Tag Archives: Jeep

How Chrysler Turned Failure Into Success

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Chrysler has most definitely been enjoying a rebirth. Just a few years ago, the company was considered a zombie with people just waiting for a death keel. That never happened, though, with the government stepping in to provide a controversial bailout aimed to put the auto maker back on the track. It seems to have worked with Chrysler enjoying the best sales they’ve seen in years. Soon, they will be putting out a new car in the form of the 2013 Dodge Dart and it’s already got heads turning and people talking about it with love. It’s clear that Chrysler is ready to be the dominant brand in the auto industry.

The Detroit Free Press has an article talking about the company coming back from the brink. In it, they note that just three short years ago, Chrysler is still maintaining in the resurgence of the Asian car-makers recovering from the devastating tsunami. Ford and General Motors can’t say the same thing.

The article looks to examine the reasons why Chrysler isn’t experiencing the drop in the market that the other makers are. They point out several reasons why Chrysler is succeeding. The first reason why is because Chrysler isn’t simply relying on releasing an endless wave of new cars, but on making sure that the ones that are out are of the highest quality possible. This allows the cars to retain their value more and drives up their trade-in values. The article quotes ALG as saying that the company is predicting the values for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram will be higher than they were in 2007.

“The market seems to be responding positively to their products,” says Larry Dominque, the executive vice president of ALG.

Another point is that Chrysler is looking to get people with low credit into their cars. 1 of 5 Dodge buyers in April were financed with an interest rate of at least 10 percent, while Chevrolet was just 1 in 10. Chrysler has stated that the reason for this is because of the market being more willing to provide more flexible terms.

Chrysler is a company that is proving it believes the best way to capture the market, and buyers, is not just assaulting them with flashy new cars every year, but taking their current fleet and making sure that it’s the best quality possible. They did something that no one else has done, and looked not just at a hand full of their vehicles for renovation, but all of them. It seems to be really paying off. Their sales up to this point of the year have been nothing short of stellar. The Jeep brand and Dodge brand are enjoying a new found success in their all ready popular models. It’s become quite clear that Chrysler is back on top, not by chance, but by good business sense.

Go online to Bayside’s Showroom and you can see all the quality on display for yourself. Like us on Facebook, and follow on Twitter, and you’ll see all the current news in the industry, including the upcoming launch of the Dodge Dart!

Chrysler Hits $473 Million in First Quarter

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2012 is still young, and Chrysler is already speeding past the competition with its first quarterly earnings.

Closing out the month of April, Chrysler announced that it had a net revenue of $16.4 billion in the first quarter, coming out to a net income of $473 million. During that time, they sold 523,000 vehicles and shipped 607,000 vehicles worldwide, an increase of 33 percent and 25 percent respectively from the first quarter of 2011. To put it plainly, Chrysler is continuing to shatter records and surpass industry insiders’ expectations.

It seems that Chrysler is on track to meet or surpass its 2012 net income goal of $1.5 billion, all thanks to a stellar line-up and brilliant marketing from the Clint Eastwood “Halftime in America” Superbowl ad to the unveiling of the new 2013 Ram 1500 and 2013 SRT Viper at the New York International Auto Show. If anyone worries that excitement will cool off as the year goes on, keep in mind that there is still plenty of buzz for the 2013 Dodge Dart which will be available later this year, and Chrysler is expecting that the Dodge Dart will perform very well with young car buyers.

Be a part of Chrysler’s historic year by checking Bayside’s inventory of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram vehicles online here, and get the latest news from Chrysler by liking Bayside on Facebook and following Bayside on Twitter.

Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Forbes’ “Imported From Detroit” Analysis Misses the Point

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Over the weekend, Forbes published an article titled “Chrysler Is Proving Right To Ditch ‘Imported From Detroit’” which made the argument that Chrysler’s series of commercials with Clint Eastwood were a misfire. The article was positive about the 2011 Chrysler Super Bowl ad with Eminem which kicked off the “Imported From Detroit” campaign, but writer Dale Buss claims the campaign “jumped the shark” with the 2012 Super Bowl ad.

Here is the original ad and the transcript of Eastwood’s speech.

It’s halftime. Both teams are in the locker room discussing what they can do to win this game in the second half. It’s halftime in America, too. People are out of work and hurting and they’re all wondering what they’re going to do to make a comeback, and we’re all scared because this isn’t a game. The people of Detroit know a little something about this. They almost lost everything, but we all pulled together. Now Motor City is fighting again. I’ve seen a lot of tough eras, a lot of downturns in my life, times when we didn’t understand each other. It seems that we’ve lost our heart at times. The fog of division, discord, and blame made it hard to see what lies ahead. But after those trials, we all rallied around what was right and acted as one because that’s what we do. We find a way through tough times, and if we can’t find a way, then we make one. All that matters now is what’s ahead. How do we come from behind? How do we come together, and how do we win? Detroit is showing us it can be done, and what’s true about them is true about all of us. This country can’t be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again, and when we do, the world’s going to hear the roar of our engines. Yeah, it’s halftime, America, and our second half is about to begin.

According to Buss, the “Halftime in America” ad doesn’t work because Chrysler was not a “credible underdog” since Chrysler sales improved in 2011. Besides that, he claims that “the object of [Eastwood’s] anger wasn’t clear” and pointed to 30 Rock‘s recent spoof of the ad as proof that the campaign was laughably bad.

Here is why Buss is wrong.

2011 was a great year for Chrysler. No one is denying that. Everyone at Chrysler is thrilled, but they know that their work is not done. The point of “Halftime in America” is not to paint Chrysler as the perpetual underdog. To continue the sports analogy, Chrysler is not an automotive Charlie Brown trying to kick a football that keeps getting pulled away at the last minute. They scored touchdown after touchdown in 2011, but in 2012, they are going to face new challenges. Just yesterday, the Wall Street Journal highlighted the Japanese auto industry’s recovery from last year’s natural disasters and predicted that this year is going to be highly competitive between U.S., German, South Korean, and Japanese auto makers.

“Halftime in America” is an ad with a two main messages. First, the ad was meant to inspire Americans who are still struggling. Eastwood speech was meant for people who are out of work and can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. Americans can look at the comeback that Chrysler made in 2011 and be inspired by that. Some people wrongly interpreted this part of the ad as Chrysler and Eastwood endorsing President Obama. I’m still baffled as to where people got this idea, but for the record, Eastwood is very openly conservative and claims the only time he voted Democrat was for Gray Davis in the California governor race. He didn’t see the ad as politically motivated but as a “message about job growth and the spirit of America.”

Secondly, the ad sends the message that Chrysler isn’t getting lazy or complacent just because they had a good year. As Eastwood says in the ad, “Motor City is fighting again.” The game isn’t over; it’s just begun. Eastwood’s monologue is meant to be fighting words, but they aren’t out of anger at Chrysler’s competitors. Instead, they are meant to convey a message to Chrysler’s loyal customers, saying, “We are back, and we aren’t going anywhere.”

It is too bad that Buss has such a jaded view towards “Halftime in America” and towards Chrysler. His whole attitude can be summed up in this assessment of Chrysler: “…a hoary automotive brand from Flyover Country.” People like Buss will scoff at Chrysler as cars from Flyover Country, and in the same breath, they will say Chrysler is “no longer a credible underdog.”

This is exactly why Chrysler keeps working and fighting. The second half has begun. Chrysler sees the challenges ahead, and to the people like Buss who remain unconvinced, Chrysler is ready to prove them wrong.

Check out Bayside’s full line-up of new and used Chrysler online here, and keep up to date with the latest news from Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram by liking Bayside on Facebook and following Bayside on Twitter.