hyperv6

Henry Ford should have replaced the Model T with a Mustang too. Hummer and Alpha were years appart and it was the image of the large Hummer that killed it not the acutual vehicle. The media and eco people painted it evil and it stuck. Most people had no clue the H2 and H3 were just a Tahoe and Trailblazer under the boxy body. The EXT did so well they kept it in production. The stupid reason is they did not make money or enough money. Kind of the reason GM went bankrupt in the first place building cars and not making money. Ya a real stupid reason. Lincoln did it two ways. Once they built the truck as the concept and hardly anyone cared as it was over priced and could not haul much. They then built it like a real truck and again no one cared as there really was no market beyond the King Ranch. The only kind of truck Benz could make here that would sell at a very high price is a modern Unimog like go anywhere type truck. Even then it would be very low volume and have to rely on global sales as a work truck at best. Trucks make money because Ford and Chevy can make 2-3 million a year. When you remove the volume there is little meat on the bone and it make it difficult to make money Volume is like printing money on any vehicle. in truck numbers it is crazy. The EXT was a very unique vehicle and not a bad vehicle but it shared little with many of the other trucks and was much more expensive to build. The Cadillac may have made money at its price point but the Chevy would have had trouble. Today it is not just about making money but making max money per investment. You will see more product go away just because GM has to make choices and when they have a choice between making some money or a lot of money the higher total will win every time. Just the added cost of building the body and cab of the EXT added much to the cost as it was different than anything else out there. They never even moved to make it a GMC should tell you much.

Yes there is a lot more here than just to say a mindless just do it. You have to first consider Benz in this country is really more known as a luxury car maker not a truck maker. Sure they have vans but that is about it and most people do not even notice them anyways. Also out van market is being eaten up with global designs and the traditional American van is only alive yet in the Chevy that will soon pass. Next the truck market here is very competitive. more so than any segment in the market yet it is still dominated by 3 brands plus GMC. To make money at this Benz need volume and at this point none of the big three have really made a dent in the luxury truck market with their luxury brands. Cadillac and Lincoln both did under perform and they both found they could make the volume with Denali and King Ranch. Even Hummer offered a pick up bed but found few takers. I just saw an H3 pick up the other day and though how seldom seen they are. Benz can market this truck as a lower priced model over seas first and then get the volume up so when they decide to go to this market they can just tart up the base model and let the volume work globally. We see this with their cars as we mostly get the better versions here and not the taxi cab versions. So with the global volume carrying the volume this helps make the lower volume high end cars in America profitable. All luxury brands are not all see the same way as they are here. BMW and Benz has a large fleet market and lower end market globally that we do not see. While they see Benz as a do it all car most people here just see them as only a high end luxury brand. Now Bentley is only a high end brand and is seen globally as a high end brand only. This is where Cadillac has an advantage as GM relies on Chevy and Buick for Volume it is less a burden on Cadillac to be a be all car to everyone. But even with that said the Cadillac was more SUV than truck and went away and Lincoln failed twice in the largest pick up market in the world. I am not sure you really would have to do a real numbers report to really get a grip of where this one would go fast. Trucks are not Vans so you can also discount that too. Keep in mind what is un Mercedes like to you is just the cheaper model in some other country.

Still you are not going to produce much boost with no real load on the engine. Why would it since keeping a car at speed or maintaining a constant speed takes so little HP. All the work is done at the initial take off and getting up to speed. This is how Ford does commercials with trucks pulling ships and Toyota towing a Space shuttle on level ground. DI just makes it so you can run more boost and be more efficient with distribution. Turbos do not work like a supercharger all the time. They are regulated at speed as you do not need the boost all the time. If they were loaded with boost all the time your mileage would really suck as the fuel would need to keep up with the air even when you don't need the power. Turbo charging when you really look at it is a variable displacement. That is why one mfg has been working on variable displacement engines as they could conceivably eliminate the turbo if they can make them work and make them reliable.

