Not a good combo: Chery, Chrysler and the Congressional bailout
Click above for a gallery of the Dodge Hornet concept
Chrysler's goal in launching a joint venture with China's Chery was to produce low-cost small cars for the American market. No problem, right? Wrong. From the very beginning, the two automakers had a bit of a rocky relationship, with Chery offering a line of vehicles that weren't quite up the the safety or quality standards of American consumers and a dwindling supply of cash from Chrysler. Chery's not going to invest in new cars for nothing.
Recent negotiations between Chrysler and US lawmakers revealed another problem with Chrysler's Chinese ambitions, as Congress had a little problem with investing money into an American automaker that doesn't plan on building cars on US soil. It's no secret that it costs more to assemble vehicles in the United States than it does in low-wage countries like China, but that is a reality that all current automakers must live with.
Unfortunately, the death of this deal may have dire implications for future small cars from Chrysler, though its other deal with Nissan may help pick up some slack. Will we ever see a Dodge Hornet? That, my friends, is increasingly unlikely.
Gallery: Dodge Hornet
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Woodenbee 9:25AM (12/18/2008)
One day they don't make cars people want and the next they won't? Chrysler has always stood out as the one that actually had some ideas , like the 4 door jeep and the 300, even the hideous crossfire appealed to some people, yet they aren't able to stay solvent? anyway they were going in the right direction, more funky small CHEAP affordable cars, something no one talks about is how with all these better quality cars around , WHO NEEDS A NEW CAR! they might want to focus on helping people pimp out their current car>? oh but that would too ghetto, they could make bazzilions selling fun merchandise like VW does, when I go an buy VW stuff its usually sold out, I guess the big 3 would have to train most of their buyers to use the internet first...
Reply
BasementDave 10:00AM (12/18/2008)
This car should be electric.... If'n it was, and reasonable, after tax incentives, Chrysler would have a hard time keeping up with demand.
Reply