Comments on: Mercedes, Chrysler won’t share platforms

By: Hal

Hal — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:58:57 +0000

my question for your inside source imageWIS is if Chrysler was hugely profitable why did they agree to the “merger” with the Germans in the first place? After all it was not a hostile takeover, it was a deal agreed by both sides.

By: Veda

Veda — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 02:33:35 +0000

There’s no reason for buying a Chrysler anymore.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 06:27:16 +0000

imageWIS – What else is the source gonna say his probably mad at Mercedes for buying Chrysler.

By: angelo

angelo — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:57:57 +0000

If Chrysler can continue doing old platforms profitably and they can share stuff like engines, transmissions, switches and such… there may be enough synergy to keep Chrysler alive.

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 23:24:35 +0000

All of Zetsche’s kids are on Facebook, went to Detroit Country Day School, have all American friends, and are attending American universities (Duke and UPenn). And Zetsche himself has a profile on Facebook too (it’s really him, not a decoy or fake, and he’s wearing a PT Cruiser polo shirt). If you want to ask the real Dr. Z, set up a Facebook account. I haven’t asked him any questions yet, but I seriously doubt that Chrysler’s going anywhere. The family’s really gotten close with the Detroit area (even if they don’t have a house there anymore), and their kids’ friends all live there.

By: imageWIS

imageWIS — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:26:54 +0000

Hal,

My info came from an inside source at Chrysler who is pretty high up the ladder.

Jon.

By: GL1

GL1 — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:50:30 +0000

Somebody will just buy chrysler from Benz is all, after all they are making money now (granted not much) but they are doing A LOT BETTER than Ford is…

By: Lucifer

Lucifer — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:41:03 +0000

Chrysler does nothing for mercedes. when mercedes starts being profitable, chrysler pulls the company down.

mercedes needs to sell off chrysler and become a smaller more profitable company like it’s neighbors bmw and porsche.

along with it’s divitions maybach, smart, and mclaren (which i personally think should go back to being a seperate brand).

By: Hal

Hal — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:38:48 +0000

Contrary to what imageWIS says Chrysler would have gone belly up years ago if DaimlerBenz hadn’t bought it. The Germans bought a lousy corporation with ageing models and bloated overheads and have pumped billions into it trying to save it.
What a great name btw: Ruediger Grube

By: 1c3d0g

1c3d0g — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 20:52:29 +0000

Damn right, Fatstrat. And this means we won’t hear people complaining about “badge engineering” like they constantly do with GM while conveniently ignoring Toy Ota and its clones.

By: chevy490

chevy490 — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 20:41:07 +0000

chrysler i respect u alot more than for keep it up!

By: imageWIS

imageWIS — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 20:25:14 +0000

What a pointless, uniformed comment! ^

The only reason MB bought Chrysler was to raid its then cash-rich coffers.

Jon.

By: Ricardo Head

Ricardo Head — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 20:08:25 +0000

I personally want an S-class built on a Neon platform instead of that german shit.

By: Fatstrat

Fatstrat — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:41:43 +0000

This will make it easier to spin off Chrysler if that ever happens.
By the way, Chrysler is not going anywhere.

By: A4

A4 — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:25:57 +0000

yeah really merc should keep them and just boost interaction between the two brands with the old platform deal.

By: F451

F451 — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:04:51 +0000

The end is near…the end of Chrysler. R.I.P.

By: megator

megator — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:53:51 +0000

I think that they should do what they did w/ the 300 for all their similar cars. give chrystler the one gen old merc platforms. they arent as good as the modern ones but they are still good.

By: MyGodBeatsYourGod

MyGodBeatsYourGod — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:51:43 +0000

Reusing previous MBs and dressing them up as Chryslers has worked to limited success with the Crossfire but to great success with the rear bits on the 300/Magnum/Charger.

The previous gen of any Merc is superior to anything ChryCo has done on their own for decades.

There is far worse ways of doing things than the ‘hand-me-downs’ they have tried so far. Keep them coming.

By: theshadow

theshadow — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:32:21 +0000

It’s defenitely a good thing to keep Mercs and Chryslers running on different platforms in order to ensure that each divisions’s lineup isn’t compromised by the need to platform share. Huge volume cars like Chryslers have much different engineering priorities than high end luxury cars like Mercedes Benzes do.

But they should share COMPONENTS as much as possible to cut costs. If they combine their part buying power, it should allow DCX to get better quality components more cheaply, which is great; it doesn’t mean they have to share PLATFORMS.

By: Renton

Renton — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:21:18 +0000

The only good part of Chrysler’s cars were the models that had all the Benz parts in them.

300′s are good b/c they feel like Benzes.

I doubt many folks cross shopped E-Classes and 300Cs.