Free Advice: You Get What You Pay For

So, Frank Rhodes, the grandson of ol' Walt (that Walt would be Walter P. Chrysler) offered a little advice to Chrysler bigwig Bob Nardelli. The advice goes like this (among other bits):

• Develop an inexpensive "people’s car" with "no fancy radio, no air, no frills and EASY to service."

No fancy radio? No air? No frills? Hmm, that adds up to... carry the zero... no sales! Spectacular advice!

He ended the advice with this, "This is a sad period for American history, one of which should be and will be won. I am on your side. Make it work - failure is not an option."

Look, we're comfortable being the one car blog that rarely updates and even rarerly makes any sense, but what in the world do those sentences mean? What should be won? The sad period? Can you win a sad period of American history? He's on whose side? Cerberus (that's where the letter was sent)? Cerberus is a holding company. The plan was always to sell Chrysler. Failure is not an option? Really? It's not only an option, it's likely.

In order to avoid failure, here's some helpful advice for Chrysler:

• When you buy a new Chrysler, a cake is delivered to your house and Summer Glau jumps out and kicks the crap out of you. She yells about the men in blue, how it's "not part of the mission" and just keeps beating you with weak windsheild wipers. And frosting. Lots of frosting.

Pardon us while we go buy a... What's Chrysler even selling these day?

Referenced article
eGMCarTech: Chrysler’s great-grandson writes letter to Cerberus, gives advice

Comments

[Kirk Brinkerhoff]

The problem that most companies are not seeing is that the economy is the problem. Until people can feel that their money is safe and that they will still have a job tomorrow, they are not likely to go out and buy anything, let alone something as expensive as an automobile.

I know that I am looking at cheap, no frills and exceptional fuel mileage or something that runs on little gasoline. The importance of investing in alternative fuels is such a high topic right now, people will migrate to these vehicles and those that produce them will profit, those that don't will sink or merge with those that do.

Thanks for the article.