Have you got any boost readings at that speed? Most Tubo's have driven only produce significant boost under a load and RPM is not really a factor. In fact it is difficult to gain much boost at cruising speed generally. Todays turbo engines do not work like how many imagine them to work. Most boost is only under load and acceleration but driving down the road maintaining speed little if any is used. The HP needed to maintain speed is low so there is no need to keep the boost up. It is not like an Indy car where the boost is needed the entire time for max power. Odds are the drop in MPG is the fact the engine is just turning 3000 rpm VS. 1800-2200. This is why we are seeing more 8 Speed and 10 speed cars as the smaller engines need to turn lower RPM to be efficient but need the gearing to be able to perform. I have two gauges in my car the factory Autometer and a Aeroforce Scan meter. It also does boost, HP and about 32 other readings from the OBDII. It really tells the tail of the car as it even gives me Converter slip to how fast the right front wheel and left front wheel is spinning. I had a second Aeroforce for a while that I could just plug in any car and have found the same things going on on the smaller Turbo engines as with my 2.0. The trick I learned at speed is if you want boot at 60 MPH you need to slow a little and load up the engine and then it will react with much more boost. I can see 18-20+ PSI with the load. If I just kick it down at 60 mph it will just spool up to 8-12 PSI at best. Sure it takes off but not like it does under a load. One other observation is driving with the boost gauge. We all tend to leave out foot on the gas a little and it tends to add a couple pounds of boost. Now I have found you can zero or even hit a light vacuum and still maintain the same speed on level ground. I can even climb hills maintaining speed with zero boost. It can add 1-2 MPG depending on the vehicle and driver. I have not tested an Encore but I would not be shocked if it performance the same as the other GM engines like I have observed. GM like many MFG skip boost, oil pressure and other gauges because people just do not understand what they are reading. If they do it is like my SSEI where it did not have numbers. I do recommend the Aeroforce to anyone as it is such a great tool. Check out their web site as even in non performance applications it is a trick tool. If I sell the SS the gauge is going to my next vehicle. It will work on any GM OBDII.

I know many Trifecta tunes and they do a good job. I am just surprised GM has not put one out for the Camaro yet. The GM tune in the HHR not only gave more power but 2 more MPG. The secret is not the HP but the torque. The key to a DI engine is to get up to speed and off the gas sooner. More Torque does this. DI engines cut off the fuel when off the throttle unlike other FI system and no fuel goes in. At least that is what the GM performance power-train engineer explained to me. Tunes are easy to do and generally an additional 30-50 HP is no problem. Just make sure the engine management is not disabled at the shift points as some of the new transmission can be damaged there as most are designed to pull back power at the shifts. Most can take it some can't.

Not really. GMC is trucks and Cross overs. Jeep could be left to fill the niche that GM has considered but never moved into. they have hinted at a Wrangler fighter but never did it. The entire line up would change under GM as they would not be installing hemi engines and using Fiat based platforms. To be honest It is a neat dream but for all the changes they would need to make they could do it much cheaper to do it just at GM and not take the other models. The one thing Jeep adds that is of great value is the name and the Wrangler. Both are seen as global cars not just American cars and are well accepted globally. As for the rest. GM would have to invest so much to change it that it would be not worth the investment. Lutz had said his one great mistake was not making Hummer a GMC model and not a division. He said it would have been cheaper and easier to control. GMC could still do this under the GMC brand and do more rugged version of the Truck platforms. No need for the Hummer name. Just take these models to the next level.

