hyperv6

When it comes to names not a thing is wrong here that a well build, compelling styled well priced car could not over come. To be honest there were few name plates that were not damaged at GM but the Malibu has been one that while it was on some weak models for a while it was not one of the worst cars they offered. The first step it to build better build better looking cars. We have that now. Next to price them well so people will be tempted to get their butts behind the wheels to find out they are as good as reviews and GM say they are. Finally you earn the trust of the buyers and add to your rep with word of mouth praise and future purchases. Honda was not created on the little S*$T box we first saw and it took a decade to really make headway. Same with Toyota and even BMW. At least GM is not starting with no fan base so that will help cut the time. This car priced right will make the top three in the segment. It will make money and only contribute to the reputation of GM and Chevy as the present Cruze and Nox already have and as the C7 and Camaro will be. Even the Impala has a good thing going now but could use better marketing.

It is all about the future. They all know they will have to cut weight and this is how they will do it. While not all of their cars will be FWD they have had to enter the segment to make sure they have their footing in 10 years from now. Also add to this while enthusiast are not FWD fans the fact is most people in the market want them. Too many believe that they can not get around in the winter or even heavy rain with out FWD. I think many forget how many decades we did fine in RWD even with out all the electronic controls. Marketing of the need of FWD in the 80's and ingrained the lie and today many still believe heart and soul. The automakers can remove a lot of weight with a FWD transaxle and it makes for more room in a smaller car too. This is what they are interested in not winter traction.

Not entirely true. Tires in many cases are now getting smaller. Cadillac has tried to cut the size of the tires and wheels on most models to cut weight and unsprung weight. They are not going to 20-22 inch wheels as they can get the same or better results with smaller lighter wheels and tires. Sway bars are not bigger but better matched along with softer springs and magnetic struts and shocks. The old days of bigger tires, bars and stiffer springs are over and better design and integration is what is working. The secret are things like GM's is Mark Stielow who is one of the leading suspension engineers and one of the many who has been freed to do what they can not just what they are told. The major move at GM was the disbanding of the GM Performance Division. This high skilled group took poor cars and made them into super cars. Now they were taken and integrated in new car platforms from the start. Computer engineering and the idea that less is more like many Euro models have done for years. While GM made cars that were amazing on the test track they failed in the real world. While testing at the Ring may be cliché it really give the extreme conditions of the real world roads and not a perfectly paved black lake or race track. Smart engineering is where companies are making progress. At GM empowered engineers are where they have made the greatest gains. For too many years they had the best engineers but kept them on a leash and underfunded. Today these engineers are empowered and funded to a degree we have not seen in years. That folks is why we have cars like the CTS and Z06 able to do things that pre GM bail out was seen as impossible for a Front Engine Sports Car and a 4 door sedan. This is more about people and not so much just technology alone. Check the track record of GM's improved drivetrains and suspensions and it is tied to the arrival of Bob Lutz who changed the Culture. I know a driveline engineer who said Bob told them he had their backs and now do what you can do and wait to be told to do it. Hence the ZR1 engine. The sheet metal gaps were a mess and Bob asked if they could do better and the engineer said yes but they were not told to do it. Bob said done wait and just give me the best gaps you can. This became the 08 Malibu the first GM product to have class leading gaps. The GM Performance division was given room to work under Bob with John Henrency and they made cars like a Tahoe and Cobalt turn times at the ring right with a Camaro SS. The tricks they used is some technology but most is just plain good engineering.

Are SUV's in this segment selling well? Yes. Are the companies selling them making a great profit? Yes. Is there anything that Anyone with a sound mind should be bitching about? No People like them and people buy them and usually load them up and make them a very high transaction price model. This is about making money isn't it?

Tires help but the truth Is many of these cars are using similar rubber. Also last year they said the Z/24 was all rubber till they put the ZR1 tires on that are harder and it still turned nearly similar laps. Tires help but the rest the car is a whole package here not just a partial package like we used to get. The new cars are not just bigger tires and a rear sway bar anymore. To be fair to the Mustang it is better than the car it replaced. Also the Turbo 4 is no GT but it is good for a 4 banger in a car that is not all as light as it once was. It is just here to set the pace for more engine options as we move forward into CAFE heavy times. The Camaro 4 is not going to be an SS either but both Turbo cars will lend themselves to cheap and easy upgrades in power as for small amounts of money you can add 50+ HP. I think the Camaro will gain an advantage with the extra refinement and the extra money it cost and will give a little more everything and lower laps because of it. Does that make the Mustang a bad car? No but the Camaro may just be a little more compelling,. In this game it has always been back and fourth and now is Chevys turn,

