered for making off with $210 million after getting the travelling scholarship from Home Depot's board.
Translation: Home Depot fired Nardelli for incompetence but he still managed to finagle a disgusting amount of money out of the company.
You know, I have never been able to go to a Home Depot since then without wondering what the folks working the shopfloor in their orange overalls thought about it all.
I never asked anyone - I thought it would be pretty tasteless to ask someone earning $15 a hour or so what they might think of their "leader" making off with all that loot.
And now Chrysler owner Cerberus is downgrading Tom LaSorda and bringing in Nardelli to run the company. The arguments for the move are Nardelli's experience at GE when he cut his teeth and the fact that Cerberus is private and thus he will be able to restructure the company without answering to shareholders.
Like I said, workers must be delighted by that. And given his very mixed reputation on Wall Street, investors must be delighted too. True, his pay is nominal and essentially tied to Chrysler's performance. But for a man of his wealth, that is irrelevant.
More important, perhaps, is the signal Cerberus is sending out by hiring this controversial character. Cerberus may be hard headed about the $210 million he received from Home Depot because the terms of his payout were apparently written into his original contract.
But the message the company is sending is obtuse in the extreme and puts an enormous amount of pressure on Nardelli. Wall Street is already scratching its head, Chrysler rank and file are really displeased and it remains to be seen whether the move has undermined the ranks of senior management. Will LaSorda stay, for example?
Time will tell - but for the time being Nardelli has zero goodwill and Cerberus appears to have laid a major egg. But then Cerberus chairman is Tony Snow - the former Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush.
And don't get me started on the acuity of that character.
- Peter C. T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:07 AM | Permalink
Has newly privatized automaker Chrysler just gotten a CEO a little harsher than Attila, or is Robert Nardelli, ex-Home Depot CEO, a driven, goal-oriented cost-cutter who's widely misunderstood, USA Today asks.
Regardless, what happens next not only will test anew the controversial argument that only a "car guy" can run a car company, but also will become a study in the contrasting styles of the two outsiders running Detroit automakers, Nardelli and Ford Motor's Alan Mulally, hired from Boeing last September.
Nardelli — to the shock of nearly everyone — was picked to be chairman and CEO of Chrysler by private investment company Cerberus Capital Management, which bought 80% of Chrysler from German automaker DaimlerChrysler.
Cerberus had said it would leave management intact, with then-CEO Tom LaSorda, veteran of the auto industry, running the show. LaSorda becomes vice chairman and president.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:02 AM | Permalink
August 6, 2007
Newly private Chrysler LLC workers and investors must be excited.
The company has named Bob Nardelli as its chairman and CEO, replacing Tom LaSorda.
Nardillo is perhaps best remembered as the former CEO of Home Depot who received a severance package valued at $210 million, including a $20 million cash payment, when he left Home Depot in January.
The move comes just days after private equity firm Cerberus took over the automaker. Cerberus Chairman John Snow had said last month that LaSorda would remain CEO of the ailing automaker.
Nardelli said in a news release late Sunday that he was "very excited to be part of a team focused on re-establishing Chrysler as a standalone industry leader, with a renewed focus on meeting the needs of customers."
See separate USA Today story.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:28 AM | Permalink
July 27, 2007
DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche is in effect saying good-bye to Chrysler employees Friday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
In an e-mail to Daimler and Chrysler employees this morning, Zetsche and Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda thanked workers for their service and urged them to continue their relationship with Mercedes on future joint projects.
Posted by at 4:44 PM | Permalink
July 26, 2007
Investment banks raising funds for the turnaround of Chrysler Group postponed a $12 billion debt offer after investors balked, so they will now fund the bulk themselves to keep the automaker's sale on track, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday, according to USA Today.
The banks, which include Goldman Sachs Group (GS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM), will fund about $10 billion of the deal, said sources familiar with the deal, who could not comment on the record because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Posted by at 11:16 AM | Permalink
July 20, 2007
What some are calling the most critical contract negotiations ever for the United Auto Workers union and Detroit's automakers open Friday at Chrysler Group headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., according to an analysis by USA Today.