The 200 was never a bad car. The problem always was it was just not a good enough car in a very tough segment. The car just was a mix of too many wrong things. FCA should have just given Chrysler the pull to make their own platform and placed this car on that platform to compete with the best in segment. Just making the car better than the one it replaced is not enough. Styling was find but the details killed this car and many of them were rooted at FCA not Chrysler. I agree to be an engineer at Chrysler right now must be like being on the Titanic listening to the band as the last life boat is lowered. I saw they were closing the Chrysler museum for more office space. I would thing many of these guys would be looking to go else where to do what they were really trained to do with proper funding. At the rate things are going Jeep and Ram may end up owned by China with VW hurting for money and most other players already owning their own trucks. I have often pondered what GMC and Jeep could have done?

Fiat has under performed since they came out. Now that they have been out the few people they did attract have either bought one or moved on. Fiat brought us a crappy modern take of a crappy old car. There was no real love or romance of this car. Fiat left here in shame with buckets of rust and broken timing belts behind. The new technology may have made them more reliable than they were but no where as good as other options. The problem with FCA products outside of Jeep and Ram is they are generally received as being better than they were but not better than others in their class. This is no way to change hearts and minds. The fact is the lack of money is showing and what money they are making is being wasted at Alfa when it should have gone into the volume brand Chrysler. A class leading quality Chrysler line of products could have funded all their adventures in Europe but now they go down by the bow as they expect Alfa to take on BMW and the like. Sotty that is not going to happen. They just don't have the time or money to compete. GM is making money with Cadillac and they will hold volume with the coming Crossovers. The rest of GM is proving profitable so GM has time to work on Cadillac and grow them to where they need to be. FCA time is running out and if they do not partner up soon they will be broken up and sold off. Well the parts anyone would want would be sold off. Toyota is out, VW is off the table with low funds so this leave few real takers that could financially help outside someone in China. You know when they start talking the already delayed RWD cars now back to 2021 things are grim. Fiat is not loved like Mini and suffered the same stigma that they have to carry on the same look to retain the retro feel. It wears thing when you are loved as well.

A gas Z71 crew long bed Crew can go loaded up at $48K sticker as that is what the dealer gave me to drive. No Diesel so it could go even higher. It did have I think the Midnight package with the cheesy roll car on it.

The Shocks for the Z/28 are around $2,000. I have seen take offs going for $1500 on E bay. The Tires are big money for the type and size 31". The locking diffs and other added traction hardware is a pretty penny. Then add a Diesel then it adds even more. Now keep in mind when I say it will start at $49K that means it pretty much comes loaded up with most options from the start. There will be a few add on parts but this is going to be a pretty complete package. My point is there will be no standard low dollar LS package offered with this model or standard cab etc. Now I would love to see a ZR2 2WD like package like some of the other companies have done. Do a lifted 2wd with larger tires and wheels with a lower price. This would give you the ZR2 looks and a cheaper package. Along add a Lowered ZQ8 package with the wider body panels. These two models would leverage out the tooling even more. The bottom line is I know how much it would cost to convert a truck like this with cheaper parts and it ain't cheap either. GM is not going to lose money here and low ball the price to where the Z71 is so start adding to the price for the privilege to own one.

Want to make a wager? Price a Z71 with a Diesel LT2 and just see how much it can go with out the fancy shocks, locking diffs and all the special body parts. I am looking to buy a Colorado or Canyon and my prices are coming up over $45K Now keep in mind when I say starting price that is a package that will have many things standard as you will not be able to buy this model less all the LT2 parts. The ZR2 will just take the Z71 LT2 package to the next level. You just need to price the shocks and you would not have posted what you just did.

Well last year they had to discount the Z/28 even as good as it was to move the old models. they were a hell of a buy at $50K. There is a market but there may be limits too. But if the waters are not tested here in the mid size segment you will never know. The fact this is not just another decal and paint package is nice and the fact they used really good hardware is great now lets hope it does not run off potential buyers to a larger truck model. keep in mind the Camaro was a slow mover till they put incentives on the SS and now it is doing much better. I think they found their limits. the fact is all vehicles are over priced today and some will hit a wall at some point the question is where just is that wall that will stop people from buying. Once you get to a certain point there are many other models to consider over a Chevy or even a Ford. At least in trucks the offerings are slimmer than the cars.