SMK it is time to grasp reality here. What Jeremy offered were subjective comments that are generally not echoed by others. One mans harsh is another mans performance. Lets put this also into context too, anything that can compete in this time class performance wise will also share similar attributes or they will share slower times like the McLaren. As for the Ecoboost you had better pay good attention. The Ford V8 is not for long unless Ford management has a change of heart. If you note the new Ford GT has a ......... V6 TT. There is no V8 even non Turbo offered. How about their show case Raptor truck? Hmmm well no there is no V8 offered it will be a V6 TT. Word is that the top line Mustang may be also seeing the same engine V6 TT per reports that have leaked out. Time will tell on this one. The fact is Ford is unlikely to TT the V8 as they would have done it for the top performance models already but chose a V6. That should speak volumes to those who play in the real world. Kabong I really think you are right. The numbers from Cadillac are pretty tough and the Camaro will see similar numbers. The Mustangs so far posted are now giving the times needed to meet the challenge. The key I think is not jus the engine but for once the Camaro is the complete package. I have said this is the first Camaro that was built as a no compromise car and got the proper funding to do it right for once. I think some people will have their eyes opened with the SS and just wait till the upper models show up. You may be able to rev the Mustang to 8,000 RPM but then again you might have to in having any change of keeping close. These are just the examples of the New GM Culture that is enabling their staffs to do what they can and not wait to be told to do it. This also is the net gain of proper funding for once. Now as long as Sergio does not F up the momentum in a take over fight GM should see some long term gains and progress in product and sales.

Well the Corvette has become two cars. One is the affordable sports car. You can still buy a Corvette for a price less than a 4 cylinder Boxster and still get better resale out of it. Second version is the Affordable Supercar. For less then $100K you can buy a car that will best cars 3X the price. With the C8 they may create a class of sports car never seen before an Exotic that is affordable able to do things never imagined. As Jeremy Clarkson said of the Stingray the Corvette was a car that was a great car for the price and now it is just a great car. To be honest anything under $100K today is a bargin as even the price of a Malibu and Fusion today are closing in and even over $40K today do paying $60K for a Stingray and $90K for a Z06 is not all that out of line. The fact is no cars are cheap anymore. I just saw a Snyder from China. $6995.99 and you only get three wheels! As for the Z/28 you can get a GT coupe that can run laps all day, that is street able and is as fast and stable as a 911 GT2 at nearly twice the price. What I find telling here is how far the Mustang GT is behind the older SS 1LE. Word is the new base SS will be as fast or faster then the 1LE and if that is true there will be large gap. Based on what we have seen with the Alpha cars I expect the Mustang may not be as close as I expected to the new Camaro. GM engineers have really stepped up their game in suspensions and we are reaping the results. 442 you can take the village snob out of the village but he will then just be a snob no matter where you take him even when proven wrong.

Well GM is the one who is using their engineering like they can for once and showing what they can do by doing it right. Lutz enabled the engine guys and they gave us the ZR1 and now the Z06 engine. Then they built the GM Performance Division. They took basic cars and fixed them to be real track performers. Today those people like Mark Stielow and others have been integrated into the stock production programs to make not just only performance versions but the better base models. Today GM's goal is to make the complete package and not just offer a engine and a stock performance package that only just adds stiffer springs and bigger tires. They have made the complete package that will run with the best not just on the track I might add. They want the cars to go, stop and turn with the best and today we are starting to see this. I own a GM Performance tuned HHR SS not because I had any love for the HHR but after driving it I fell in love with the engine and how it handled. This thing is a blast and can still haul a load. They tuned it not to the limit but to the point where it can take on the real world at the limit. It will not bust my fillings out but yet it will keep up with just about anything in the turns and the engine is more than enough to run 13's and 160 MPH top end if you really want to get stupid in a box. As for the standard models their handling is much better than it has been ever. The standard cars will handle as well as some performance cars of the 80's yet ride better.. It is not crazy to see a Camaro Z/28 out run a AMG or even a Porsche. It is just proof of the new GM culture that is letting the brilliant people GM has on staff show what they can do if you back them up. For too many years they worked with one hand tied behind their back. Lutz set them free and Mary has continued the work.

