Chrysler Would Outsource Everything But SUVs?

This is the year of cutting SUV production.

If you don't believe it, ask Ford, where they're idling manufacturing plants because they can't sell the things; ask GM, which is closing four SUV plants; ask Hummer which is on life support, sending its long-time foes into giddy prognostication of the future of the auto industry (hint: it's not hybrid SUVs, either).

So, then. What would you say to a company that said it was going to outsource everything but trucks, SUVs and other vehicles whose sales seem tied to the fate of oil prices?

Hold it, don't tell us -- tell Chrysler, which is looking into just this sort of decision, according to the Wall Street Journal. Regarding Chrysler's potential deal with Nissan:

A deal would signal a dramatic change in the way Chrysler operates, at least in its passenger-car business. For decades, major auto makers have taken pride in marketing their vehicles as products of their own engineering. Chrysler plans to continue developing new trucks, sport-utility vehicles and minivans itself, from the ground up.

A partnership with Nissan on midsize sedans would put Chrysler on a path to becoming a marketer and seller of cars made by others. Under its earlier agreement with Nissan, which is based in Japan, Chrysler will start selling a subcompact car made by Nissan by about 2011. Chrysler also has a deal under which China's Chery Automobile Co. will make small cars for it.

Is it crazy to hold onto just that one card, or are they brilliant for swimming upstream on this one? By the way, oil prices stopped falling...

Comments

[avraamjack]

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I would never get an SUV. They are too small.
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I want size AND economy. Chrysler has just the thing:
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http://www.dodge.com/en/2008/sprinter/
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[Leeberal]

I think Chrysler wants to hang on to the Jeep brand .. not a dumb move I guess.

Its sad whats happening to Chrysler after it was bought by its current owners

[Faith101]

Those hybrid cars are looking more and more appealing.

[95flhtcu]

One of the great benefits of this oil crisis is that we'll all get to drive the same tiny cars eventually. I happen to LIKE driving large vehicles. Different people like different things. that's why there are so many choices. Gas isn't going anywhere near 8 dollars a gallon. Not in the U.S.. If the people that are all anti-truck want to refocus their anger, start looking at all the old cars that are in disrepair all over the country. Those cars are consuming more fuel and putting out more emissions than the new SUV's. Of course, these are owned mostly by poor people so your anger wouldn't be politically correct. I for one would like to be able to choose to buy a truck if I want one and am willing to absorb the costs associated with it.

[Paul]

The real benefit of the oil crisis is that we will realize that the automobile is expendable..

Why pay $10K or more per year just to get to work and around town? Mass transit is the way to go - it will save the average family thousands.

[KPinSEA]

Time and comfort, mostly ... I ride mass transit to work regularly, but there are definitely drawbacks. In the winter the bus drivers crank up the heat to subtropical temps. because they're sitting by the cold door. People ignore the rules against eating on the bus and drivers don't like the hassle of enforcing rules.

Except for straight A-to-B home/work commutes, mass transit is a very time-inefficient way to get to your friend's house, the zoo, or the golf course. Maybe it'll come on time ... maybe it won't. Maybe you'll have to change from one line to another.

In extreme-density urban locations like Tokyo or New York or London ... not much lost of efficiency when taking the subway vs. personal transportation.

In the less densely populated cities of western America ... huge difference in time lost when using mass transit .... and time is a very finite resource for all of us.

[wdw101]

we do not have mass transit here........so i will be driving for a long time

[KillTheMessenger]

Good trolling.

[wdw101]

i agree......i will drive what vehicle i want when i want......where i want......i like my suv

[MajorKong]

I always figured I can rent a truck for the one day out of the year I need to move a piece of furniture.

[ramper]

Bring back the Yugo!

The only reason it is gone is because they could not conduct any crash tests. Why you ask? Because the crash dummies refused to get into the damn things.

[sherardg]

Bonzi !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We won the battle but lost the war.

[watchingthings]

Maybe they can be used to build an artificial reef. The natural reefs are dying anyway.

[cheshirecat831]

The sociologist Thorstein Veblen talked about "conspicuous consumption" and I suspect many SUV drivers are simply thumbing their nose at the "poor relations" who are driving econo boxes while they swan around in their huge vehicles. Just human nature.....

Talking Pez Heads
http://sfbaysailingpix.com/pez2008p1.htm

[KillTheMessenger]

Well, I whistle happily while I fill up my Prius to the rim while I am watching those SUV folks who buy gas for a twenty to make it home. I am happy because I know that I won't have to do that again for a full two weeks.

:-)

[degenerate1991]

Get a Metro, it gets better mileage, and doesn't come with those big, environmentally unfriendly, batteries

[wdw101]

it is just a safety thing if my vehicle is bigger and stronger than most vehicles on the road......if in a car accident i win........it is very simple......if you want to cut someone off, make sure you are not driving a shoe box car and cutting me off, cause i drive a Ford Expedition.......it can eat shoe box cars.......