I get what he is saying. The real trail people like many of our customers they buy older trucks and build them to their needs. They beat on them, fix them and run them again. We get the Raptor guys and few are willing to take a new one and beat on them the way they were designed to new. Most of tese owners are buying trim parts and wheels but no real tail parts or winches to get them out when they get stuck like say a guy with a built old F250. I am sure there are some but most people buying these are like the ZR1 guys who never have done any track time. If this one gets too expensive it will be papered more than run hard till they get a few years on them. Now when I say customers I mean the kind of people that do Moab and such not the cow pasture. My customers break parts and dent bodies vehicle and passenger. LOL!

I think you are correct. The Gas Z71 fully loaded up can be found up to $47-48K sticker price easy. I expect this truck to be starting at $49K and going up from there. The shocks alone are a major price not counting the larger wheel base items, locking diffs and added content that is not available on the other trucks. This is the Z/28 of the Colorado. I have warned many that this will be a $50K plus truck easy if they did what I thought they would do and they even exceeded it in all areas but the engine. I had hoped for a little more V6 power. Nice truck but nothing I would pay over $50K for. Maybe if they discount them like they did the old Z/28 models it would make a killer deal. I do not expect that though.

In politics there are two kinds of politicians. Those who lied and those who are going to lie. I just heard Trump Is going to be inclusive with his staff. He has offered a place in his administration to Hilary. I heard he is going to offer her the Ambassadorship to Libya. LOL!

Here is where this view is short sighted. We are a large country and what someone in LA things, believes and feels does not represent the entire country. Same for New York or someone in Pittsburg. We as a country try to represent all regions so everyone in every area has some say in what the country does. To isolate power to 3-4 large cities would leave you with pretty much as the Movie Hunger Games played out. the elite and those in the cities would try to direct and force their will on people in areas with different needs and wants. They would not have any voice in government. Note what I just said a voice in government. Our system works where everyone has a voice. Many of us our forefathers came here because the power was held only by a few and forced upon many be it religion or just the way they lived. It is a dangerous way to live as those who have no say would be not much more than slaves to those who hold all the say. It is not about land but people of all regions and areas being heard not the chosen few who just happen to live in a few cities. Like in the movie and in this election the people in the fly over states would only take it for so long and they will rebel and many in the cities would parish with out the farms and product they produced as many in these cities could not grow a tomato if their life depended on it. We all need each other and just because you did not win an election is not the end of the world if that was the case it would have ended for many over the last how many elections. In life there are times of wins and when there is there will be losers. Losing is not an end but a new beginning and it is up to you in doing your duty and vote in the next election to make the change so you may be a winner. If there is successful there is someone unsuccessful. If there is a winner there has to be a loser. If there is rich there has to be poor. If there is smart there has to be lessor. We are not all the same and opportunity is what makes us different as a country. So many here complain they are disadvantaged waiting for government to do something for them but yet we have people who come here legally that make for a very successful life. Right here were I live there is a large Cambodian community. They came here in the 70's with nothing and I mean nothing. They did not take welfare as they all got jobs. They took care of their old and young and made them work hard in school. Today many are doctors, business owners and drive much more expensive cars than I have and own much larger houses than I live. That is something we should look at and hold up as an example of how to be successful in life. Yet other assault them and ignore the lesson they could teach. As for the electoral collage you have much more to consider than just land as it is to offer equal voice to the entire country not just the chosen few in cities. Keep in mind the half the country lives in Cities and half are spread out. this election was about 200K apart so everyone should be heard and the next election the collage may work to the Democrat as it did for Obama as Philly really pushed him over with 20 in Penn as most of the state went for Romney. It is not a perfect system but it is the best there is. Might want to do like Russia, Iran or North Korea and see what choices they get. Might note all the 88 counties are areas with a lot of decline, poverty and cities in default or nearing default. The rest of the people are going to end up bailing most of them out when it is said and done when their social experiment fails.