Well we agree in some things and in others You see the glass half full and I see it half empty. I just see Alfa today as a company run by an idiot that is betting the entire FCA future on this outside of his claims to try to take over GM. To be this would be like Mary Barra saying she was going to bet the entire GM future on Cadillac. Now if Sergio would move to Mopar for Volume and Alfa for additional income the deal could work but he has it ass backwards. They will use the Alfa platform for the future Mopar RWD cars if they ever get there. Note they have been delayed because of many claims but it come down to money. This is not how you fix Chrysler though. Fiat and Alfa are not going to build cars that are easy or cheap to modify and that has been key to Chryslers performance cars much like GM and Ford. Alfa and Cadillac have been damaged but Cadillac has a greater advantage of being a company that can focus on quality and profits at lower volumes where Sergio is wanting to go higher volumes at higher prices into markets that really are very reluctant. He expected Fiat to be embraced with a series of big hugs as he would say. As of now sales are well below expectations the brand name is still damaged here in North America. {Hard to get past FIX IT Again TONY} The Italian cars in general have often been a mess post WWII. The only bright spots have been the super cars that got a pass on reliability and also often the design house styling that was off the chart. {I love a 250 GT Lusso so much it is unreal}. As for the rest the only reason Italy is not last in cars is because of France. Chrysler was on the right path with many of their cars and mostly just lacked a good small group of cars. The Germans did not care for the smaller cars and one even considered going large car only. The Dart is not a bad car but it is far from class leading. It reflects the lack of funding from FCA to Chrysler to do it right. I will give credit to Chrysler for doing so much with so little but in todays market that is still a path to bankruptcy. The 500 is a non starter. They would have been better off making it a Chrysler and just sold it in the dealers they had. Today many dealers are wanting out as sales are dismal and the reputation still haunts them. The price is close enough you may as well buy a Mini if you are going to go to this class. As for the building of BMW in America I agree they went from unknown quirky cars to where they are today. But note too it took a long time from the 60's to the early 80's to do it. FCA does not have the time or the money to pull it off like BMW. Nor the leadership either. Then on top of this we have over capacity in Europe Sergio has refused to address. We have a failing economy in Italy and Europe as a whole. We have a brewing middle east issue that I fear will end up in war and drag Europe and possibly us into it. Next you mix in the added competition on the market today and I find it hard to make a case for FCA and Alfa. The greatest hope is keep Alfa a low volume company, Make upper lower priced sports cars alone with some sporting sedans that sell at a higher price point but still under Ferrari. Sell at the higher price point but lower volumes. Put the money into Mopar and let them build cars of world class and volume even if you need to you could rebadge them in Europe and Latin America as Fiat or what ever name works. What we need to pay attention to here is Mopar is suited to make volume cars at a higher profit. Play to your strengths. Lets put it this way. Sergio is with Fiat like I am with the Cleveland Browns. I am dumb enough to be a loyal fan even if they have been constant losers. But we depart at one point because while I am a fan I don't bet on them. I have Swiss, English and German heritage in my back ground but I really just call myself American. My Great X5 grandfather was born on the boat coming from England in 1690 so to me that was a new start as the first land he stepped on was North America. I acknowledge my back ground and it may account for my love of Chocolate but my people help set the boundaries for the colonies here so we tend t keep with just being American. We did set the boundaries in negotiations between William Penn and Lord Baltimore. LOL! Keep in mind I understand Alfas history well but they went through a period like Harley Davidson did with AMF in the 70's that they never recovered from. Fiat as a whole did more damage than good. We had a Fiat dealer here out in the country and I can tell you I saw it struggle for years. It got to the point they only sold the Bertone X1/9 once Fiat pulled out. Alfa struggled just the same and for many of the same reasons. By the way I like the debate. You too don't take anything personal. I just try to stand my ground and with words it may not always come out Rainbows and lolly pops. Nothing is never meant to be personal. We agree half way here but the end game is where we divide. I just think Alfa would be better served as a lower volume brand with better cars to supplement income and not intended to provide all the income. Mopar has or had a better engineering staff and much larger. I know many have left under FCA but I still think they could do the Fiat and Mopar cars much better at higher volumes than Fiat but they need better fundng. Look at Jeep on how they responded with funding the same would happen for the cars if given the chance. They could still share platforms but I think Mopar would know how to do it and execute it better. Getting the volume up is key here as with the lower volumes the profits will remain elusive. Also dumping Sergio is key but as long as the Angnelli family is happy with him and his ways he will remain. they are looking at the end game on how much money he will make not what companies survive his path of destruction. He is tied in with too many other of their companies too. Sergio is really another Johnathan Goldsmith who destroyed many companies just for their money.

