Bill,
I totally agree with your analysis. Lido had his day and there was a time
when I would have voted for him as president. His strong point seemed to
be in recognizing talent and creating enough of a diversion to allow the
truly talented to be productive. His weakest point was loving the
spotlight to the point of believing his own PR and taking credit for the
successes of others -- especially the truly talented.
The way things are going, I see the future DC lineup looking somewhat like
this:
rwd cars - german engineered
fwd cars - japanese engineered
minivans - chrysler
light trucks - dodge (perhaps badged Freightliner for export)
I seem to recall a quip just after the merger when, in response to a
query about how to say DaimlerChrysler, the answer was "the Chrysler is
silent".
I wonder what Walter P would have to say about all of this. Personally,
I am disgusted and considering leaving the fold for my next new car
purchase. It will be very interesting to see what will happen to the
Viper if Mother Mopar can't start moving more Chrysler/Dodge badged cars
through the dealerships in the near future.
-mel
morning for Plymouth from the Oregon rain forest
Mel Lester Jr. meljr@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.connet80.com/~meljr
On Thu, 30 Nov 2000, Bill Watson wrote:
> We seem to be forgetting that Lido chose Eaton over Lutz as his successor.
> Lutz departed in May, 1998, after Eaton declined to place him on
> DaimlerChrysler's supervisory board, six months before the merger, and not
> because of the "Germans". Tom Stalkamp departed DaimlerChrysler after a
> disagreement with Eaton (he was all but outright fired), and Eaton chose
> Holden as Stalkamp's replacement as president of the American auto division.
>
> If you love Chrysler, and want it to survive, pray that Kerkorian and
> Iacocca do NOT gain control of Chrysler. The great things that happened at
> Chrysler in this past decade were post-Iacocca. Mr. Iacocca is a great man,
> but his tastes and perceptions are a little out of tune with today's market.
> And it took the LH cars to prove that. Kerkorian is only interested in what
> he can get out of it - and if that means selling things off piecemeal to the
> highest bidder, so be it.
>
> The problems that lie at Chrysler's doorstep today in North America were
> created by Chrysler in North America, and not in Europe. The decision to
> restrict production of the PT Cruiser was made in Auburn Hills, not
> Stuttgart. The decision to kill the Plymouth was made at least six years
> ago in Highland Park and not in Stuttgart last year. And take the
> anti-German hype of the media with a grain of salt.
>
> One web writer announced that dealers were upset because the "Germans" were
> not going to advertise the new Sebring line as heavily as the PT Cruiser as
> they did not want to strain production, as happened with the PT Cruiser.
> Within 24 hours of reading this garbage, I read two magazines that had ads
> for the new Sebring, and every night after that while watching television,
> there have been ads for the Sebring. The Chrysler Sebring is pushed every
> night on A&E, for one. So much for honesty in reporting!
>
> When you compare sales of the Chrysler Cirrus/Sebring with last year's
> Plymouth Breeze/Chrysler Cirrus/Sebring, and the Chrysler Voyager with the
> Plymouth Voyager of last year, you can see how and why Chrysler is
> suffering. The decision to axe Plymouth is turning out to be akin to
> slitting your throat.
>
> Bill
> Vancouver, BC
>
>
> > Larry Jett wrote:
> >
> > > NO NO NO, not LIdo....it's Lutz we want. Lido turned out to be a bit of
> a
> > > villan himself.
> >
> > Don't think of Lee as a villain - he and Kerkorkian wanted to buy Chrysler
> and
> > just think of where they would be now if that had happened! Lutz would
> still
> > be there so would Gale, et all. Not only that they probably wouldn't be
> in
> > financial trouble as they are now. Don't sell Iacocca short! He may be
> > arrogant but he knows cars!
> >
> > Even if this whole thing dumps, Lutz has another job now anyway...
> >
>
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