No side is pure and I never said they were. Most of their point were only talk and nothing more. Most was fodder for talk radio at best and was all independently done. What is going on now is calculated moves by Soro's and others to declare war on anything and I mean anything Trump does and he will use people not knowing his true agenda to get it done. He knows the way to destroy a country it to divide the house. Here is the state of this country. We have some far right people. We have center left and right that make up most of the people in this country and then you have the far left. The far right makes a lot of noise but are unorganized and do little other than make a head line once and a while. The far left is not what the Democratic party was created of. They have taken the party and placated to every little disenfranchised person and worked to build that base. They lost this election because they forgot there is a majority in the country. They will do what ever they can to remove our way of government for their own means. It is not about the people it is about their agenda and that is dangerous no matter what point of view you take. Our country is mean to work within its own system. Not everyone is going to be happy and that is why we have elections on a regular basis to balance the power. Some do not want to play by the rules so they are hell bent to change them. I do not like to argue politics as I am not a hard line Democrat or Republican. I look at what we need and what is best for the country as a whole and base my choices off of that. The fact is we are in trouble economically. The fact is we have to keep the electoral collage as other wise you will only have 88 counties in this country choosing leadership. Once people are elected you must live with it for 4 years as long as they do not break any laws. I was not happy with the last administration as they destroyed our standing in the world in my opinion. They took bungled policies from the previous admin and made it even worse. But he was elected and I just had to wait and watch and choose with my vote. That is how our system works and that is how it needs to remain. The protest are not going to change anything as they are a small minority in this country. Of them 1/3 are paid instigators. 1/3 are people that just like to loot and burn while the final 1/3 are good people that have no idea they are being used or should use better judgment on who they hang with to express their views. I would say the same if they were far right if they were that organized. Our country has faced some real challenges over the years many more far worse than what we have now. The point is there will be an election in 4 years and we just need to let them do what they are going to do and then express our opinion on their work in the voting booth. Many countries have no choice and with the way some are going after power they would remove that ability to vote if you let them in. You have freedom today and once you give it up the odds of getting it back are slim. Government is not going to save your ass. The people who have the greatest fear in DC of Trump are those making money off government. Many have turned their office in to fund raising deal for their own personal needs. We have seen it from the top to the bottom. Many good people go to DC but they have to change to survive as it is hard ball. They now have a guy that does not need their money and they are scared. The bottom line is we need to let them have their 4 years pass judgment and then decide. We did that with Obama for 8 and we survived regardless of what some said and we will survive with this too. We may could even end up much better off than you think too. People need to wise up and educate themselves on how this really are and how they work. the media will lie to you pretty much anymore. They fail to teach in school how our way of government works and why we do the things we do. It is up to us anymore to learn these things and know what is going on. While many point to China and Russia as our downfall the truth is we will fall from within because of people like Soros taking advantage of people and their lack of awareness and the greed of others with promise of power. I am done here I really don't like to get into this. I would much rather argue cars where no one gets hurt.