Bud I'm talking present history not 60-100 years ago. Hell if you want to play that game Fiat was a major power in performance and racing 100 years ago too. I speak of the 70's and later where Alfa struggled with their lines. They did have some bright spots with the sports cars but their sedans were just odd unreliable rusting vehicles that appeal to a small segment like Saab did for oh so many years. I know Alfa history pretty well and you do not have to school me on it. FYI Ferrari is not Alfa and Alfa is not Ferrari. Enzo did race for them and did manage the team for them till they pissed him off. He then went and did his own team and own company to spite them and beat them in racing which he did well over the years. I have a friend that still races a Monte Carlo Lancia and nearly won a national championship and I have had a decent amount of experience with Italian cars and know the good and the bad of most of them. The fact is even with the right guy most people avoid Italian cars other than Ferrari like the plague. Alfa has no where the fan base or trust of the other makes out there. Alfa in America is like Cadillac in Europe. They have a lot of work to do and they will have to do a lot to earn the trust of the customer again. Second Sergio is not going to put an American in charge of Alfa. Ralph I agree would be a good choice but it's not going to happen. As for Alfa saving FCA? Stop go to the sink and pour out the Kool Aide. Answer these questions with a straight face. #1 Do you think that Alfa can reach 400,000 unit buy 2018? Let me help you on this as last year they sold 68,000 and this year they are behind last years sales already. #2 FCA needs to increase from 2.8 Million Units last year to 6 Million Units by 2018, Do you think they will make it and where will the sales come from? Note these are Sergio's numbers not mine. He has wavered on the 6 million now and then but he states this number and analyst generally agree he needs this volume to survive. Even with Jeep and Ram increasing sales at record rates these numbers just don't function. If you want to increase sales America is your best bet for larger volumes. Europe is struggling sales wise and Italy has a very stagnate economy. The Germans are not going to buy and the rest of Europe is small. Sergio expects American sales are going to be only 150,000 and that is more than twice what we had last year. Very optimistic at best. Italy also gave us the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Mussolini, Gambino, Caligula, Costa Concordia and Pontius Pilot. The true Roots of the Pizza came from Greece and the Italians just added the Tomato sauce, other toppings and meat. Oh and the three actors are Americans form Italian decent not Italians.

Alfa is a odd car and not always the most reliable car but they are a fun car. I would not call it garbage as it has a small following that like it like many like Saab for all the odd reasons. Alfa is the Italian Saab. I think garbage is a little harsh. It may not be the best at anything but it still can be a fast and per this video a challenging drive. Hell MG cars were never the global standard but still a fun car to drive when they were together. I like Alfa but I would not bank on it to save my corporation.

Even if it is a missed shift the Cadillac with the new programming and struts can make an armature look like a pro. The Alfa here is rolling so much in the corners it is almost scary While they may have not had their best driver in the car the car looks uncomfortable in the corners whole the Cadillac looks almost slow even under WOT in the corners. It almost looks like they have the sway bars off the car. I will reserve the final impression till the testers get it to review. Could be more going on here than we know in being fair. I would expect Alfa would do better than this. They do make quirky odd cars but they do know how to make them handle.

Here is the Giulia in action. http://www.autoblog.it/post/736914/alfa-romeo-giulia-quadrifoglio-verde-al-nurburgring-video Is that a missed shift or bottoming out at 37 seconds? Bottoming out should not be! Here is the CTSV and V Sport. http://gmauthority.com/blog/2014/10/2016-cadillac-cts-v-shows-almost-no-body-roll-on-the-ring/ http://www.carscoops.com/2013/08/watch-new-2014-cadillac-cts-vsport-lap.html Compare. Note the Benz and BMW are as composed as the Cadillac.

