More on FIAT/Chrysler Deal

[sptcoupe]

So how did the Chrysler Chief get his FIAT 500 here?

JUSTIN HYDE'S NEW YORK AUTO SHOW BLOG
Chrysler's Press touts Fiat
BY JUSTIN HYDE • FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF • APRIL 8, 2009
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NEW YORK -- In a bit of wish fulfillment, Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press kicked off Chrysler’s spot in the New York auto show by arriving in a new Fiat 500.


The wishing didn’t end there.
At T-minus 22 days in the Obama administration’s countdown for Chrysler to merge with Fiat S.p.A. or face bankruptcy and a likely shutdown, Press evinced no signs that the company was in a crisis for survival.
“We’re dreaming about the possibilities for the future,” Press said as he practiced the Fiat’s Italian name, “Cinquecento,” adding that “the whole car is roughly the size of the Hemi engine.”
The Italian lessons are Chrysler’s best hope, per the Obama auto task force’s finding that absent Fiat, “the combination of a fundamentally disadvantaged operating structure and a limited set of desirable products make standalone viability for the business highly challenging.”
Yet during the unveiling the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, Press repeated several times that it was “business as usual” at the automaker – excepting of course, the negotiations with the federal government and creditors for survival.
He told reporters the company had not tapped a federal line of credit for this month, that the $6-billion pledge from the Treasury for a Chrysler-Fiat deal was sufficient, and that 30 days “should be ample” time to complete the deal.
“We’ve had nothing but good news since the beginning of this month,” Press said.
And the early reveal of the Grand Cherokee -- a year away from showrooms – comes because chief engineer Frank Klegon “and I are just bubbling over with excitement.” Chrysler says it has eight new vehicles coming in 18 months; the task force counted four new nameplates from now to 2014 absent Fiat.
While the company was seeking a renewal of its $1.5 billion financing boost for Chrysler Financial, Press said sales would strengthen from the lows of the past three months, as Chrysler’s U.S. sales are off 45% through March.
“We’ve had a much more relatively positive first quarter than many of you would think if you only read the headlines,” Press said.
He means the ones where the president of the United States, after hiring a team of Wall Street experts to scour through Chrysler, found that it had unrealistic projections of its future vehicles, current engineering skills and overall finances.
In other words, too many wishes.

[mdrburchette]

Here's more on the NY show:
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/b ... tdeal.html

[So Cal Mark]

I was just reading that Fiat has put off trying to relaunch Alfa in the US due to the Euro-dollar relationship. Chrys is trying to fast track the 500 and hopes to get it here by mid 2010. It will be a US spec version with redesigned bumpers (oh boy)

[Kevin1]

One of my first posts on the FLU message board about Fiat's return to the US was a joke about "americanizing" the 500 if they sell it here. "US bumpers" sounds ominous. Before they are done there will be a 7 passenger, hemi powered, AWD crossover 500, billed as "the 500 REAL Americans have been waiting for"!

If they mess it up too bad I might have to go with a MINI instead.

[SpiderHead]

Oh FFS... In the long run, Fiat might be better off to tell the government to keep their dirty money stolen from our children, and wait for Chrysler to hit the auction block.

-Ryan

[speedracer]

I've got alittle story that doesn't bode well for an American return for Fiat.

I just went to the DMV to register my spider, and when the girl behind the counter saw it was a Fiat, she began laughing, then turned to her co-worker who was a male in his late thirties maybe and told him I was registering a Fiat. Well, he began to laugh to. When I asked what was so funny, they told me they were just talking about the possibility of Fiat returning here and thought they would be a big flop because he remembered how terrible the cars were the first time around. I said that was a long time ago, but they continued to laugh. True story...unfortunately...

So apparently, Fiats bad reputation might still hound them...

