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posts about #2008pickuptrucksales more → 
Toyota Passes Dodge For Third Place In US Truck Sales
Detroit, 1:01 AM
Wed Dec 9
27 posts in the last 24 hours
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Toyota Passes Dodge For Third Place In US Truck Sales |
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01/08/09
01/08/09
Hmmm...
01/08/09
Cerberus would like to thank you for the $4 billion in tax dollars you gave them, though.
01/08/09
I doubt very much that Cerberus could simply walk away with that money should they decide to shutter Chrysler.
01/08/09
01/08/09
Jalopnik.
We can pool our collective excess income and buy it out.
01/08/09
Cerberus has already warned that, "Unless Chrysler's labor costs can achieve parity with the foreign transplants, and without the restructuring of Chrysler's debt, Chrysler cannot be restored to long-term health and the government loan will be unlikely to be fully repaid."
[blogs.wsj.com]
01/08/09
True. But the point is that if Chrysler at last buys the farm, Cerberus gets jack out of it. It doesn't matter if there is still three billion dollars in untouched loan money left (which I doubt there is), because as you yourself pointed out, the loan was granted to Chrysler LLC, NOT Cerberus. Therefore, the loss of Chrysler would do nothing to profit Cerberus, and nor do they have unrestricted access to the loan money. That money was meant for Chrysler, and Chrysler only.
01/08/09
Cerberus had a choice - they could use their own money into Chrysler to keep it afloat or they could ask the government for money. Chrysler needed cash to make it past December. So, in affect, Cerberus winds up $4 billion ahead because they didn't have to use their own money to keep Chrysler going.
The fact that Cerberus sees Chrysler as an unworthy investment should tell us something.
01/08/09
Not really.
Cerberus bought it intending to "flip it", so to speak, by putting a minimum effort into it and trying to sell it for more than they paid for it. They then realized that they didn't have a fucking clue what they were doing or what they were getting themselves into, which is why the lost so much money on the deal. The fact that Cerberus sees Chrysler as an unworthy investment has less to do with the state of Chrysler products and more to do with their own realization that they are abject morons, and have finally recognized that they should never had tried this stunt in the first place.
01/08/09
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01/08/09
/maybe there are more important and more significant news items?
01/08/09
01/08/09
It also has 80% Domestic content as well. (up from 70% the year before)
The Dodge RAM has a 65% domestic content in it's build for 2008. (down from the year before)
I see a trend.
So who is the one outsourcing again?
01/08/09
01/08/09
Kumbaya, my lord, kummbaya. Rejoyce.
01/08/09
That's sad that the 6 wagon is dead, too. Used ones are super hard to find, too. I wanted one when I was car shopping last year.
01/08/09
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01/08/09
Also, Quadrasteer was available on certain Chevy brand trucks, it wasn't exclusive to GMC. You could also get Quadrasteer on the 3/4-ton Chevy Suburban (but not the Yukon I don't think). Shame GM didn't do more to promote that system, it really was fantastic (my FIL owned a 2003 GMC Sierra Denali with GS).
01/08/09
01/08/09
[and by hummers i am referring to the car brand...]
01/08/09
Oh. In that case, I have no explanation, other than the fact that the H3T is actually a pretty nice truck.
01/08/09
01/08/09
check and check!
01/08/09
01/08/09
[automobiles.honda.com]
01/08/09
I saw that picture on some other forum and I busted out laughing. I couldn't resist stealing it and using it as an avatar.
01/08/09
01/08/09
We try not to talk about that.
01/08/09
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01/08/09
Also, the switch to a suspension system that's perceived as being less capable and a lack of any serious improvement in towing/payload capabilities over the previous model may have driven potential buyers into the arms of Ford, GM, or Toyota.
It is kind of sad, though, as the new Ram is a great truck, and even though technically less capable than the Tundra, Sierra, Silverado, and F-150, it is still more capable than most people will ever need.
01/08/09
Odd. Do you think they pay much attention to websites like this? I mean, you get a genuine feel for what some car buffs are saying- both the good and the bad. And the information is free.
01/08/09
I think that we have already seen several incremental bits of evidence in the past that they do. When the story broke that a building collapsed on a Ford factory property due to snow a few weeks back, a Ford PR guy replied (and got promptly banned by Ray). We just had a story of an interview with a higher-level GM planner, too.
01/08/09
01/08/09
What a shame too, as the new Ram looks really nice.
01/08/09
It is a nice truck. If you are going to the Detroit Auto Show, go check it out.
01/08/09