Word: chrysler
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...operations of a wide variety of manufacturing industries. Worst off were the automakers, who stock only a few days' supply of some components. General Motors was forced to cut production and lay off 30,100 hourly workers indefinitely. Ford reduced shifts at 19 of its North American plants. Chrysler closed almost its entire U.S. operation, laying off 77,000 employees in 37 plants...
Weighing 2,500 Ibs. and having a wheelbase of 104 in., the new cars will be 800 lbs. lighter and 20 in. shorter than the compact cars they replace. But they will be slightly bigger and heavier than Chrysler's Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon and about 14 in. longer than Ford's Fiesta-three cars that GM's competitors have already introduced for the new era. Engineers estimate that the X cars will average 26 m.p.g. The cars will list for $4,100 to $4,500 with automatic transmission as an option. Independent, noncompany drivers...
...overall cost of auto regulation is breathtaking. Economist Colin Loxley of Wharton Econometrics estimates that GM, Ford and Chrysler will spend about $18 billion between 1979 and 1985 to reach the various pollution, mileage and safety goals set by the Government. Most of this inflationary cost, of course, will be borne by the buyer. According to GM's Estes, the price of a typical GM car by 1985 will be $945 more than it would have been without the regulations...
...costly demands of regulation stand to weaken competition within the industry. GM will gain strength, Ford will at least hold its own, while Chrysler and AMC will probably lose ground. The bigger the company, the less trouble it will have meeting the standards. GM last year sold almost half of all the vehicles bought in the U.S. and registered sales of $63 billion, roughly equal to the gross national product of Switzerland. GM is able to spread fixed costs across a much greater volume than its competitors can, and it can spend more for experiment and developing new hardware...
...market is worth maybe $2 billion a year, which in Detroit's terms is penny ante. But sales abroad of cars made in the U.S. are rapidly increasing. General Motors last year exported 125,000 cars, up from 98,000 in 1977, and both Ford and Chrysler are doing well. The strongest demand is from Western Europe, especially Switzerland, Belgium and the country where people have prided themselves on making some of the world's best cars, West Germany...