And not a K-car in sight
There’s apparently less than meets the eye in the revised Chrysler restructuring plan [link goes to PDF file]:
What they are really saying here, but they are smart enough not to utter the actual words, is that their sales depended on a finance arm that was willing to lend at below-market rates to people with bad credit scores, and the lack of this hidden subsidy is what is making it hard to sell their cars. Credit exists — what no longer exists is zero-percent-interest-to-anyone-who-walks-in-the-door-no-questions-asked financing. Instead of figuring out how to make cars that don’t require hidden subsidies to get off the lot, they are trying to get the government to fund their hidden subsidies.
To sell that premise, they’re waving the “electric car” flag:
[A]ny intelligent restructuring plan would recognize that electric cars, even if they are successful in the marketplace, are not going to be anything but a cash drain for years. This kind of thing has to be put on hold while the company gets back on its feet. But instead, since this is a political and not a business document, Chrysler is practically leading with it.
And this line from the actual plan bothers me greatly:
A two-mode hybrid version of the Company’s best-selling vehicle, the Dodge Ram is scheduled for 2010.
The last time they had two-mode hybrids to sell — the Chrysler Aspen/Dodge Durango twins — production was halted after a mere two months. (This is the same system you’ll see in some GM vehicles.) Hardly speaks well of their confidence in the system, I’d say.
