Re: [FWDLK] Plymouth on the ROCKS

[Bill Watson <wwatson5@xxxxxxxxx>]

You should have written your letter in 1979, not 1999.

For the 1979 model year Plymouth offered only the Horizon and Volare for the
American market while Chrysler Canada also offered the Caravelle (a Diplomat
for Plymouth dealers).

For 1979 Chevrolet offered the Chevette, Monza, Citiation, Camaro, Corvette,
Malibu, Monte Carlo, and Impala/Caprice.  And Ford had the Pinto, Mustang,
Fairmont, Granada, LTD II, Thunderbird and full-size LTD.   How could
Plymouth compete?  It didn't.   Chevrolet built 2.7 million cars for the
1979 model year while Ford built 1.9 million.  And Plymouth?  382,112
(including Caravelle).  That same year Dodge built 413,169 cars and Chrysler
came with 349,450.  As I say, the rot surrounding Plymouth pre-dates the
merger by a couple of decades.

Plymouth went two years without a competitor for the Impala/LTD (1978 and
1979) thus losing what few buyers it had.  In 1977 the Gran Fury was offered
in 3 body styles and two series with model year production of 55,756 units.
When the Gran Fury returned for 1980 there was one body style in two series
and production came to 18,724.   The 1980's M body usually had production
just below 20,000 units and was not replaced when the M body was laid to
rest.  For Dodge the Diplomat was replaced by the Dynasty and then the
Intrepid.  But Plymouth was given nothing, instead having to live with
rebadged Dodges (Neon) or last minute decisions (Breeze).

If you go back and read the commentaries on Plymouth during the 1990's you
will find that Chrysler on more than one occassion was considering dropping
the Plymouth.   Thus the Neon was meant to be a Dodge with no Plymouth
version and the Breeze was introduced six months after the Stratus/Cirrus.
Chrysler made many declarations they were going to spend money on new
Plymouth models and more on advertising, but neither was carried out.

The pre-merger Chrysler's treatment of the Plymouth was a travisty,
especially given the need for sales to survive.  That it took 25 years of
neglect before someone finally pulled the plug on the Plymouth due to poor
sales (by the time of the merger Plymouth's sales were below Dodge and
Chrysler) shows just how strong the   Plymouth name was.  By the end there
was not much there any more.

As I say, the rot surrounding Plymouth pre-dates the merger by a couple of
decades.  It's tough to admit, but the decision to kill the Plymouth was the
result of  24 years of American inaction and bad marketing.  It would be
easy to blame an outsider, but you are just covering over the rot at
management level during the 1970's through 1990's..

I did not include the Voyager, by the way, as it is not classified as a car
and even its sales had fallen below the Caravan by the time of the merger.
And the Prowler, while an interesting vehicle in its own right, was never
considered a mainstream offering.  Just a neat idea to lure people through
the doors.

Bill
Vancouver, BC

----- Original Message -----
From: "eastern sierra Adj Services" <esierraadj@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, November 14, 2004 11:00 AM
Subject: [FWDLK] Plymouth on the ROCKS


> Yeahbutt, the Germans'  fatal-flaw, in exterminating the Plymouth, was
> their COMPLETE failure to comprehend  basic market-dynamics, and how
> brand-loyalty is established.
>
> The Bends has always been established as at the top of the automobile
> food chain, with a guaranteed Prussian-Excellence customer base. It/they
> never had to "market"  their product, which had very few competitors.
>
> It is claimed that the Germans'  primary interest, in buying (oh yeah: a
> Merger-of-Equals) Chrysler was to acquire the Jeep brand, & mystique (if
> you can't beat 'em, buy-em).
>
> The Germans had no iota about mass-market competition, and how/why
> "Brand-Loyalty" is established. They also knew nada about the concept of
> Loss-Leader, in attracting customers to an "economical"  product, to
> bring-em-in-the-door ( a legal form of bait-and-switch, which is used to
> influence the purchase of  a more-expensive product).
>
> Y'all are saying: I knew all this  s..t , but guess what? the Germans
> didn't!!
>
> Back  around 1990, ( and this is ALSO an indictment of Chryco)  there
> WERE enough unique vehicle/models, to establish an 'independent'
> Plymouth marque/identity. The Neon SHOULD be a Plymmie, (including a
> performance-version called:" Road Runner") as should ALL of the
> mini-vans (except for a Dodge R/T version, and the Chry T&C). Similarly,
> the (4-cylinder, econo-stripper) Breeze (remember it?) was a Plymouth, &
> Chryco shoulda made it into an  awd STATIONWAGON (to compete with
> you-know- who, & to attract  young "go-anywhere's", And, yeah, they
> already HAD the Prowler, AND the PT (which originally  'stood-for':
> Plymouth's Truck)
>
> The Dodges (would have) included an upgraded SIX-cylinder Stratus, & R/T
> version, the intrepid series, the hi-line vans & R/T version, the
> TRUCKS, & the Viper.
>
> Chryco had the two sedans: whats-its-name, & the LHS, AND the 300, and
> the T&C van, AND the Sebring convie!!!
>
> "See any significant product-or-market redundancy, above???
> Entry/Sport/Luxury levels, which could ALL be sold in one dealership, if
> necessary.
>
> One (the most significant) reason I quit the WPC Club (now considering
> myself to be an expatriot) is because I wrote an impassioned, but
> reasoned, treatise, an open-letter to the imminently Deadler-Chrysler,
> envisioning the not-yet-announced demise of Plymouth,  "explaining" the
> necessity of retaining that  brand, as an entry-level marketing tool, to
> the new/young drivers, that "then" only looked-at the 'imports' for
> fun/affordable/cool/anti-establishment transportation. I also beseeched
> the building of the Plymouth "Urban"  mini-car (with the bubble-side
> windows; can't recall its name, now!).
>
> So, what happened to my 'guest-editorial'? It got BURIED by the
> newsletter editor ( I also rightfully-disparaged the front-end stylng of
> the LHS & 300, which probably didn't 'help' its publication , any! ).
> So, I said Scroom, & left & haven't looked back (often).
>
> Neil Vedder
>
> *************************************************************
>
> To unsubscribe or set your subscription options, please go to
> http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=l-forwardlook&A=1

*************************************************************

To unsubscribe or set your subscription options, please go to
http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=l-forwardlook&A=1