AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

L.A. Times Review of Chrysler Sebring Convertible
Detroit News Review of Chrysler Minivans
What's wrong and Right at Chrysler

Pulitzer-prize winning automotive journalist Dan Neil, auto-reviewer for the Los Angeles Times, recently published a review of the new 2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible. Did he like it? Here's a quote:

Not just bad, but a veritable chalice of wretchedness, a rattling, thumping, lolling tragedy of a car, a summary indictment of Chrysler's recent management and its self-eradicating product planning, all cast in plastic worthy of a Chinese water pistol. The Sebring drop top does something I thought impossible: It makes me long for the exquisite craftsmanship of the Pontiac flipping G6.

Oh, and the Sebring Convertible is homely, too.

If you want to know why Daimler bailed on Chrysler, essentially paying Cerberus to take over, you need to look no further than the
Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger. These vehicles replaced Chrysler's long-in-the-tooth Dodge Stratus and previous generation Sebring, and because they were six years in the making, they should have been good. Instead, they were instantly the worst cars in the midsized segment, not even coming close to matching competiters' cars that were scheduled for near-term replacements. I test-drove a Sebring shortly after it came out last fall, and it induced me to sell my Daimler Chrysler stock immediately. The Sebring was not even close to being as good as the significantly cheaper Hyundai Sonata that shared the same engine and just happened to share the same dealer's lot.

If you look at what Dodge and Chrysler dealers have to sell, things don't look that encouraging. They have a lot of fuel-guzzling SUVs and trucks. Most don't sell anywhere near the volume of their leading competitors. As far as cars are concerned, they have the 300 and the Magnum, these cars have a personality and are competitive with their class. The Sebring and Avenger aren't competitive at all. The PT Cruiser had a niche, but now it's at the end of it's life cycle and won't be directly replaced. The Caliber is considered to be an also-ran in the compact CUV category. True small cars? They don't have any. There are vague stories about importing Chinese small cars. I'm sure that will go over really well in the Dodge heartland.

The minivans? If Chrysler has hope in the near term, those hopes rest on the long wheelbase of the new Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country minivans that will debut in about a month. The first reviews are out, and they are generally positive. Here is the Detroit News review. The thing to remember is that Chrysler already had a commanding share of the minivan market, so to "turn around" the company, Chrysler will have to both take share away from strong import competitors and expand the market by taking business away from the encroaching 3-row crossover CUVs like the new Buick Enclave and the brand new Toyota Highlander. Here's something to consider when evaluating the potential for the Chrysler minivans to save the company. Only the top end minivans get a new engine and transmission, and that engine and transmission was not enough to ignite sales of the Chrysler Pacifica in 2007. (The Pacifica sales are down more than 20% in the year to date.) All of the models get more weight and length, exacerbating a slight performance deficit when compared to the competition. Only the top-of-the-line models get the new Swivel-N-Go reversible middle seat. The competitors aren't standing still. The new Honda Odyssey is about a year away, and the new Toyota Sienna is about two years away, less than halfway through a typical Chysler design cycle.

That leaves Jeep. You are either a Jeep person or not. I'm not a Jeep person. The Jeep line has been selling well. It's a profitable niche, but it's a finite market. It is what it is. What it isn't is enough to support a major independent automaker. Cerberus can unload Jeep and make a pretty penny. Cerberus can make money on its Chrysler buyout by selling Jeep (and maybe the minivans) and chucking the rest of the company. A lot of Chrysler stakeholders hope they don't.