They want or he wants to put himself in charge at Ferrari per rumors. He is bringing money to the Agnelli family and they will let him run this all in the ground if he brings them more money. They also have no love for Chrysler and it is just another source of money to be bleed. This is all about money, ego and power and nothing else on Sergio's side.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/95078a10-1699-11e5-9883-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3kgsiipgj While some recent funds have purchased in they have appeared not hostel and are banking on the increase in stock values based on expected gains on their own. He has trouble on his own home front as sales as of July the sales have dropped at Alfa and market watchers are nor convinced he will pull off his key part of Chrysler recovery of 400,000 Alf units including 150,000 in America. http://www.autonews.com/article/20150629/OEM/306299974/analysts-doubt-sergios-lofty-alfa-goals I don't think he made this goal along with many others too. http://www.toledoblade.com/Automotive/2011/09/13/Marchionne-affirms-Fiat-Chrysler-goal-of-6-million-cars-a-year-by-2014-despite-uncertainty.html He has yet to sell his goal of 50K Fiats in one year and at this point they are not even half way there this year. http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2011/01/fiat-500-sales-figures.html

http://www.thestreet.com/story/13274792/1/fiat-chrysler-gm-tie-up-is-sergio-marchionne-s-impossible-dream.html Here is an interesting take from the financial world on what Sergio is up to. This is big picture stuff and we are not dealing with a normal businessman. His ego and his tactics are much different. The key word is Ego as he puts himself first before all other things. That is some cases makes for a well driven businessman. At other times it can run a company or companies into the ground. For us here to take into account all that is in play we have to look beyond the auto part of this and the people/personal and financial part really is in play. Then if you do move forward how do you merge two companies that have loyalty on the level of the North and South post Civil war? While saving money it would be a post merger nightmare for product planners as you will not win with any moves you make. Can you imagine killing one of the two trucks? How about killing a Hemi and just keeping the Chevy LT? You think the Mopar boys would be happy with that? How about trying to sell a Fiat 500 at a Chevy dealer? Even worse how do you get rid of all the dealers? GM has too many now and Chrysler is not exactly under staffed for their needs in the dealer department now either. This is one of those deals you can work numbers on paper to suit your needs but on the people and product side to the public it would be a nightmare. This would be the killing of Pontiac on a megaton scale. I expect GM to win the most of the product side as it has most of the newest platforms and most of the engineers etc. Sergio has no love for Chrysler anyways and I expect he would sacrifice much of their product. Either way when you consider the public side of this there are no winners here. That may be the most important part. No one goes to McDonalds to get a Whopper. Makes on wonder how many customers would be lost in this kind of deal if he could ever find a way to make it work.

TAF till you back it up with creditable proof you are full of BS. There always someone around checking out the deal but there is no real big support on this outside I would assume Exor who controls FCA and does not have enough money to pull of the deal on their own. Sergio is also VP there so that one is meaningless. I will not say that more could get involved but as of now the many firms and people Sergio has contacted most have ignored him and most others said not interested. The business sector has said the consolidation is not a bad idea but the problem is with the two companies it is not all that clean and easy. Most buyers of each brand dislike the other. You think killing Pontiac was tough just imagine if you had to kill one of the two truck lines. That alone would render one company nearly worthless as they account for much of the income. So lets have the names and companies lined up backing old Sergio. If there are so many where are they and who are they. Some venture groups did buy in but that is not an indicator of a take over. Most rating groups and banks are listing GM stock to grow and have recommended buying. http://seekingalpha.com/article/3480716-5-reasons-why-gm-will-return-to-52-week-highs 5 Reasons Why GM Will Return To 52-Week Highs Sep. 1, 2015 3:22 AM ET | About: General Motors Company (GM) Summary •GM shares are too cheap to ignore after a recent market pullback. •A $5 billion share buyback, a strong balance sheet and a 4.5% dividend yield, could limit potential downside risks. •China fears appear overblown and weaker sales in that country could be offset by lower commodity prices which significantly benefits GM. •A $49 analyst price target for GM shares seems very reasonable as this implies a PE ratio of just about 10 times earnings. A $49 analyst price target for GM shares If the price goes up this will make Sergio's attempt even more expensive and take even more money he has little of. There are more people willing to invest in GM for their potential growth over the public short term looting of Sergio.

