Spring Break
Chrysler's new message is eager, but disjointed
Tom Walsh - Detroit Free PressIssue date: 11/5/09 Section: Real News
DETROIT - The new Chrysler Group under CEO Sergio Marchionne is extremely frank, almost unsettlingly so, about Chrysler's failings under previous owners leading up to its government rescue and Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The new Chrysler also sounds like an outfit that's as energetic and fast-moving as any automobile company you can imagine.
That's the good stuff.
It's also sending a fragmented, and a little confusing, message about who the company sees as its customers, talking one moment in hipster lingo about finding one's "inner mojo" and flashing an image of a young woman with a full-arm tattoo on the screen, and then moments later paying homage to John Wayne in breaking out Dodge Ram as a quasi-brand of its own, aimed squarely at good ol' boys.
These are early impressions from midway through an unprecedented eight-hour briefing for more than 400 news media, analysts and other guests on Chrysler's five-year business plan as it exits bankruptcy.
Chrysler is 55 percent owned by a UAW-administered health-care trust. Italian automaker Fiat, also headed by Marchionne, owns 20 percent with an option to grow that to 50 percent, and the U.S. government owns 8 percent of the firm.
Ralph Gilles, president of the Dodge brand and head of Chrysler Group vehicle design, was openly disparaging of the cheap interiors and other deficiencies in the company's vehicle lineup, promising a Dodge Caliber with an all-new interior, new colors and new wheels by the end of this year and similar overhauls of the Dodge Avenger, Journey and Caravan by the end of 20101.
Doug Betts, Chrysler senior vice president of quality, followed Gilles to the podium by acknowledging Chrysler's spotty reputation for quality. "This is a sensitive issue for us," Betts said. "We get it. We're not in denial." And then he launched into a 10-minutes recitation of steps the company is taking to fix problems.
Energy level and speed are a constant refrain at the Chrysler event. "The lights never turn off," Gilles said, referring to the seven-day workweek ethic of Marchionne that's rippling through the ranks.
The new Chrysler also sounds like an outfit that's as energetic and fast-moving as any automobile company you can imagine.
That's the good stuff.
It's also sending a fragmented, and a little confusing, message about who the company sees as its customers, talking one moment in hipster lingo about finding one's "inner mojo" and flashing an image of a young woman with a full-arm tattoo on the screen, and then moments later paying homage to John Wayne in breaking out Dodge Ram as a quasi-brand of its own, aimed squarely at good ol' boys.
These are early impressions from midway through an unprecedented eight-hour briefing for more than 400 news media, analysts and other guests on Chrysler's five-year business plan as it exits bankruptcy.
Chrysler is 55 percent owned by a UAW-administered health-care trust. Italian automaker Fiat, also headed by Marchionne, owns 20 percent with an option to grow that to 50 percent, and the U.S. government owns 8 percent of the firm.
Ralph Gilles, president of the Dodge brand and head of Chrysler Group vehicle design, was openly disparaging of the cheap interiors and other deficiencies in the company's vehicle lineup, promising a Dodge Caliber with an all-new interior, new colors and new wheels by the end of this year and similar overhauls of the Dodge Avenger, Journey and Caravan by the end of 20101.
Doug Betts, Chrysler senior vice president of quality, followed Gilles to the podium by acknowledging Chrysler's spotty reputation for quality. "This is a sensitive issue for us," Betts said. "We get it. We're not in denial." And then he launched into a 10-minutes recitation of steps the company is taking to fix problems.
Energy level and speed are a constant refrain at the Chrysler event. "The lights never turn off," Gilles said, referring to the seven-day workweek ethic of Marchionne that's rippling through the ranks.
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