Word: omni
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Chrysler Corp. Chairman John Riccardo boasts that 25 years from now, when automen look back on 1978, they will remember it as the year in which his company introduced the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon. The cars (or car -they are identical except for trim) are the first subcompacts to be made in the U.S. with front-wheel drive, and are supposedly the forerunners of a new generation of gas-stingy little autos that are surprisingly roomy inside and handle well. Early results seemed to justify Chrysler's optimism. Motor Trend, a magazine for auto buffs, named the Omni...
...last week Omni-Horizon faced some of the most serious safety charges ever hurled at an American car. Consumers Union, the influential nonprofit, product-testing group, announced that four Omni-Horizons it examined had failed two tests for stability and handling at expressway speeds (about 50 m.p.h.). The organization produced a 43-second film, rerun on several TV news programs, showing the Omni-Horizon careening terrifyingly. Consumers Union's conclusion: the average person might not have the skill to handle the car in a driving emergency. In the July issue of its magazine, Consumer Reports, C.U. will rate...
Detroit's subcompacts did well against the imports, whose prices rose as the dollar sank relative to other currencies. Models such as Chrysler's Omni, Chevy's Chevette and Ford's Mustang II cut into foreign makers' share of the U.S. market and drove it down from 21% in January...
Chrysler had problems on just about every front. Its car deliveries dropped 6.6%, partly because of recall problems with the new Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon subcompacts, and competition from Ford's new Fairmont and Zephyr compacts. Truck deliveries fell 20% as squabbles in Washington over new emission and safety standards delayed plant changeovers and production startups. Though the tide has turned−sales of cars and trucks rose sharply in April−Chrysler expects an "unusually long" plant closing for a retooling this fall to neutralize the gains. Unsmilingly, Riccardo predicted: "The last nine months of the year...
...major sour note in the industry is Chrysler's deteriorating financial position. Sales of the compact Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon, the first small front-wheel-drive cars to be made in the U.S., are up to expectations. But these cars appear to be snatching some customers from Chrysler's own Volare and Aspen...