Yes GM is owned by banks and investment firms but they are rejecting Sergio as they do not want to lose their ass. He is trying to con them into working with him and at this point his work is not paying off and his need to be in charge is not seen as a good thing. Taf the banks and trust are not reaching out to Sergio. If they were the whole deal would be in the works. Sergio is needing them and they have so far rejected him just as GM has. This is why he has to go public which only hurts FCA as it makes them look as desperate as they might be. Read the link above and get facts. If you truly love Chrysler you had better get informed as it is not pretty under the sweater mans care. The real issue is this on the Alfa deal. If the platform is leveraged out on the Chrysler models just what will it bring. Alfa so far is not offering a V8 nor at this point is there any plan for them. Will the platform even take one? We don't know yet. The new Alfa at the ring on video was not all that impressive in handling. The car was all over the place. Was it a poor driver or was it the car? Note at one point it bottomed out hard and could be heard in the video. It also sounded like a School bus not good for a car at the price point. Even assuming the new platform can be adapted like the Alpha at GM the real question is still how do you find 332,000 more Alfa buyers in two more years? I recommend that all here take the time to look back at the goals set by Sergio and what he said Chrysler must do by 2018. The numbers I have given here are his not mine and that is why I call their future into question. He either has lied about what they need or he is very unrealistic about his goals. Note he has missed goals before and it has hurt Fiat much. He is not going to kill Jeep or Ram. They are getting investments as they should though the trucks were delayed a bit with coming product. The car range never did get the money like they should have and are behind where they should be at this point. Sales are down on the cars much and I do not expect the profits are much better with the discounts. It really is a good time to buy a LX right now. If this tanks Jeep and Ram would survive. The Car lines are at risk because not many people want them. Sure the RWD has some desire but they need investment now and they have no small cars of real value anyone does not already have. Alfa would live on as they can survive on price point under other management even at low volume. Fiat Hmm that is a tough one. There are so many issues only being bought out by some large China corporation like MG may work. Fiat is having a tough time here and elsewhere. The Sergio key is North America and Latin America and both are not all that interested. Chrysler and FCA need a real leader that will save the company. But for now the investors are happy with taking the fast profit from Sergio and at some point will cut and run. With stocks dropping things can get ugly fast if there is no quick recovery of the market. Like I said this is not a product issue as it is management and Sergio. Really look up what all Sergio is saying and doing and read up on what the market analyst are saying. It is not pretty now sitting on 8 billion dollars of debt and it is only getting worse. Chrysler can show a profit but FCA is taking the money and running. There is only so much blood you can squeeze out of them before you lose them. I never understood the Obama admin letting Fiat come in. They were unsound to start with and so far Sergio has made more wrong moves than good. Even the good moves like investing in Jeep are negated by putting the money into parts of the company that will never deliver the numbers he claims he needs.

That is my point. Stew has this thing I hate Chrysler but the truth is I am just blunt about the issues they face and most of them lead back to Sergio. He is not an automotive guy and he is not really much of a business man. As in the story he is more of a bag man for Fiat. The fact is while Stew believes I have no love for Chrysler I am damn in love with them compared to Sergio. If I were in his place the money would be going to Chrysler not Alfa. Chrysler would provide the volume and profits where to expect Alfa to create 400,000 in sales by 2018 are unlikely. If I am wrong here I would love to hear where I am going wrong by wanting to invest in Chrysler over Alfa and where am I missing the 328,000 sales Alfa is going to generate in 2 years. Anyone can you show us here these customer are lined up waiting for high priced Alfa cars vs. a better updated line of Chrysler cars. Am I really wrong for wanting the Jeep money to go to Chrysler?

