Mandatory Two Week Vacation at Chrysler and other Automaker happenings...

[mayor_of_phx]

With the dramatic collapse of the SUV, full sized truck, AND mini-van markets, all three US automakers are in trouble compared to their Japanese counterparts. However this downturn isn't all sunshine and happiness for the Japanese automakers either. Toyota is loosing a considerable amount of money as they rush to retool factories to build more of

Comments

[shereth]

Things have been going from bad to worse for US automakers lately. You didn't even touch on the dismal sales that Ford has been facing lately, but to be honest none of it comes as a surprise - the big 3 put so many of their eggs into the same basket (the SUV/pickup basket) and now they're in trouble. I've also been hearing suggestions of something more radical than selling off divisions, such as a full-scale merger between, say, Ford and Chrysler to keep them afloat.

Toyota is hurting (albeit not as badly) because they started to fall for the same "bigger is better" mentality. Notice how their lineup of trucks and SUVs all look like they took a shot of steroids over the last couple of years? Luckily they still had a healthy interest in the compact/mid-size car segment, and a practical monopoly on the hybrids, so they'll come out bruised but OK.

[albear]

The American auto industry is history. They had a bunch of chances to get their act together but failed every time. It doesn't help that the UAW *those greedy biatches* helped drive nails in the industry's coffin.

I feel sorry for Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (Chrysler's owner) ;) *kidding, I don't feel sorry at all*

[kitncub]

General Motors is hoping the Volt will reposition them as a lead innovator and turn everything around. If that doesn't work though they don't have much of a fallback.

There's an interesting piece about it in the current Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/general-motors