THE NEW CHRYSLER, BY GOVERNMENT FIAT
By Michael S. Malone
When I read about Chrysler’s travails, I often wonder what my late father-in-law, Marvin Marschner, would think of it all.
My family was never a Chrysler fan club. My folks had one when I was a little boy – one of those wonderful late ‘50s models (not a 300, unfortunately) with the big fins, swooping roofline and that unforgettable push-button automatic transmission. But by the ‘60s we had moved on to a string of T-birds, and never went back. I own a Dodge Grand Caravan van, but that was an inheritance from Marvin, and a bittersweet violation of my life-long ‘no vans’ rule. It’s reliable and comfortable – but also the ugly duckling in a collection that includes a Jaguar, GMC Sierra pick-up, a VW bug, a ’36 Ford coupe and a Studebaker Golden Hawk.
Still, every time I drive the little van I’m reminded of Marvin’s enduring love for Chrysler. He had always been a car guy – not surprising for someone who had grown up outside Detroit the ‘20s and ‘30s. Trained as a draftsman, it was inevitable that Marvin would wind up going to work for the car industry. First it was General Motors, where he worked on dashboard design – until the war came, when he switched to cockpits on B-24s until he was drafted.
Three years later, he returned, picked up a degree in engineering at Michigan State with his GI Bill . . .and went to work for Chrysler. To hear him talk, it wasn’t just a job, but a calling. Chrysler didn’t have the history of Ford or the sheer monolithic might of General Motors, but it always had the best design, especially in the drivetrain. The Hemi – and when Marvin spoke of it, it wasn’t in the muscle-car way, but as an engineer describing a triumphant work of technology. The Bigger Two may have had the better revenues and market share, Marvin said, but Chrysler had the better cars.
In the early 1960s, at the insistence of my mother-in-law, who wanted to escape the weather and the family ties of Michigan, Marvin reluctantly packed up the family and moved to California to take a job at Lockheed. I don’t think he was ever really happy in a job again. And in the decades that followed, he always kept close watch on Chrysler’s changing fortunes. He still owned Chrysler stock, cheered the company’s turnaround under Lee Iaccoca (he even sent me a copy of the man’s book) and continued to buy one Chrysler or Dodge after another.
Marvin died almost exactly a year ago. I remember him, near the end, shaking his head in dismay at Chrysler’s growing troubles. But at least he was spared the catastrophe that has hit the company in the months since. Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep these days is a Dead Company Walking, artificially respirated by the Federal government at taxpayer expense. And its sole hope of reincarnation is to sell out to Italy’s Fiat.
Fiat! Now, I’m not going to indulge in all of the old “Fix It Again, Tony” stereotypes about Fiat cars. In fact, I’ve had friends over the years who loved their little X19s and 124 Spyders. Moreover, I’m willing to forget Fiat’s past failures in the U.S. market. Rather, I’m impressed that this historically Eurocentric builder of mostly utilitarian vehicles has shown the guts to make a run at international industry leadership – even taking on mighty Toyota. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne apparently believes that in the impending global automaker shake-out, the companies that will survive as winners will need to manufacture more than 5 million units per year . . .and he’s betting the store to be one of them. You’ve got to admire that.
Since Fiat’s current production stands at a little over 2 million, that means the company will have to increase production by 150 percent. It simply cannot grow that fast, especially not in this economic environment . . . so Fiat will have to expand by acquisition. That’s why it’s looking not only at Chrysler, but GM’s German operation, Opel (like Fiat, another historic failure in the U.S.).
If Obama gets his way, the UAW will probably end up owning them both!
The money lent to them is now gone forever.
In a year or two UAW motors will be back in DC with a begging bowl and their Democrat servants will throw them more of my money.
I think the real reason that Chrysler and GM will not be allowed to go through bankruptcy proceedings is that there is a chance that the legion of retirees (and their millions of votes) might lose out on the deal. Therefore both will be dragged along on taxpayer provided life-support until at least the next four years.