It's expected that this contract may revamp how the industry deals with big issues such as wage packages and retiree health care, as well as smaller ones, such as work rules and break times.
Posted by at 9:56 AM | Permalink
With handshakes and smiles, negotiators from Chrysler Group and the United Auto Workers formally began contract talks today that many consider to be crucial to the survival of Detroit's three automakers, according to the Associated Press.
In reality, talks between the UAW, Chrysler, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. have been under way for months because there are so many issues to address.
Officials of all three have said they need labor cost parity with their Japanese rivals, mainly Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Studies have shown the Detroit automakers make around $2,000 less per vehicle than their competition, with much of that due to labor costs.
Posted by at 9:43 AM | Permalink
July 18, 2007
Chrysler, expecting tighter fuel-efficiency standards in the United States, has scrapped production plans for a large luxury vehicle to be built near Toronto, according to the Detroit Free Press.
In March, the local union at the Brampton, Ontario, assembly plant agreed to contract concessions in exchange for the promise of a $700-million Canadian investment at the facility to prepare for the luxury Imperial. The vehicle would have been larger and heavier than any car currently in Chrysler's lineup.
Posted by at 11:03 AM | Permalink
July 13, 2007
John W. Snow, the chairman of the private equity firm that is buying Chrysler, said Wednesday that a Senate bill to significantly raise fuel economy standards could devastate the American auto industry, according to the New York Times.
Mr. Snow said he was optimistic, though, that lawmakers would ultimately agree on a less stringent way to reduce dependence on imported oil. He said his company, Cerberus Capital Management, would fight the Senate measure because it intended to own Chrysler long term. Chrysler lost $1.5 billion last year and is cutting 13,000 jobs in efforts to reverse a long decline in its share of the United States vehicle market.
Posted by at 11:56 AM | Permalink
Chrysler Group says its new Dodge and Chrysler minivans, which will begin hitting the showrooms this August and September, will have thousands of dollars in extra content and cost thousands less than current models, according to AP
The suggested retail prices on the base model Dodge Grand Caravan will be about $2,000 less than the current model, and the base Chrysler Town & Country will be $3,585 less.
Posted by at 11:28 AM | Permalink
July 12, 2007
The turnaround plan that Chrysler laid out in February was one of the key things that made it attractive to Cerberus Capital, the private-equity firm that will soon own it. And Chrysler will continue following that plan with its current leadership intact, says John Snow, chairman of Cerberus and former Treasury secretary, according to USAToday.
In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club Wednesday, Snow said that he plans to give Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda the advice and money needed to successfully implement Chrysler's restructuring plan.
Posted by at 9:43 AM | Permalink
July 11, 2007
The United Auto Workers could end up taking responsibility for billions of dollars of retiree health care costs if Detroit's Big Three automakers can make the costly and complex transfer enticing for the union in this summer's contract talks, according to USA Today.
A deal might mirror Goodyear Tire and Rubber's recent union contract, under which Goodyear agreed to invest $1 billion into a fund controlled by the United Steelworkers to cover current and future retirees' health care expenses. Goodyear pushes a $1.2 billion liability off its balance sheet while the steelworkers' union gains an asset that protects retired workers' benefits and can't be touched by creditors should Goodyear ever file for bankruptcy.
Posted by at 3:32 PM | Permalink
July 10, 2007
Innovation has never been a guarantee of success, but rarely have striking new designs been rejected as emphatically as happened with Chrysler’s Airflow, according to the New York Times.
In an era that otherwise glorified the streamline look in everything from toasters to locomotives, the Airflow lived a short, tumultuous life.
It was born in 1934, and by the time it died an unmourned death in 1937, it had very nearly taken the Chrysler Corporation to the grave with it. As automotive styling fiascos go, the Airflow ranks with the Edsel and the Pontiac Aztek.
Posted by at 11:22 AM | Permalink
July 5, 2007
General Motors' U.S. sales plunged 21.3% in June and Ford dropped 8.1% while Toyota reported a 10.2% sales surge compared with a year ago, according to USA Today.
But Ford remained the No. 2 U.S. auto seller in June, edging Toyota, according to the June sales totals reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Nissan said its U.S. sales rose 22.7% and DaimlerChrysler's sales dropped 1.8%, the automakers said.
