BrewSwillis

why do chrysler's interiors have to be sooo bland?? every single one looks like it's been designed by a fourth grader using only a straight-edge. everywhere u look there's boxes, squares, and sometimes even rectangles! i've never taken a day of design class in my life and i could do better than that. and then they think by using leather seats and sticking an analog clock in the center stack that they can call it luxury and charge a premium over a similar dodge vehicle. lame

Maybe that's just your perception from not actually looking at one. Here is the Sebring interior. Nothing is really "straight-edge"ed except for the center vents and radio.

Have their plants been handicapped by the UAW?

I would have to argue: YES....somewhat. The workers at "transplant" plants get alot of the benefits of being union members, without paying any of the dues. The very existence of the UAW forces the "transplant" companies to pay their workers a comparable wage, with comparable benefits. A UAW presence in "transplant" plants is just one simple vote away.

The execs at Toyota have already announced that they plan on scaling back US factories, because it's "getting hard make a profit there".

The report from Seiichi (Sean) Sudo, president of Toyota Engineering & Manufacturing in North America, said Toyota should strive to align hourly wages more closely with prevailing manufacturing pay in the state where each plant is located, "and not tie ourselves so closely to the U.S. auto industry, or other competitors."....

....The root of Sudo's worry: Labor costs as a percentage of sales are growing faster than Toyota's profit margin. "This condition is not sustainable in the long term," he said in the report.

Yeah, like for over 100 years??

Unless every single interior surface has been redesigned and upgraded, then the Sebring deserves every bit of bad press it gets.

From the same article:

This Deep Water Blue Sebring Limited was certainly one of those cars. Priced at $29,975 (and possibly available for a good bit less), the car's interior trim and fittings were the first surprise. I didn't realize that the tortoise shell trim I so love in my Dad's 300C had migrated to the midsize class , but so it did as an option for 2010 (it's actually been there since the car was introduced in 2007, but I guess nobody seemed to notice, because they were just planning on trashing it anyway). It looks and feels classy on the steering wheel, dash, and door trim. Vents that close flush like a VW's also seem classier than what I'd remembered in Sebrings past, and the dash graining and softness were also pleasing to the eye and fingertips. A new instrument panel gauge cluster and the Limited model's all LED interior lighting also look pricier.

Read more: http://blogs.motortrend.com/6595321/auto-review/2010-chrysler-sebring-a-pleasant-surprise/index.html#ixzz0cKzR4nJN

And as a result, how has Japan's economy been doing? Crappy.

Trade and foreign investment creates jobs. The theories of economic mercantilism have been long gone...

Japan's economy is doing "crappy", because it has been doing artificially good for so long, due to currency manipulation. Japan's economy died when they couldn't devalue their currency enough against the extremely weak dollar. Plus, the Chinese don't like to buy Japanese goods like us Americans do. We buy and buy, and expect nothing in return.

Maybe the $30K models are nice, but I didn't enjoy the 2.7-liter Sebring I rented at all. I couldn't find a comfortable driving position, outward visibility was poor, and the interior materials (including touch points like the steering wheel and handbrake) were unpleasant. The engine was noisy at idle and made these weird ancillary noises. On the upside, the brake pedal felt nice and firm. Altogether I'd have a hard time buying one over the competition without any incentives.

I have never been impressed with any rental car I've ever driven. They are usually base models with cheap interiors....and people tend to beat the ever-loving crap out of them. I can see why the Big 3 wanted to cut back on their rental fleet sales.

So....now Motor Trend is saying that the Chrysler Sebring isn't as bad as all the press made it out to be?

Chrysler Sebring--Pleasant Surprise

Posted Yesterday 10:23 AM by Frank Markus

I'll confess to being less than enthused at the prospect of spending Christmas vacation in the somewhat ugly duckling unloved Chrysler Sebring (it's a bit less homely this year with the removal of the hood corrugations), but every now and then a low-expectation car manages to over-deliver so impressively that I end up feeling almost guilty for my earlier prejudices.....

.......I won't tell you I'd race out and buy one tomorrow if I fell off the press-car gravy train, but I have newfound respect for the Sebring and I'd no longer question the sanity of friends who might consider buying one.

Full Article: http://blogs.motortrend.com/6595321/new-cars/chrysler-sebring-pleasant-surprise/index.html

Who would have thought a member of the press would admit to getting caught up in the hype of trashing "the worst car ever made", and then admitting that he might have been wrong?

How many American cars are sold in Japan? How many American automakers have gotten subsidies and incentives from the Japanese government to build their plants in Japan, to sell cars to the Japanese?

The answer to the first question is hardly any. The answer to the second question is exactly ZERO.

No wonder why the world's population thinks Americans are stupid.

Subaru Legacy and Outback, Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring new IIHS Top Safety Picks

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) on Aug 27th 2009 at 6:29PM

Four 2010 model year vehicles have just been awarded Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: Subaru's Outback and Legacy, the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler's Sebring. Top Safety Picks are given to those vehicles that come equipped with electronic stability control and receive front, side, and rear crash test ratings of 'Good' in IIHS testing.

