Word: chryslers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...When Chrysler announced early this month that it will close the aging Detroit plant where workers assemble the last of the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon models, the situation had ominous parallels to the calamitous early 1980s. Only six years after its fabled turnaround, here was Chrysler embattled again, posting losses on its North American operations for the first time since 1982. Amid persistent auto-industry speculation that Chrysler might be forced to merge with a foreign partner, here was Chairman Lee Iacocca declaring that for the company to survive, it must cut at least $1 billion...
...alarm spread through Chrysler, executives at other automakers -- American, Japanese and European -- were coming to the same conclusion: the next 15 months will bring a bloody battle for sales in a slumping U.S. auto market. With 30 car companies and an unprecedented 600 models on the scene, and with ten Japanese "transplant" factories in North America expected to help create an excess carmaking capacity of 2.7 million autos by 1991, the marketplace is certain to be littered with casualties. A leading indicator of the struggle was the dismal performance of Detroit's Big Three during the July-September quarter...
...While Chrysler's predicament has some surface similarities to the recessionary days of 1981-82, the current U.S. auto market is an utterly different place. American carmakers have made huge strides in improving production, quality and design. But they face a competitive threat that would have been unimaginable back then. The Japanese transplants account for 14.7% of all passenger cars sold in America, up from 8.9% two years ago. Detroit, which has seen its U.S. market share plunge from 84% in 1978 to 68% this year, is likely to lose another 8 percentage points by 1994, according to a study...
...start, sales of the South Korean-made Hyundai Excel have plunged. While Nissan has performed well in 1989 on the strength of higher-priced models like the Maxima, it suffered from poor sales between 1985 and 1988 because of weak marketing and a stodgy product line. Says Laurel Cutler, Chrysler's vice president of consumer affairs: "There's no market for products that everybody likes just a little. Anything that's boring is vulnerable. I would say that the midsize market is rife with vulnerability...
...owners of new American cars reported 163 glitches. Even so, the quality competition has drastically boosted value for the car buyer: before 1960 the typical U.S. auto warranty was just three months or 4,000 miles. Today Chevrolet offers basic coverage of three years or 50,000 miles and Chrysler covers selected models for five years or 50,000 miles...