[FatherWolf]

The dorkiest guy in my office -- and extreme dork -- drives a big black Cadillac Escalade. I'm sure he forgets how dorky he is, sitting up there in the big ole seat playing semi-driver.

[Paul]

What's it cost in repairs and extra insurance once your Expedition eats one of those shoe boxes? Got a good body shop that works cheap?

How about a simple turn? Is the Expedition prone to tipping over? Or do you under-inflate the tires to keep the center of gravity low enough like Ford once recommended?

Safe?

I don't htink so.

[iheardthisbefore]

The only thing that will save Chrysler is merger talks centered on selling the company
with the understanding that Tata will retain the Chrysler nameplates.

Did anyone HONESTLY think that Cerberus could pull this off?

[blooddoc]

Owners of SUVs are either living in a state of denial or stuck with a vehicle they can't trade because they're upside-down on its value. Big trucks (F-150, Silverado, etc.) will stick around a bit longer because some people need them for work or live in a rural area where roads dictate a sturdier vehicle. Bottom line, gas is not going to drop significantly or for long, and owners of these big rigs will continue to experience pain at the pump. It's as much a cultural shift as an economic one - one economist speculated that gas would have to rise to nearly $5 a gallon and stay there for about 5 years before Americans would make a major shift to higher mileage vehicles and change their driving habits. In the meantime, Exxon-Mobil, the Arabs, and Venezuela will continue to eat our lunch.

[JoeBlough]

Or they are part of the Military / Industrial complex and are simply "living large".

[KPinSEA]

Exactamundo .... I bought an F-150 8 years ago because it would tow my boat and not fall to pieces when driving to Nat'l Forest hiking locations in the summer.

But it would be a lousy daily commuter, so I choose to live someplace with good mass transit connections to where I work and I drive only 7,000 miles a year in that truck.

A vehicle is a tool, and people should select them as as the right tool for the job they'd have it do ... unfortunately they are also treated as a fashion accessory, a status symbol, a giant piece of furniture, and a lot of people buy tools that are very poorly suited to what they'll use them for.

[lisakaz2]

Perhaps the first step in having no manufacturing jobs here. They'll be American in name only.

[mcartri]

Where's the Corvair, Pinto, Gremlin, Vega, and Chevette when you need them?

[degenerate1991]

Actually, most of the early subcompacts, particularly the Gremlin, couldn't even get past 25 MPG, let alone reach a respectable speed in the process.

[therealredstateblues]

We are already pretty far down that road already

[loki]

why do they have pickup trucks on a story headline about SUV's? Cant Huffpo people even tell the difference? They must be ivy greed educated or something. Or is Ariannas nephew working here again?

[MajorKong]

Not as much difference as you think. Most SUVs sit on a truck chassis and use truck running gear. They're little more than a very expensive pickup truck with a roof over the bed.

[fishsandwichesr2good]

SUVs are here to stay... at least as long as we keep our borders porous. Just today, 9 illeg..., I mean undocumented immigrants died in an SUV rollover packed with 19 passengers.

[johnmorgan]

Good. Let's get rid of those gas-guzzling, polluting SUVs which all those self-centred yuppies bought to impress their neighbors.

As far as I'm concerned, an SUV driver is saying "I don't give a damn about the future of the planet. All that matters to me is me." I'm glad they get to pay $4 a gallon to fill up those damn vehicles.

[mh01]

Yeah, but they are really good at hauling stuff around when I go do actual work on projects to conserve/develop habitat for pheasant and grouse......

[KillTheMessenger]

You might do that. But most people's truck does not have a single scratch in the back. It's pristine as ever because they are probably afraid to lose resale value (which at this point is a joke). Or they just don't need to haul anything.

[Blivet]

.......so you can shoot and kill them.
That's a real patriot.

[mh01]

Hey blivet. Previous attempt doesn't show up, so here it is again.

Ancillary benefit, but a benefit no doubt.

Other direct benefits:

Retiring cropland, often times permanently through the purchase of land and contribution of that land to conservation trusts.

planting trees to replace land deforested by lumber interests.

returning cropland to native grasses, increasing the total number of ALL birds, not just pheasants. More habitat for rabbits, foxes, deer, etc. etc. etc.

Getting rid of drain tiling: Less runnoff, fewer pesticides and fertilizers, cleaner ground water, less silt in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds increasing livable habitat for aquatic species and water fowl.

More vegetation to get rid of that awful CO2 that we are all so concerned about.

ANd yeah, once a year I get to shoot a few birds.

Like a typical environmentalist, you see only the 1st tier, and don't care about the next 10 tiers. that's why I'm a conservationist and not an environmentalist, because we actually do something to conserve our natural resources, instead of just talking about it.

tell me what's not patriotic about that? ANd what have you done? I'm sure when I check tomorrow, there won't be a response.