While so many are in fear of the two parties many not just here are missing the fact our system is under attack by many outside the political parties. We may not have a perfect system but it is one of the best in the world and if we want to retain what rights we have we need to stop the instigators. Moveon.org and Soro's mean to do our way of life great harm and he is not the only one. We have already seen controlled media and protest instigators that show up at spontaneous rallies with pre-printed signs. You may have hated Hilary or Trump but we have much more to fear. They are looking for weakness in our system and are working to convince people to join them that do not always know the truth or who they are joining. We have seen them in other counties too. Is what they are doing legal. Yes but we must remember everything Hitler did in Germany was also legal too. He used similar tactics to draw in many innocent people tired of the old ways of their government only to find what they grabbed onto was much more evil. We are on a bubble that could easily go to recession soon. Our economic grows is too slow and job creation has not been out pacing the number of people leaving the job market. This is a crack these cock roaches work their way in on and do a lot of damage. Today we must really do our thinking for ourselves as the web and media are so agenda driven and too often do not report things as they are. Recently even the NY Times even admited such. You don't want to believe it? Well just go back to Walter Cronkite. He was as liberal as can be but he reported the news as it was not as he wanted it. No one knew what side he supported. Today both right and left are guilty of pedaling influence and nor reporting hard news. To the credit of some they do say they are not hard reporters and do say they are analytical opinion driven Some are not honest and try to pass it off as news. The bottom line is I suspect Trump is not going to be any where as bad as many want to make it. Also we have much more dangerous people out there that are going un-noticed to the average public. The simple fact is we all need to accept the fact Trump is in office. I expect that he will do much to help the economy. On the other hand I also expect he will also do things that will make people mad on both sides as he owes no one anything. If he goes to do something that you do not like then use your voice to protest of your own. But to condemn a guy who has not even taken office well. Many did not like Obama and they opposed him when he went the other way and that is how you do it. There was no massive protest and he was not like just as much by many when he was elected. The fear of gun laws and liberal causes has some saying our country was doomed but 8 years later it is still here and will change again to still be here in 8 years as long as we let the system work. If Trump screws up then in 4 years vote for the next candidate. But beware we all need to really do our home work and know who is behind whom as there are some people out there that are not what they appear to be.

They too had a light due to oil but so far it was a sensor issue and not a pump. There has been the recall on the shifter and some other issues. They like the car but with so many issues in the first 5,000 miles it can be discouraging. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the time plays out. I had a T bird I liked but we had many issues with the brake, The Sway Bar started to come lose and come off the car, MASS Air flow sensor failure, The door hitting the trim and knocking the paint off, Etc. That was the first 30K miles. It was good till about 70K then the seats started to take a tilt inward with the floor sagging [we are not over weight]. The doors began to sag and hit the roof, Then the head gaskets were starting to take on water so we bailed. Chrysler has some people with few issues or ones willing to deal with it but of all the Chrysler buyers up to last year it was reported only 25% were repeat buyers. That is not good. I have driven their 300 and it is a nice car. The only thing that gave me pause was the shifter as I could see some older people including them putting it in the wrong gear very easily. I was not supervised when they recalled it. My fear is future electrical issues like we have seen with others. I tend to think since FCA took over they may have cheaped out on the parts they buy or they are from a troubles electrical MFG like their own division that is up for sale. VW was going to buy them but now with the Diesel issues it is up in the air. Well the car is here and we will just have to see how it fairs. Right now the RWD platform needed replaced about 4 years ago and I will be shocked if it ever happens. I would not be surprised if FCA is broken up and Dodge may fade away with Chrysler. Few companies have the time or the money to invest in a brand with only North American markets only.

Well there are other things in play too. #1 GM is no longer just dumping cars on fleets. Other makers are also feeling the decline but many are dumping them on fleets. #2 GM no longer has to keep building cars to keep people working as there are generally less UAW contracts paying lots of money to idled workers like it used to. #3 Gas prices are always subject to change. #4 GM has raised profits with better ATP and lower cost in anticipation of the coming decline in the market. So profits are still coming in and retail sales increased even on some of these cars with only a loss of fleet sales. GM is also far from the only one slowing and shutting lines. The media has really been misleading on the web on several sites.

