Jeep Made in China

First off, no, Jeep is not made in China. As far as I can gather, Jeeps that will be sold in America will be manufactured in America, and that is the way it will stay. Hooray! I'll get to more on that in a minute.

In the conclusion of my last little article, I mentioned Mitt Romney. I'm not claiming in position in politics. And I don't mean to make any sort of statement in that regard. The reason I brought that up in the Tesla article, is because Romney had referred to Tesla as a failed government energy project. Obviously wrong there.

The Romney camp was wrong again when it came to its claims about Jeep. During last year's election, in a late effort to rally some votes in the always hotly contested state of Ohio, Romney's campaign ran a television advertisement implying that Jeep, which has always been an American-made icon, will be moving its production to China. According to them, this was simply an effort to portray a loss of jobs to China, a nation that competes with us in the marketplace. They say that they weren't insinuating real facts, but rather that this "will be" happening, like in a future-tense, hypothetical, metaphysical sense. Or something like that. 

As you can figure, the goal was to scare voters into thinking that they were going to lose their jobs to China, and somehow the Obama administration had caused this.

They continued to run the ads, and their inaccurate information scared and confused a lot of people.

(This ad campaign later won the Huffington Post "Lie of the Year" Award 2012, simply because it is nothing but untruth.)

Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler's CEO (above), promptly responded. In an e-mail to Chrysler employees, many of which were actually becoming concerned with their own job security because of Romney's false statements, Marchionne wrote, " I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position: Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China. It is inaccurate to suggest anything else."

He went on a bit more in the memo:
"North American production is critical to achieving our goal of selling 800,00 Jeep vehicles by 2014... We also are investing to improve and expand our entire U.S. operations, including our Jeep facilities."

Right to the point- you have to like this Marchionne guy.

Mr. Marchionne later said that the efforts made by Jeep as a part of the Fiat-Chrysler family would only strengthen Chrysler in the U.S., not weaken it.

“Jeep is one of our truly global brands with uniquely American roots. This will never change,” he said.

AMERICA

Dodge Dart (its a Fiat)

Looks awful right? This is a 1966 Dodge Dart. They were decent little 4-door sedans. Nothing special though. Just a car. Many who remembered this car were far from elated, or even cared at all, when Dodge announced that they were going to release a new version of the Dart in America last year.

The 2012 Dart was targeted at younger people - those who had no memory of the lame old Dart. The CEO of Dodge-Chrysler said before its release, "Whoever’s buying [The Dart] doesn’t have an historical memory of our segment predecessors... It’s almost virgin territory when you’re talking to young buyers now.”

Dodge did a great job, I think, in targeting this market through funny ads that featured cool guy extraordinaire, Tom Brady, and financing programs that allow you to register parts of the car like a wedding registry. 

Also, it looks brilliant.

In spite of its looks and a good marketing campaign though, the new Dart did not sell well in 2012. And I'll tell you why.

First of all, its positioning. Dodge-Chrysler Group is now owned by Fiat Motors, which means really nothing. (The end consumer doesn't usually see a change in mid-range cars when these type of mergers take place.) This means that, while the Dart's success in the small car market is crucial to the success of Dodge, its success is being hindered by its position in that market. You would find the Dart directly between the Fiat 500 and the Chrysler 200, both of which seem to be preferable by the small car buyers of 2012. 

Another reason the Dart did not succeed in its initial year was not the fact that the first 5000 sold only had manual transmission. (Dodge's CEO actually tried to use that as a possible reason for poor sales) The reason that the Dart didn't do so great last year was the fact that people don't expect a small car from Dodge-Chrysler, because of their almost total reliance on large cars; trucks, vans, and SUV's. 70% of their vehicle sales last year were trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles. 

What does this mean for the Dart? It means that it may just take a few years to catch on. It is a good little car, without a doubt, and it looks stunning. I think that people are not perceptive of the fact that Dodge can make a good, small car. When they think Dodge, they think big. Dodge will just have to be diligent marketers so they can become competitive in the small car market, like they want.

We will just have to give it another full year to see if the Fiat dream is going to come true, and if Dodge can sustain its survival through a revival of the Dart.

The Worst Car Ever Created

or at least, worst made in recent American history

Living in the United States, you are surrounded by cars all of the time. Most everybody in the country either owns a car, or you at least see cars regularly as you commute to work or school. But, in the recent history of automotive production in America, what is the worst car? 

This.

In 2001, the car-making industry in America was just starting into a period of nearly half a dozen years economic decline that would nearly finish many automotive companies. Chrysler was one of these companies that were having difficulty in the ailing economy, so they decide to release the PT Cruiser.

This is directly from the Chrysler Group, in the press kit they released upon the PT Cruiser launch:"In the U.S., potential customers often view themselves as the 'social chairperson' and are not afraid of going their own way... The PT Cruiser can be whatever the individual owner wants it to be and fits any lifestyle."
They go on to say that their target market was young, adventurous people, who need an affordable, stylish car that could be versatile enough to fit the needs of a young person.

They created a car with the target market in mind being a group that doesn't care one lick about a car that is especially fast or good looking, but rather, seeks out a car for its functionality. I must admit, most of us value this in a car, but the PT doesn't have functionality. Chrysler gave the PT an impressive amount of cargo space in the back, but then cut that space in half with a ridiculous and pointless plastic shelf that they claimed could be useful "in tailgates or parties". They actually wanted college kids to buy this car.

Chrysler eventually realized that young people absolutely abhorred this car because it just looks terrible and there is nothing to it at all to be proud of. 

So they changed their target market to elderly people, who they found were buying them up in great numbers. Why were oldies attracted to this car? I can not say, but Chrysler was quoted in saying that "the older client base was attracted to the PT Cruiser... it reminded them of the days when they had family wagons." 

So nostalgia was what they were shooting for... and they give us this.

Dreadful.

So lets talk about some other things they did with this car, that, according to Chrysler, "transcends traditional automotive expectations by creating a new segment". 

• The interior is possibly the most cramped, miserable thing ever. Its like a prison cell on wheels.
• There is virtually no suspension. Because they were marketing to people who were older and clearly don't care about cars for performance, they created this little gremlin of a car that has no handling, no turning radius, no speed, and no acceleration.  (Unless or course you bought the one with the Turbo, in which case you probably aren't intelligent enough to even read this blog)

The only positive about this car - affordability. I would list affordability as a positive for a loaf of bread as well. 

The biggest negatives -this car serves little purpose at all, outside of the fact that it can roll forward. The ride comfort is much like sitting down on a skateboard, and even being near one makes you feel embarrassed.

Because they failed to ever actually find what they wanted to accomplish by being so unique, what came from the PT Cruiser is, well basically nothing. Truly a pile of worthless nothing, that hurts your stomach to look at. I would rather drive an 8 foot wide cheeseburger in my everyday commute.

This is what we should do to all remaining PT Cruisers.

http://youtu.be/G9_tuqAawJE

We should all seek to be as enterprising as these lads.

In summation, though you still see a lot of these cars still on the road, this car is about as useful as a snooze button on a smoke alarm.

THE WORST CAR EVER MADE
Chrysler PT Cruiser

1. If you disagree because you are an oldie who is enamored with your precious wood-grain paneled PT, I would love to hear your complaint via comment.
2. If you are a college kid who bought one to go tailgating and has loved your PT, I would love to hear your complaint via comment.
3. If you think that you have an argument as to which car might actually be worse, comment.