Chrysler executives in the US are making their second sales plea to dealers in two weeks, urging them today to order 15,000 more cars by Monday to keep the company viable.
“You have two choices,” said Chrysler co-President Jim Press. “You can either help us or burn us all down.”
The executives said 70 percent of the dealer body had heeded the company’s request to order 78,000 vehicles they had been allocated for February. Press made the first plea January 24th at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in New Orleans.
“We’ve got to get the cash flow coming in so we can get to March 31st as a viable company,” Press said in a conference call to dealers this afternoon. “By doing that right now, we can begin to harvest the long-term benefits of the investments we’re making.”
“By successfully keeping the doors open in January and February, we’ll get the loan,” said Press, referring to $4 billion Chrysler has received from the U.S. Department of Treasury. Chrysler must submit a plan to the government by February 17th to show it’s a viable company. The government will decide by March 31st whether to keep the loan in force.
The automaker is seeking an additional $3 billion in US aid. Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau declined comment on the sales call.
If they want to keep their doors open they need to lower their prices significantly in order to move metal. Quite simple really otherwise they will burn. Instead of paying exorbitant bonuses and outrages salaries to top executives they would pass on these bonuses to the people who buy their cars and reduce their prices. All auto makers should do the same. There is no justification in paying more for less. Cars these days have no character and are all cheap and plasticky. Is plastic really that expensive?
TO ALL CAR MAKERS: LOWER YOUR PRICES OR ALOT INCLUSING MYSELF WILL HAVE PLEASURE OF SEEING YOU BURN.
Chrysler wants dealers to order and pay for cars that the dealers cannot sell, largely because of tight credit conditions. Transferring the risk to the dealers won’t solve the problem unless consumers are willing and able to buy.
Yep, they’re going the wrong way about it. Shifting the risk onto the dealers is a temporary bandaid solution for chrysler, and only to the get govt loan. They should lower their prices, reduce their profit margins etc for the time being so more people can buy their cars, so business keeps ticking through the tough times. Ah well, you can only hope for the best I guess.
Haha, Chrysler wants to take all its dealers down with it.
Beter to have the dealers sitting on dead stock than chrysler, eh.
“By successfully keeping the doors open in January and February, we’ll get the loan,” said Press, “and when we get it we’ll be able to pay our senior executives the massive bonuses they deserve for getting the funds. After that, we don’t care if the company liquidates, as we’ll have our well justified reward”
The local Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealer yard in brookvale is empty. The only cars they have in stock are the ones in their show room!
This lot are as bad as GM, producing miserably inefficient cars for years when they could have produced a class leading hybrid or electric car 8 years ago!
It will be interesting to see who out of Chrysler and GM are left standing as i think one of them will definitely go. It will be sad to see all the jobs lost world wide.
If one of Chrysler or GM has to go, pray it’s Chrysler.
For all its faults and foibles, GM has a vastly better arsenal of “future” cars , eg Volt, than Chrysler which has none at all.
Plus GM is Holden’s parent and Chrysler has zippo manufacturing presence here. Better to lose the Chrysler support jobs than the entire GM operation.
Let’s face it – if Holden were to disappear, would Holden buyers turn to Chrysler for their cars? No. Would they turn to Fords – some. Would they turn to full Euro/Japanese imports – yes, the majority.
This is desperation. What are the dealers supposed to do with the cars that Chrysler has forced them to buy? Force them onto retail customers?
This is actually Chrysler’s way of culling dealers without invoking State franchise laws. Force them broke under the weight of stock they can’t sell.
Hmmm, the way it’s going there will be some cheap 300C’s going around soon. Time to stock up on some 24″ bling bling rims!
I hear what your saying Reckless but I think the writing is already on the wall for GM & Crysler. What upsets me most, is if they both go under the dick head decision makers will find executive jobs but the workface will be stuffed.
I mean’t “Workforce”, sorry long day!
Reckless1 Says:
February 9th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
“Let’s face it – if Holden were to disappear, would Holden buyers turn to Chrysler for their cars?”
You could have said:
Let’s face it, if Holden stopped producing cars here, who would the Holden buyers turn to? Ohh, that’s right they already have – imported Daewoos.
In the main thy’re not a very discerning lot.
Thommo proves it’s hard to have a sensible conversation with an idiot.
Chrysler will go for sure.
Im pretty solid on that now.
this only backs up their short sighted, live for today, not tommorrow attitude they have taken to deal with this “credit crisis”.
First they announced they would use up the grant money to fund Zero percent consumer loans rather than fixing the company, and now they want to save themselves by shafting the dealers to try and show deserve to keep the government loan.
next step is on april 1 where they skip the country after government approval of $$$
I agree Andrew M Chrysler will fold whilst Ford and GM will continue even if its on a smaller scale or in a new form
Chrysler has been on life support for the last 10 years… I mean if Mercedes Benz couldn’t help them I don’t think anyone could
I have also read that the company which took over Saleen is looking at buying the Viper and SRT brand from Chrysler
Chrysler is like those pregnant mothers that get their doctors to defer the birth in order to get the baby bonus