As of now Chrysler is in trouble and Fiat is even in deeper global trouble. If they do not merge or find a partner they will die. I am not going to sugar coat it as things are not good and will only get worse the longer they have no partner. As for GM and Ford. Ford was going broke and because the banks did not fail was able to leverage their plants for a $23 Billion Dollar loan. They plowed that money into small FWD cars, small engines and Aluminum trucks while cutting cost and losing the luxury prestige brands like Jag etc. It was the responsible move but it has also hurt them that they left the larger SUV models to grow old. Now with low gas prices GM has a newer large SUV line and has found it has made them more profitable than they could have imagined. GM owns the large SUV market at near 50% while Ford is at 13% and most of that is rental fleets. GM averages $9K profit on each Tahoe while Ford failed to capture these profits. This has given GM a $2 Billion advantage and why their profits are higher. Ford did nothing wrong it was mostly just bad timing with fuel prices like GM did in the 80's. Ford has the new models coming but with the market slowing down it will slow sales and profits. Now with that said if gas prices go up Ford and GM both will be in good shape on small cars and small SUV models. Back to Chrysler they have no small cars other than the under loved Fiat. They have some larger SUV models but only the Jeep ones are moving well. The Trucks are selling but only with big money on the hood and no real replacement coming soon. GM has a new model about 1.5-2 years out. GM also has the small trucks to add volume and value to the people shopping lower prices. When it comes to cars and new models it is about good engineering, smart planning and it still comes to luck. Right now Ford did the right thing but is paying the price for the lower gas prices they just could not predict. They will survive it but with lower income and a large debt they will have to temper some development and this is why Lincoln will not become what Cadillac is at this point with a lot of work on new specific models. Even with that things like a recession could hurt Cadillac in the end but who can predict that too. Now GM in a way was lucky to go broke later as they got the Government bail out and was given an advantage Ford did not get. Though Ford did take a lot of money from other government programs and from the department of energy. So they were at a disadvantage at Ford it was not as great as they like to claim as there was other money they did get from the government. Anyways here is the Forbes story it is accurate and well written. http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2016/11/08/ford-made-all-the-right-moves-in-the-recession-so-why-is-gm-reaping-the-benefits/#319b5e77534f The real question coming forward is the global economy and the auto market slow down. Who while be in a good place if and when it hits? On one hand Europe is a tough market right now and if tanks it will hit Fiat and Ford harder as they have a larger chunk of it. GM while they are hurt now not owning a major part of it this could benefit them if thing go south there. These are not givens and all we can do is watch and see just what happens. Trump and his new ideas can change things here and we are going to see how that works. As it is now we are on a slow decline and can hope things turn with some new policies. The way I see it the three strong MFGs are Toyota, Ford and GM right now. Honda will need to do some partnering to share cost like they have with GM and I expect that could expand under increasing cost so they can remain independent. VW is struggling under the Dieselgate cost. They will survive but how much damage is yet to be seen. Audi was caught on a new cheat this week. Everyone else it will be up to controlling cost and partnerships in sharing development cost.

I have been reading a book about the automakers back in the 80's-90's> They told about how the Panther was really an accident. They had intended to kill the car off but ended up keeping it as they poured their money into the Taurus program. GM killed off all their large cars and most of their FWD cars thinking gas would get more expensive and it dropped. Ford left with the old paid for Panthers just made a lot of money with the sedans. They did have an issue with the Cougar and T Bird as they were over weight and no where as profitable. The same is happening today with the large SUV models as GM owns the segment with about 50% of the market and Ford owns very little of it with their old models. Here again Gas dropped and left Ford with little like GM was in with their cars in the 80's. The best laid plans are often thwarted by things beyond the automakers control.

The truth is by 2021 there may not be a Chrysler or Dodge. The fact is they are being starved for funds that could save FCA and at the rate it is going all will remain will be the Jeeps and Ram. The real question will be who will be the FCA partner or owner and will they at this point invest in the line. As it is now these cars are stale now and only to the dedicated hard work of Chrysler engineers have they been able to keep these cars on the radar with some special models and features. Even then it is still not enough. Sergio feels he will save FCA with the Italian models being rebuilt in the Jeep money. This is the wrong path as Chrysler taking the lead would have saved them. I only see Jeep and Ram being of any interest to any outsider MFG. I saw this coming when they were bought by Fiat as Fiat was a Titanic of their own making and I could not see them being any benefit to Chrysler. In fact it has been much worse they have turned into a parasite sucking the life saving blood money from them.