GM said it sold 320,668 passenger vehicles
Posted by at 11:00 AM | Permalink
July 3, 2007
Chrysler said today it was recalling more than 80,000 2007 Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Nitro sport utility vehicles in the United States because of possible engine stalling, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Chrysler Group, a unit of DaimlerChrysler AG, said the recall would allow dealers to reprogram a power module to remove the potential for a brief interruption of electrical power to the instrument panel and the engine.
Posted by at 2:24 PM | Permalink
Chrysler and China's Chery Automobile will finalize a groundbreaking alliance Wednesday in Beijing that could result in the first Chinese-made vehicles being exported to the U.S. market, according to USA Today.
The Chinese government has cleared the deal, a spokesman for Chrysler said Tuesday. A formal signing ceremony in Beijing featuring Chrysler Chief Executive Tom LaSorda is scheduled for Wednesday, he said.
Posted by at 11:57 AM | Permalink
Detroit's Big Three automakers are rolling out some of their most appealing discounts of the year this holiday week, counting heavily on 0% financing to lure debt-strapped consumers, according to USA Today.
Posted by at 11:52 AM | Permalink
July 2, 2007
Ford and Chrysler have followed General Motors in joining the United States Climate Action Partnership, a coalition working to reduce greenhouse gases tied to global warming, according to USA Today.
The alliance of big business and environmental groups told President Bush in January that mandatory emissions caps are needed to reduce the flow of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
Ford and Chrysler on Wednesday announced their membership in the coalition.
Posted by at 11:18 AM | Permalink
June 29, 2007
The Chrysler Group, preparing to go private under new ownership, plans to continue making public its monthly sales results, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The long-held tradition is important to continue, in part to avoid the appearance that the automaker has something to hide, Steven Landry, Chrysler executive vice president of North America sales, global marketing and services and parts, told the Free Press in an interview Thursday.
Posted by at 9:37 AM | Permalink
June 25, 2007
A promising, if so far underwhelming, fuel-economy technology is gaining momentum as automakers, squeezed by social and political pressure, look under every rock to gain even a few tenths of a mile per gallon, according to USA Today.
The technology goes by various names but by any name does the same thing: shuts off fuel to some of an engine's cylinders when the vehicle needs only partial power.
Chrysler just said that a new line of V-6 engines will have cylinder deactivation, starting in 2010. Honda says it will have an enhanced version of what it calls Variable Cylinder Management on V-6 engines in the redesigned 2008 Accord coming this fall. And General Motors says it will use the feature on a 2008 Buick LaCrosse V-8 and '08 hybrid versions of full-size Chevrolet and GMC SUVs.
Posted by at 11:37 AM | Permalink
June 22, 2007
The Chrysler Group unveiled more details Thursday about its new engine, transmission and axle programs that aim to improve fuel efficiency, a key component to the company's plan to regain profitability, according to the Detroit Free Press.
More than four months into Chrysler's turnaround plan, several key pieces have been falling into place -- even as the sale of Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management has deflected attention from what's occurring at the Auburn Hills headquarters.
Posted by at 10:47 AM | Permalink
June 21, 2007
With higher government fuel economy requirements looming and gasoline prices around $3 a gallon, Chrysler Group on Thursday announced several measures to boost the fuel mileage of its cars and trucks, according to USA Today.
During an event to showcase its 2008 models, the company said its new family of V-6 engines will have the ability to drop to three cylinders when less power is needed, raising V-6 fuel economy 6% to 8%.
The company also plans to place its new two-mode hybrid powertrain in more vehicles, put a clean diesel engine in the 2009 Jeep Cherokee sport-utility vehicle, and upgrade its 5.7-liter Hemi and 4.7-liter V-8 engines to get better gas mileage.
Posted by at 12:13 PM | Permalink
June 20, 2007
Chrysler says it plans to add about 100 new dealerships in established markets such as Western Europe over the next two years, as it focuses on expanding sales outside North America, according to Reuters News Agency.
The automaker, which has been losing market share in the United States, says it plans to double last year's sales outside North America to about 400,000 units in the next five years.
Posted by at 2:28 PM | Permalink