[mbouse]

So apparently, Fiats bad reputation might still hound them...

change one word in your statement and i will agree. change "might" to "will"

any quality slips by Fiat in the U.S.A. could drive a stake deep in the heart of the return efforts.

and i agree with Ryan. Why should Fiat be in such a big hurry to get here. We aren't buying cars right now anyway. we aren't buying much of anything right now. Left to its own, LLC will fail. Ten cents on the dollar for the assets bought in bankruptcy auction (including the failed dealerships) would be money well spent. you can sure bet that if Fiat gets in bed with LLC before a bankruptcy, Obama and his cronies will expect to have the Italians at his beck and call for a long time to come.

[mdrburchette]

What you say may very well happen, Mike. Fiat says there's a 50/50 chance of closing the deal and it all hinges on the UAW agreeing to lower employee wages to that of foreign manufacturers in the US. Marchionne also says he will not ask for an extension of the April 30th deadline from the government :

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/ ... GY20090415

[mbouse]

sounds like the canadian union is a big stumbling block according to this article. i worked at a place once that folded do to several factors not unlike LLC is facing today. it is a tuff pill to swallow when your line worker counterparts, neighbors, and friends refuse to do their part to retain their and your jobs. there was resentment for many, many years by the ex-salaried staff to the ex-union employees after that plant closed. made going to the grocery store a chore for a long time.

i hope the C union wakes up to see that sub-pay only goes so far, and eventually they will be outside looking in. it is probable that they are holding their own fate in their hands.

april 30th is not that far away, and bankruptcy helps no one.

[So Cal Mark]

yes, all of those factory workers should be really happy about working for minimum wage with no benefits since that's where we're headed. Minimum wage in Kansas is about 3.50 an hour, maybe we can build new plants there to keep costs really low. Soon we'll be able to compete with El Salvador for living conditions

[mdrburchette]

Mark, don't you think that's a bit extreme? Nobody is asking the union to cut wages to minimum wage. However, what makes the Big 3 workers worth so much more than the foreign auto workers? What also makes their job so special that they get paid more than a line technician that has to go to school to figure out how to work on these high tech cars? But you're right. I think they should stand their ground and just not have a company to work for. Go UAW!

[azygoustoyou]

I was watching motorcycle racing the other day and saw Fiat and Yamaha were associated together. I wasn't aware that they were joined in motorcycle racing.

[racydave]

Go Studabaker!

[speedracer]

Mark, don't you think that's a bit extreme? Nobody is asking the union to cut wages to minimum wage. However, what makes the Big 3 workers worth so much more than the foreign auto workers? What also makes their job so special that they get paid more than a line technician that has to go to school to figure out how to work on these high tech cars? But you're right. I think they should stand their ground and just not have a company to work for. Go UAW!

The big difference is the fact that the Big 3 have been in Detroit for nearly a century, so they built up good benefits and pay over all those years. Remember, there was hardly no competition during most of that time, so all was well - the company made money and the workers made money.

Now we let the Japanese and others come here, (companies that are subsidised by there govts. back home) build plants in tradtionally non-union, low wage states and all of a sudden there the good guys!? Hooooray! Less money for the working class! Give me a break!

We should all want everyone in this country to make as much as possible. We should not be rooting for companies that pay low wages. These companies are ripping us off and are bringing down our standard of living.

Darn right, go UAW!

[wengr]

Oh FFS... In the long run, Fiat might be better off to tell the government to keep their dirty money stolen from our children, and wait for Chrysler to hit the auction block.

-Ryan

Could not agree more. and if fiat or anyoneone else buys portions of chrysler, government bailout funds should be repaid before any other disbursements. Interesting how fiat suggests the obvious - that current uaw compensation does not allow for a viable business, wants wages more in line with honda etc. and there is so much resistance to it? $21 - $22 an hour plus benefits is far far above minimum wage anywhere. If everyone is so worried about the long overpaid uaw worker why celebrate the makers that have sent so much production to Canada or Mexico? Japanese, Korean, BMW, etc. have long been creating jobs and solid businesses in this country while the big 3 has been moving them north or south. Chrysler is not viable and a burden to the taxpayer. If your advice to the uaw is to stand firm, then when chrysler dissolves, why don't you form an "adopt a uaw worker program" Then you can pick one and send them your money and keep me out of it.