I have heard from reliable sources here in Michigan that GM expects to pay out in benefits several times the total value of the company over the next fifteen years. And they have been losing money for some time now. No amount of cute little “green cars” will be able to absorb the legacy costs, especially as nobody seems to make any money on eco-friendly vehicles!
From what I understand Chrysler is in the same position as well.
“…and their Democrat servants will throw them more of my money.”
That is very doubtful. It will be too close to the November elections. There are enough enraged voters to make a difference. The odds are that Obama’s poll numbers will be very low. We simply have to be relentless.
My thoughts are if the unions have such a control,in time what’s to keep them from controling the workers also. Sounds like a bad deal to me.
I want to go back to the days when the only transportation company we had to subsidize was Amtrash. It was a bargain compared to GM and Chrysler.
The UAW in control of Chrysler will spell disaster for the company due to a conflict of interest; the Union cannot run the car company & run the UAW simultaneously. Liquidation is certain unless the Government owned company keeps going back to the government to sustain it; this is not a sustainable business model. The Unions have written their own death sentence ironically for President Obama bending over to take it for the team…
Don’t buy GM or Chrysler. Help kill the UAW.
But…
It’s better to have part of something than all of nothing. I see no evidence that any of these automakers, Chrysler, Fiat, GM, have a plan to do anything differently than they’ve been doing.
The UAW is toast, because the more they use their political muscle, the less attractive their product becomes.
After reading Anton’s comment, I think he hit it on the head. The companies are already dead. The UAW realizes it. This is a Chicagoesque scheme to bail out the pension funds, or at least put four years worth of duct tape on them.
What Fiat gets out of the deal is the trademark. The price paid is about right for that.
Hey, the Opel GT was really cool! Those manual flip-over headlights, Corvette styling, the shifter ring that prevented accidentally hitting reverse. But if you lived in an area where roads got salted, the body quickly became Bondorama.
What a shame, I really wanted that new Camaro and I could could always use a 4X4 GMC pick up truck. New cars are way to expensive now and will only get worse. Maybe we should learn from Cuba and just keep the older cars and trucks running and forget about anything made by Obama Motors.
There will no GM or Chrysler products in my driveway period from this point on. If you come calling in your Omamunist ride, park the bee’ach across the street.
Remember back in 2005 when GM and FIAT had that deal where FIAT was going to force GM to buy FIAT? GM paid something like $2 Billion for the privilege of walking away from the deal.
Folks, it’s time to invest in Western Canada.
#5 David…Unfortunately, Obama’s poll numbers will never be terribly low, with the MSM propping him up. The late night comedians continue to joke about Bush, and give Obama a pass.
The big three will never see one red cent from me again, hello imports, welcome to my world.
Jim,
Whoa there, pardner!
Ford is still hanging tough, having refused to take the poisoned bait. I have no problem shifting loyalty from Mopar to FoMoCo.
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“What’s all this about stealing cash? The UAW earned every last penny of what they are owed. They’re no less deserving of it than Chrysler’s bondholders who purchased the bonds at pennies on the dollar, bought credit default swaps,”
Absolute rot.
1). The UAW’s unsecured debt falls *behind* the secured bondholders. That’s the *law*
2). The bondholders voluntarily accepted a lowere rate of return in exchange for lesser risk, believing that this President would actually respect the law.
3). The non-TARP bondholders have NO Chryselr CDS’s. None. That’s a propaganda fabrication.
4). The UAW is what destroyed the company in the first place. Deserving, my fanny.
President Obama will not remain propped up by even the MSM; they will turn on him when he does not live up to their God-created template. President Obama’s poll numbers will collapse & his vaunted popularity will shatter into tiny pieces. President Obama will be left holding the bag. And continue to blame President Bush. This line will not hold up under the MSM’s scrutiny. However, his collapse will come around 2011.
Get your fat asses ready to ride tiny cars. Or switch to Harleys.
CHRYSLER IS DEAD
Putting unions in charge of automakers is putting the fox in charge of the hen house.
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2009/05/proof-of-dumb-ideas-uaw-controls.html