THE Chrysler Thread (merged)

by **IslandCrow** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 09:23:58

The Beeb had an interesting report of a meeting where the chief economists of the three big US car companies spoke.

The BBC wrote that the views expressed $this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'a')re also consistent with the cynical view held by some in the US environmental lobby that announcements by car companies about the future development of green vehicles are nothing more than window dressing.

by **EnergyUnlimited** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 10:01:50

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')hrysler economist on 'quasi-hysterical Europeans'

by **KevO** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 10:13:56

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')hrysler economist on 'quasi-hysterical Europeans'

by **IslandCrow** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 11:49:12

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KevO', 'B')ut is shows the car companies true colours. They have no belief and no intention of EVER going Green

by **TommyJefferson** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 12:14:24

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KevO', 'B')ut is shows the car companies true colours. They have no belief and no intention of EVER going Green so in short sell all your shares i Ford, GM and Daimler/Chrysler coz all them guys are going down the pan!! and good riddance to

by **Zardoz** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 12:18:59

Economists are as predictable in their pronouncements as the rising and setting of the sun.

by **EnergyHog** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 12:39:49

Green cars? What next a peaceful machine gun? An honest politician?

I work in the auto industry and as if you all didn't already know this; there ain't one damn thing about a car that is "green".

by **IslandCrow** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 14:27:56

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyHog', 'G')reen cars?

by **thor** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 14:39:21

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyHog', '
')I work in the auto industry and as if you all didn't already know this; there ain't one damn thing about a car that is "green".

by **nero** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 14:59:42

How about a "Green-er" car. It would be nice if their was sign they were moving in that direction. Afterall we aren't going to be replacing our housing stock in the next 10 years.
*sigh*

by **Chicken_Little** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 15:07:34

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TommyJefferson', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KevO', 'B')ut is shows the car companies true colours. They have no belief and no intention of EVER going Green so in short sell all your shares i Ford, GM and Daimler/Chrysler coz all them guys are going down the pan!! and good riddance to

by **chris-h** » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 15:40:26

green car = bicycle

by **Revi** » Tue 15 May 2007, 14:37:37

I just read this in the business section of the paper:

"...Cerebus will invest $5 billion in the new Chrysler automotive operations, $1.05 billion in the new Chrysler's financial arm and pay $1.35 billion to Daimler Chrysler. But the German Automaker agreed to absorb 1.6 billion in restructuring related costs and loan the new company $400 million. Depending on whether the loan is repaid it's out of pocket costs could ultimately total $650 million."

I don't know, but it sounds like Daimler-Chrysler is paying Cerebus to take the company. They are going to get the 19 billion in pensions too, so it's probably not such a great deal even if it is free.

John Snowe who was treasury secretary is the head of Cerebus, so I wonder what they are planning.

by **bshirt** » Tue 15 May 2007, 15:52:45

I bet that's the swan song for mopar.

It's sad, even though inevitable.

by **Revi** » Wed 16 May 2007, 08:11:05

I'm sure that there will be parts around for quite a while for chrysler products, but I'll bet that Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler will be downsized quickly. There are going to be 13,000 layoffs to start in the US and Canada.

This is the first of the big three to be liquidated. I'm sure that they will keep it going just long enough to pull any good stuff out and then scrap the rest. We've seen it with the paper mills in our state. A big company will buy the mill and the land and sell off anything worth selling then put what's left up for sale. With the auto industry the company is obviously worth less than nothing. There are all those pensions. They'll probably dump them onto pension benefit guarantee, which is the government's problem. The pensioners will get a fraction of their pension when it's all said and done. We'll see...

by **Newsseeker** » Wed 16 May 2007, 08:14:33

Not a good investment if you ask me.

by **Pablo2079** » Wed 16 May 2007, 09:52:21

I bet some of Chrysler will be purchased by a Chinese company and Jeep will be sold to another company... not sure who.

To get rid of the pensions, they'll probably have to declare bankruptcy at some point.

It's tough for the big 3. Too many legacy costs. It will also be tough on all those people that were counting on the pensions.

by **TreebeardsUncle** » Wed 16 May 2007, 16:09:50

The cover article in yesterday's Sacramento Bee's Business section was:

All agree: Chrysler needs a jump-start

with the following sub-headings

Analysts, buyers say carmaker must revitalize products

and Divorce Reflects pitfalls of global auto marriages.

Does anyone think it is purely a coincidence that Goldman Sachs,
Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley have arranged a deal to dismember that which they put together in 1998. Now Cerberus Captital Management can now get an 80% stake for $7.4 billion dollar so the total price for Chrsyler is $8.88 billion. If one does not adjust for inflation that is about 24% of the value that is was sold to Dahmler for in 1998. If one estimates inflation to be just 2% a year on average, that means it has in effect been valued at just 20.2% of its 1998 value (assuming that 2007 dollars are worth 82% of 1998 dollars). Is it also coincidence that I saw a 1996 Chrysler Jeep Grand Cherokee for sale for about $3900 yesterday (near Howe and Arden). Note also the followup subheadings for this article:
Analysis: Chrysler one of many partnerships that have collapsed
and Reaction: Poor sales blamed on bigger vehicles.
(Another aritlce in this same section is entitled Lenders urged to help ease defaults. Elsewhere in the Sac Bee and also in the S F Chronicle were articles noting that government revenues are down due to the housing slump since assessments for property taxes and sales tax revenes are down. )

Now Cerberus was the same private equity firm that bought up Albertson's. I heard they are a liquidator. That means Chrysler has been bought by ....

THE CHOP SHOP!!!!!

by **basil_hayden** » Wed 16 May 2007, 17:03:14

Yeah but it's got A HEMI...LAWL

Cerberus appears to have a great management group that knows how to cut the fat, and it's private so there's no public stockholders to answer to, and they've already done the due diligence wheeling and dealing with the Union, so this shall be interesting. I think they just bought some other auto parts companies too. I'd bet Chrysler gets lean and mean in 3 years, passing Ford and approaching GM for second place overall behind Toyota. Iacocca's latest book implies that an American car company can't be run from Stuttgart, Germany, guess he was right.

by **Tyler_JC** » Wed 16 May 2007, 17:33:45

Over the Top in a Jeep

I don't understand it, according to this article, the sale of Jeeps is booming!