Re: Mercedes still may profit from Chrysler

Mike Simmons wrote:


>>
>>For now. I bet the Sprinter will get tossed from the Dodge lineup and
only 
>>Benz and Freightliner will badge it in the future.
> 
> 
> If Chrysler was smart, they would develop their own Sprinter equivalent.
 It 
> has found tremendous acceptance in the parcel delivery field and also in
the 
> RV industry for class B and C chassis.  The order backlog for the
Sprinter 
> is enormous and they sell all they can build.
> 
> Mike

Yeah, but that market segment really isn't huge compared to others, and 
profit margins on RV chassis is not huge either. I have read that even 
Ford is killing their E-series which has been a really im****tant player 
in that market for many years. A "big" player in a little market segment 
isn't necessarily going to help a company that needs to cut fat and get 
competitive in its core markets again.


It will be very interesting to see if Chrysler survives this whole mess. 
I hope so, but I fear the worst. They have a few promising products 
either on the market or in the pipe. The new minivan really raises the 
bar on features leaving Honduh in the dust.... AGAIN, and the 
Challenger is of course a work of art. But is it enough? Probably not 
without a small car better (or at least more conventional) than the 
Caliber and a midsize FAR better than the Avenger/Sebring. We're kinda 
in another Chrysler slump like happend 1958 and again in  1978. The core 
engineering (engines/transmissions/major systems) is as good or better 
than any in the world, but there are gaps in the lineup and problems 
with some models have tainted the perception of everything.