Even more nails in Chrysler's coffin
 

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne received 41% more compensation last year as his total pay rose to 4.8 million euros ($6.5 million), according to the carmaker's annual report

Wow, nice. The business loses money, it's bankrupt, subsidized by the US and you get a raise. Good move Sergio.

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Daimler agreed to pay about $200 million and two subsidiaries will plead guilty to resolve a U.S. investigation into whether it paid bribes to secure business overseas, according to people familiar with the accord.

Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney and SEC spokesman John Nester declined to confirm the accord. A law clerk for Leon, who declined to provide his name, declined to comment.
The SEC probe began in 2004 after an auditor at Daimler's former DaimlerChrysler subsidiary claimed he was fired in part for complaining to superiors about the bribe payments, according to a company regulatory filing in 2005. Daimler sold Chryslerhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adT...lass_10x10.gif in 2007 to Cerberus Capital Management. Chrysler filed for U.S. bankruptcy court protection in 2009.
The auditor, David J. Bazzetta, filed a whistleblower complaint with the Department of Labor and sued in federal court in Detroit over his firing. He claimed he learned in a July 2001 meeting in Stuttgart that business units kept "secret bank accounts to bribe foreign government officials," according to his amended lawsuit.
Bazzetta, who was fired in January 2004, dropped his complaint in July 2005, court records show. The Wall Street Journal reported he had settled his claim.

http://www.freep.com/section/business0103

How did FIAT do in 2009?

Nevermind, I think this is the 2009 summary

Reminds me of Studebaker buying Packard, back in '57, and by the end of 1958, no more Packards, the last of that iconic carmaker's OWN styling having been made back in 1956.

The 1956 models were the LAST true Packards.

The 1957 and 1958 Packards were just ugly Studebakers but with fins and hooded dual headlights


Chrysler has hooked up with losers before; In 1988 they bought the struggling AMC company (which by then had already sold its profitable Redisco finance and Nash Kelvinator appliance divisions, in last ditch appempts to try and stay afloat) so they could get the AMC Jeep brand.

They then immediately killed the 4wd Eagle, which wasn't a bad one (my dad had bought a 1986 one, for the snow up here) though struggling AMC based it on the 1970 Hornet Sportabout, so it was an 18 year old design when Chrysler killed it.

I remember reading an article in Automotive Weekly about Chrysler buying AMC. Chrysler was real pleased with the deal because they claimed they had just picked up the entire company for the cost of a new plant in Canada that was just built by AMC to build a new large Renault sedan.

I don't remember what the AMC/Renault name for the car was going to be, but it wound up being built and marketed as the Dodge Monaco. It was not the most quality built car ever, and after a few years of serious losses due to warrenty claims the deal did not look that great anymore.

It was clear to everyone in the business that all Chrysler wanted was the JEEP brand since the 4-door Cherokee was a hot seller and Chrysler could either develop their own or could just buy JEEP. It also allowed Chrysler to kill the Dodge Trailblazer so they could build more extended cab pick-ups.

At the time it all made sense.

Sergio turned FIAT around, and from what I read he hasn't screwed anything up yet. He speaks frankly about the problems facing the industry here and overseas, and he's actually doing things that are generating interest and has people taking notice. I hope he can pull off the plans he has laid out. Its pretty major stuff, and the next 2 years will either make or break them.

The Eagle may have been an old design to begin with, but they had a good number of the wrinkles worked out. I have both a 75 Wagoneer here and an 81 Eagle, the Jeep is nothing but problems with a horrible wiring system and extremely poor fit and finish. The Eagle is in great shape, although it has obviously been quite beaten. It still fires right up on the first try, the wiring hasn't lit on fire anywhere, and the interior is still intact. The truly sad part is that along with these two, I got a 70 Kaiser Wagoneer, and it's built like a tank. Thicker sheet metal than the 75 with better wiring, better interior, and far fewer problems.
When Mopar took the Eagle name and applied it to Mitsu*****y and Renault cars, that was just a stupid move.

The then new plant in Canada was to build the Eagle Premier; not the AMC Eagle. I know; confusing. AMC had a model, a variant on their old Hornet, in wagon version with a 4WD system. They called it the Eagle.

At the same time AMC started a new division, Eagle, to sell cars that came form their alliance with Renault. This was the Premier, and if it had been offered by either Ford or GM, IMO, could have been very competitive. It was a large FWD sedan with good ride and handling. The Taurus killed it, but it was a very good car for the times.

I would argue the last "True" Packards were gone long before 1956. Off topic but AMC (Rambler Rebel) did have the quickest American production sedan in 1957. Yep quicker then the fuel injected small block Chevy.

Are people even buying any new Chrysler products? I hardly ever see a new "Ram" or Chrysler out there.....way way way more new fords and quite a few new GM products....but hardly any Chrysler junk....

One of my neighbors at my warehouse bought one of their big trucks, 3/4 or maybe one ton I reckon, with the Cummins about a year and a half ago. He got it with no bed - wants to build his own bed for his welding/fabricating business.

Has had some dramas with it and does not speak kindly of Dodge and co.

They frankly don't have much to offer right now. The 300 will be redesigned for 2011 and supposedly is stunning. Then some widened Fiat and Alfa platform models will come out. We will see.