Stew you had better get a grip and understand I do not hate Chrysler but I do hate Sergio and all that he Is doing as he is a bastard and cares less about the Chrysler cars. The money he is taking from Jeep should be going to Chrysler not Alfa as this is where his volume is that he needs to survive. Instead he remains to pump it into the odd Alfa that will never meet his goals of 400,000 units by 2018. Now be honest do you really think Alfa can move from 68,000 cars last year to 400,00o by 2018? If you can honestly think that you would have to be a fool. FCA is riding with a major debt and Sergio needs money. He already is robbing Chrysler and now has made claims wants GM. It is all about money to save his F part of the corporation and he is getting desperate now because his plan has fallen flat as the rest of the investment and banking people are not willing to follow along with him. Right now I fear that while the plans for Chrysler sound promising they are the last roll of the dice. If they do not execute these plans an build class leading cars the will not have the income to continue on beyond them. Just building better cars than you have Is not enough as they need to build better than anyone else right now to make real gains in not just volume but profits. Ford and GM can get buy with a little less right now but Chrysler has some real issues. I think their only hope is to lose Sergio and get someone in that is really from the automotive segment. I am far from the only one with these views. Here is the latest in a long line of stories on Sergio and the challenges of FCA in the future. http://www.autoextremist.com/current/2015/8/31/the-full-sergio-a-truly-ugly-sight-to-behold.html Stew you can continue to represent my feelings but you can not change the things and issues that lie ahead. I am in no way looking forward to saying I told you so in the future if this ends up going the way it appears to be going at this time. I pray Sergio is let go in 2018 and not extended to 2020 as he wants. As Peter has pointed out he is nothing but a bag man and he will kill Chrysler in the end to save the Euro brands. He has no love other than their money for them. You had better wake up to this before it is too late.. Only cries from the base market Chrysler lovers may changes this if it is not already too late. As Pete has pointed out FCA is one economic down turn from another crisis. With the way Wall St is going that could easily happen again and they will still be years from the new product. The problem this time is there may not be a third bail out as how much money is a politician going to be willing to toss in to this bottomless pit under the present management? I hope and pray that a suitable leader arrives in time for Chrysler. God knows we have already lost too many brands today as it is. While Chrysler is not my first choice I in no way want to see their demise. You need to get that through your thick diluted skull. I am on your side with reality playing a part of this. I know you hate to hear the truth but that is all that will save a brand like this from Sergio and he thieving ways. Even the folks I know inside are not Sergio fans up in Auburn hills. He talks big but they are not feeling the needed love like they would like unless you are Jeep. Even then the money is not coming back to them at a time they would like to have it. The can just keeps getting kicked down the road on most other products. Now stand there and tell us do you really thing Sergio is smart for pumping all of Jeeps profits into Alfa and not Chrysler first? Who has a better shot at increasing volume and profits to the levels he needs faster than Chrysler? He needs to increase Alfa to numbers they can never attain and he needs to find 2.5 Million more FCA units and that is not easy under the most perfect conditions by 2018 Now can you honestly say that he will attain the goal of 400K Alfa cars and 2.5 million more FCA units by 2018? Now put down the bias Kool-Aid and say it with a straight face? This is more than just about selling cars. Everyone can sell cars but it is about making money and the big picture of volume and profits. You can sell a lot of cars but with no profits and models that are just termed better but not even in the same sentence with the top 4 in the segment are not the path to success. This is Why GM went and fixed the Malibu as fast as they did and will work hard to make it the best or one of the best in the segment. The last car was not bad but it fell short of the top cars and that is no way to make money these days. Just be good is no longer good enough. Chrysler is may have some of the best cars they have had in years but that is no longer good enough. If Lee was here he would have kicked Sergio's ass back to Italy.

Drew the Pony car was a light, cheap performance car based on a economy car. The truth is the Pony car died years ago. Today it is a whole new class of car with an old name.

What some of you are also forgetting is the price is what the market will bear. The whole point of this car is not just to make a car the public wants or a car with a great image. The bottom line is to make money. Also as with the half ton trucks the prices of the V8 models will continue to go up to help limit sales naturally. Prices on all V8 models will continue to climb and will limit sales due to price vs. market limitations. In time this will also help cover any fines that will be accessed for not meeting MPG standards in the future. Cheap gas will matter little my 2025 as the V8 will be a very expensive option in most of the models it is in. This is why there is so much effort into the smaller cars today. The real question is what can Ford and GM do to increase sales of the smaller engines. I would love to see GM do a special Camaro Turbo 4 with more power. Do away with the premium fuel recommended and go to required and you can see power well into the 300 HP plus range and torque of at least 340 FT LBS or more. The engine will go 400 HP with no internal mods. Make a autocross version with some real performance tweaks and some sticky tires and a lot of power. I tire of the special paint and wheel packages. While nice they need to make some real special editions that matter. You can sell all the V8 models all day as is so let apply some neat stuff to the lesser engine cars and just see where it goes. 340 FT LBS can be had on premium fuel and two map sensors. The Solstice got this number with the GM upgrade with a manual tranny.

Well lets see if they get to them in two years. Many of these products have already been pushed back before. With Sergio's goals for units at Alfa and other brands that are at some crazy numbers it could change these plans too. 68K units to 400K units at Alfa by 2018? Not likely. I am not sure Jeep and Ram can help fund all the changes he has already planned and these unless he changes his numbers again. The real issue may be the engines. If the stories on the Jeep web site are correct the Hemi is gone by 2019. That matches the end of the LX too the last I saw. They plan to replace it with a Turbo V6 and Turbo 4 cylinder models. While I have no doubt about there not being a lack of power this will still sting the V8 customer hard. To go from a Hellcat to a V6 that sounds like the Alfa motor that has a school bus sound to it? I have concerns here. Not sure even how an plug in Mini Van will do. Minivans are really over anymore and the CUV is where the sales are all going.