The Legacy has boasted a 'Good' rating for a few years now, while the all-new Outback takes the cake on its first try. The Sebring and Avenger continue their runs of 'Good' form in their current generations.

[source: IIHS]

Source article: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/27/subaru-...ler-sebring-ne/

I agree most people aren't going to cross-shop the diesel BMWs or the Prius. This would've been far more interesting if it were Jetta TDI vs Prius.

What about:

?

Those douches could be driving something other than stupid Priuses, and having a bunch of other copycat douches buying them because Angelina Jolie and Miley Cyrus drive them. I thought actors were in a union? Why don't they support other union members and buy and American car?

Sweet, once they apply the Red GMC, it should be very tight, I like it allot. Gonna have to swing through the GMC dealership this weekend and see if they got one yet.

I don't think dealerships will have them yet. This was a "manufacturer's plate" car, with all kinds of connections coming out from under the back and passenger side. I think they said they would be available by "late summer".

Holy crap that grill is huge...It looks much worse in that pic than any of the other pics I have seen. I actually have been wanting to see it in white, but now I don't think I want to see it, period.

The grille looked appropriately sized in person. It didn't have the red GMC badge applied to break it up though too.

I just a white Terrain today in person, and thought it looked great. I actually hated it in every other color than black just seeing it in pictures, but it looked good in person....even in white :

I don't think were trying to sell their current vehicle lines and brands. Chrysler has, in the past, sold machinery and tooling for last gen vehicles.

See the Russian GAZ Siber (aka old Sebring):

They were probably trying to sell things like the PT Cruiser tooling, or the Viper brand....and maybe even Plymouth or Eagle.

For an auto enthusiast site, you people seem really clueless about Chrysler's bankruptcy. http://www.chryslerllc.com/en/news/

`05 300C interior:

`08 300C interior

Honestly, the interior was never a problem with the car. When it was introduced it was praised for it's quality interior, and even today no rags complain about it. In fact that only people who do are internet trolls and people who say OMG IT SUX AND IS CHEEP but can never actually elaborate how it is cheap.

That being said, the new one looks to be leaps and bounds better, from a detailing and integration standpoint. I also prefer the smoother lines. quality wise, we'll just have to wait and see.

That first pic is not of the '05 interior. It's the same interior as the '08 you posted. The one pic you posted after this post is the pre-MCE ('05-'07) interior.

The interior still gives me a very Korean vibe for some reason. Something about the lashings of silver plastic on the center stack and console.

Silver you say?

Although I dunno if that's plastic or metal.

Aren't alot of manufacturers doing this with silver plastic? It must be the new thing to do.....not just the Korean thing to do:

Lincoln MKX

I'm sure they've got more subdued color schemes, like all black or something. Or this...

You mean like this? :

Here is the 2010 Ram Heavy Duty:

First Look: 2010 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 Heavy Duty Pickups

Posted by Mike Levine | February 10, 2009

Chrysler is firing the first shot in what’s certain to be a brutal battle pitting three-quarter and one-ton truck manufacturers against each other: It’s introducing the new 2010 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 heavy-duty pickups at the 2009 Chicago auto show.

The 2010 model year will be a challenging one for several reasons: The U.S. economy is expected to still be sputtering, with new-truck buyers likely sitting on the sidelines until the housing market starts to recover or the government’s fiscal stimulus plan spurs spending on new trucks as part of a national infrastructure overhaul. The price of diesel fuel (the lifeblood of heavy-duty pickups) shows no sign of losing its 20 percent price premium over gas. Most important of all, though, Ford and GM are also expected to launch updated heavy-duty pickups with new diesel powertrains designed to meet stringent 2010 federal emissions standards that go into effect Jan. 1. The regulations will ratchet down NOx levels to the lowest on the planet – more than 90 percent lower than 2006 levels. NOx is a major air pollutant that contributes to smog, asthma, and respiratory and heart diseases. It's a byproduct of high combustion temperatures.

Rest of article here: http://special-reports.pickuptrucks.com/20...ty-pickups.html

Someone photoshop some chrysler badges and design cues on this...!

Here you go. I put the cues from the Chrysler 200C concept on it :

These new cars look goofy! The point of these robots being "Transformers" is so they can hide in plain sight. I think it's cooler if all the Transformers were "stock" vehicles. It seems like they are ricing the vehicles out to appeal to the Fast and Furious crowd. Lame!

WHOSE EXCITED?!

I am.

NO NO NO NO NO!

You posted those pictures to show that the two cars have NO details in common??

:lol: :rotflmao:

I would have posted those exact same pictures to show how similar the two design are!

LOL.

Yep... It's "so special" to buy your way to victory lane!

(We all know that Toyota buys all of it's racing technology)

Don't be so sure that they "bought" all of it's technology:

Roush claims sway bar stolen by a Toyota team last year

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Team owner Jack Roush says that an undisclosed Toyota team stole a front sway bar from his team at Dover International Speedway in 2007, and that he is seeking relief from NASCAR, or possibly through legal channels, for subsequent research with that part.