The Jeep is like a cockroach you can damage it you can abuse it and you can poison it but it always falls back to the regular Jeep model and survives. No matter what happens Jeep will survive with the basic model. Renegades may come and go just as Patriots and Compass but the Jeep itself will always remain and someone will want it. The Jeep Wrangler is the one and only true American global model that everyone considers one of their own. It is not seen as just an American model. WWII I think saw to this. I think Toledo is safe as where would you move it where it would be a better deal? Fiat got a hell of a deal from the state and they will remain there for a good while as long as the union does not get too pushy. As for the Charger people buy it because it is cheap. I have two kinds of co workers who own Chargers, Those who are die hard Mopar fans. The others are someone looking for a heavy discounted RWD sedan. My Inlaws bought a 300 new because with all the discounts it was cheaper than a loaded Malibu. But they are finding like I did on my T Bird that the quality issues are making owning it a Challenge. Recalls and false engine lights and electrical issues have dampened their spirit to the point they will not repeat buy again. They are far from alone. Sergio has robbed Chrysler of the profits from Jeep and plowed them into Alfa and Lancia. This was a major error. Even with the new Alfa being interesting it was late to market and had many issues we have yet to see if they have been solved yet. There is no way they will challenge BMW and make back the money. There is talk of this platform going under the new RWD Dodge and Chrysler but with out the V8. That is a death sentence as it will be an expensive car and people expect a V8 option. I think there is some real issues between Chrysler and Sergio now. The engineers and designers can't be happy. They are starved for funds and are forced to make due with such old models. The Hellcat as cool as it is was just an old program they resurrected to buy time for the new car. They are now adding AWD just so they can use the power they have now as the RWD alone can not handle it. Yet even the AWD will not be on the Hellcat. as it will only get bigger tires and wheels. We already know why the name Ram is on the trucks vs. Dodge. It gives them their own identity so they can be sold off if the need arrives to anyone with no baggage of the Dodge name to deal with. The Germans abused Chrysler and the Italians are now raping them of their cash. I just do not see a good outcome unless they get a new leader at FCA that cares. The cars would die fast and only the trucks and Jeep hold any interest to any buyers. No one wants Fiat and Alfa and Lancia are not high on any list of buyers in this slow market. Iconic names but damages badly. I think they sprung Ferrari not just for the money but also to make sure they did not die or get sold off from the Family.

The 200 was a nice car but it was a average to below average car in the most competitive class. They styled it nice but it was on old FCA bones. The best reviews were a nice car and a better car than the Sebring but not a great car. This was a good solid single when they needed nothing less than a t The other issue was hit with many recalls as have other FCA models of this time period and it did not help change peoples minds. Too many just defaulted to the Honda or Toyota, Many also went to the Ford and even now Malibu. As for Jeep they have been given more funding to do more. Also Jeep is seen as a international brand so they can sell globally much easier than any Dodge/Chrysler product. Chrysler established the Jeep brand that was already known globally in the 80's and it has been accepted well. Now if vehicles like the Renegade turn out to be a modern day version of the Chevy Tracker that sold good the first time only to give owners many issues like rust and warranty issues it could change their future. Jeep for the most has always had quality issues be it rust of the CJ5 or just bad engines and other bits. Many are willing to put up with it because of the type of vehicle. But the new ones can not afford that and will pay the price in repeat sales. Chrysler is second to last in repeat sales. Many have given them one chance and moved on with their next purchase. Only Mitsubishi is worse. I really suspect FCA will have to merge with someone soon or this whole thing will fail in the auto market slow down. They have too many models and they have many issues with controlling cost and improving quality. Many models and brand will die in this I am afraid. Don't like being doom and gloom here as I have seen too many brands die and want no more American brands to be lost. But it is coming like it or not.