Wow! Grasshopper, For one to see distance one must look past the end of ones own nose. Master Wuu 1975 To understand this you really have to consider all the factors big picture and you can not use your own personal preferences to rationalize this. Then you must put this into context of todays market. I know many love to think of the past and the past ways but time waits for no one as the saying goes and you either have to adapt or be a pretty miserable person. As for the Ranger deal it has been a long time coming. Ford built the original Ranger to specs that would make it legal here. The guy in charge of the original program said it was only a matter of will that kept it from this market. Fords focus was to launch the Aluminum truck first and then focus [no pun intended] on the Ranger for the market. This would be a much easier way to do it vs. two programs at once and also they could see how GM's trucks acceptance is. GM on the other hand took the mid size truck first and next will do not an all aluminum but a lighter truck of many materials like the CT6. This way they can benefit from what Ford learned and not have to deal up front with all the issues of repair and cost like Aluminum presents. Both moves were smart but just from two different perspectives. I had stated the Ranger would come or Ford would consider it but many would trash me on it. Well here we are. Next the half ton will be getting lighter and less will be put on volume with them as the Mid Size will take up some of it. They will now focus more on the 3/4 and up models for the future and V8 models as they as of now have less MPG regs to deal with. The bottom line is both companies are not putting all their chips on the half ton as it will not be able to carry the load of the truck segment as it did in the past as it has. Split it up and leverage it out over 3 models with varying MPG and regulation.

442The market has shifted and over the years people wanted more than a gutted car, Add to that the gutted cars were not all that profitable as a more optioned car. Bring in to this equation more things like the fact young people can not just afford the car but even the insurance is still out of reach for most. I went to buy a Trans Am new in the 80's and could afford the car but the insurance was out of sight. The Insurance man said that price was only because I had a good driving record if not he would not even be talking to me. I ended up with a Fiero that I still have today. Today it is much the same on prices till you get married or get much older. The other factor is many young people are no longer buying cars like this. They want a better cell phone or tablet but the car is just for getting there. There is little culture of pride of ownership anymore. Just look around in years past when someone bought a new car they bought the most fancy as they could afford. [hence the GM tier system] and they would bring it home and it was a neighborhood event. Today my neighbor came home with a new Camry. The only excitement was oh you bought a red car. These smaller cars and RWD are just not selling like they used too and the market share where all the Pony cars and Muscle cars sat is reduced to a small part of the market now covered buy three cars. They are generally bought buy older adults with better incomes as that is all that can afford them now. GM had looked into the small coupe market but with sales not doing all that great at Scion. Subaru and Hyundai they backed out. The cost of a new platform and with the fact the Camaro heading in a future smaller direction it was impossible to make a business case. That is why the Camaro went from no Turbo 4 to having one. GM did not do the Turbo because of the Mustang as they had other plans even with the Turbo Mustang coming but the Code 130 Concept just could not be justified since this segment just never took off and was going to cost a lot of money. GM could use a cheaper coupe on a FWD that had performance items in the GTI/ Ford ST segment but even then once you price it the car is going to be $25K-35K. Hell my HHR SS was stickered at $28K back in 2008 [Note I did not pay that much for it out the door] I would love to see a real performance option on a 3 door hatch like the Cruze or Opel and I would love to see a real performance engine in the Sonic RS and not just some decal and spoiler package. GM proved with the Cobalt SS that even a crappy car could be made into a real performance car and be popular with the younger people who could afford not just to buy it but also insure and modify it. My SS is faster than any of the Big Block cars I owned stock and gets 25/35 MPG. GM has the engine but are they willing to address this segment with the right product. Australians like to blame Holden and GM for the loss of the Zeta but the truth is their market has slowly lost interest in RWD cars. The Mazda 3 is their best selling car. The Falcon faded from view and interest and even the Holden faired better but sells no where near what it used to. They are also seeing the same shift in the new generations and if you want to bring performance back you need to make it affordable and you need to make it in different ways as they all are not must have RWD and V8 anymore because the insurance and cost are beyond their pockets. Welcome to the new age and things have changed. I remember the old timers telling of buying a new 69 Z/28 or such just out of high school with no help while working at a gas station. Try that slinging fries at McDonalds today. Even if the Camaro V8 was $25K it would be difficult at best just to afford the insurance.