Roush says that the team's toolbox was next to that of a Toyota team last fall at Dover. The teams stored what he described as uniquely-painted bars, each labeled with a serial number, under the toolboxes.

“The ... nondescript Toyota team, went behind my toolbox and took my bar out of my inventory and put it in their inventory and took it home with them,” Roush said Friday at Martinsville Speedway. “That is a fact. It has not been refuted and it has been discussed with the team involved.”

In a story published Wednesday on ESPN.com, Jim Aust, president and chief executive officer of Toyota Racing Development, said that the Toyota team had returned a Roush Fenway part to that organization, though Aust said the part in queston was a spring.

"I don't understand the whole procedure when a teardown happens," Aust said. "The only thing I know is it wound up with parts we had and [we returned it] to Roush. It's unfortunate it happened the way it did. It wasn't anything intentional. There's no reason to be done intentional. I have no idea how it happened to begin with."

Roush said that there is no way the part was accidentally given to the wrong team as part of an inspection tear-down since the front sway bar is not a part of that process.

Roush said a vendor that makes proprietary parts for teams was contacted in January by the Toyota team about reproducing the part. The vendor contacted Roush Fenway Racing and the team officials discovered the part was missing.

At about the same time, Roush says his organization hired someone who had been with the Toyota team and they claimed to have seen the part there. Roush Fenway Racing was investigating on its own as well.

“I found out about it, I wanted to go supersonic,” Roush said. “[i thought,] ‘We’re going to get a search warrant, industrial espionage is going on … They’ve had an opportunity to see what it does … We’ve been damaged, we’ve been harmed by this theft.’”

But, he said, before he could take action, one of his team managers contacted the team in question without Roush’s knowledge. He said that the manager of the Toyota team involved said he didn’t know anything about a Roush part being in his possession – a claim Roush said he believes – and that the two arranged to hand deliver the part back to Roush Fenway and the transfer was made early one morning.

Roush said the part had been sandblasted and worked on, but that the serial numbers were still intact.

Dissatisfied, he decided to go to NASCAR instead of through the legal system to get what he deems “relief” for what this cost his team. He said conversations are ongoing and that those are and should remain private.

Roush says he’s had three discussions with NASCAR officials “as I’ve attempted to work my way through this with an appropriate sanction and relief could be given to me for the theft that occurred.”

“We are still considering legal action,” he said, adding that if his team discovered it could make the case, it could seek a restraining order against the team to prohibit use of similar parts.

Roush refused to name the team involved, saying that he did not want to embarrass either the sponsor or the team, many members of which he believes did not know this had happened.

Asked what it would take to satisfy him, Roush replied: “Show me something. I’ll know what I like when I see it.”

He said that a public apology could be issued and that he’d like a guarantee that “somebody on the team won’t misuse the information.”

Roush said that the issue might not have become public if not for a comment he made at Atlanta Motor Speedway. At that time, the investigation was ongoing, but Roush Fenway’s Carl Edwards was penalized for an oil tank cover that was not attached to his car at Las Vegas. The following week, Toyota’s Lee White questioned whether Roush intentionally skirted the rules.

In a lengthy rebuttal of that, Roush says that he mentioned this parts issue and the potential for a restraining order against a Toyota team, a comment that was published this week and brought the issue to the forefront.

Daimler-Chrysler wins suit against Bill Davis:

DaimlerChrysler won a $6.5 million judgment Thursday against Bill Davis Racing in a breach of contract dispute in U.S. District Court in Detroit. A 7-member jury deliberated 4 hours after a 17-day trial before awarding the judgment to the Auburn Hills carmaker, which alleged that the North Carolina-based race team violated a six-year contract in 2003 by passing confidential Dodge Motorsports technology, parts and information to Toyota. The automaker said Bill Davis Racing helped Toyota develop a prototype Tundra racing truck for NASCAR's Craftsman Truck series at the same time Davis was under contract to prepare DaimlerChrysler stock cars for the Winston Cup Series, now the Nextel Cup Series.

Looks like a vampire ready to suck more blood out of the US economy.

Chrysler makes concepts all the time that they never build, and they don't have the battery, electric drivetrain or fuel efficient engine technology that they have in these concepts like this one and the Liberty EV. So I am not too excited about something they are unable to build now, and probably won't be able to build until 2013 and they could be bankrupt well before then.

Ever hear of GEM or Global Electric Motorcars: http://www.gemcar.com/ ?

I would say Chrysler has a good start and alot of knowledge of building electric vehicles. They have been building these vehicles for over 10 years now.

The Nassau is sharp and edgy. The 200c is soft and curvy. Other than the grille there are no analogous shapes or edges. The only similar thing I notice is the crease along the sides, and that becomes completely different again once it reaches the rear.

Could you point out to me how they DO look alike?

Strong resembalance...the 200C looks like a productized version of the Nassau concept. Similar arch to the roofline, similar greenhouse, similar hood, similar front fascia and grille.

What he said!

The 200C looks more similar to the Nassau, than it's looks different. It basically looks exactly the same, but with slightly smoothed out hard edges, and a different (thank god) rear end.