Chrysler town and country

Chrysler Plants To Shutdown During Bankruptcy Warren (WWJ) — As part of it’s bankruptcy and restructuring announcement, Chrysler said most Chrysler manufacturing operations will be temporarily idled effective Monday, May 4th.
Some plants were closed Thursday because suppliers weren’t shipping parts. Workers at the Warren Stamping, Warren Truck and Sterling Assembly plants told WWJ Thursday afternoon they were let off work early or weren’t allowed into the plant at all because it was shutdown. We’ve had major suppliers decide, based on our announcement, not to ship any more products, we have no choice other than to halt the operations, Chrysler president and vice chairman Tom LaSorda said during a conference call with reporters.

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Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:08pm EDT Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page [- Text [+ ] By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow and S P 500 fell on Thursday after Chrysler’s bankruptcy filing undercut optimism about upbeat corporate profits and reassuring job market data.
Even so, the S P 500 closed out its best month in nine years despite the big U.S. automaker’s bankruptcy after talks to restructure its debt broke down. Uneasiness about Chrysler’s bankruptcy wiped out earlier gains of more than 1 percent in both the Dow industrials and the S P 500. "We’ve got some fairly heavy-handed government intervention here, and the market is concerned about that," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco. Exxon Mobil Corp was the top drag on the Dow, down 2.6 percent at $66.67, after the world’s largest publicly traded company posted a 58 percent drop in quarterly profit that missed Wall Street’s estimates.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 17.61 points, or 0.22 percent, to 8,168.12. The Standard Poor’s 500 Index dipped just 0.83 of a point, or 0.09 percent, to 872.81. But the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 5.36 points, or 0.31 percent, to 1,717.30. MonitorixV0.2

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 Contact Information Joel Sporn President Westbury Jeep Chrysler Dodge MonitorixV0.2

April 30, 10:24 AM 3 comments Feed Is it not odd that in the home of the Barbie we can’t buy the Fiat 500 Barbie edition? A few years ago I was at the Munich airport looking for a book to read when I stumbled upon a paperback buyer’s guide that listed every new car sold in Germany along with a photo of the cars and their vital specs.
I was amazed at the size of the book. It was about as large as the Wedster’s New World Dictionary. That same type book is published here in magazine form, and it’s about a third of the size of the German version. Not only can German new car buyers choose from most of the American, Japaneses, and German cars we can purchase here, but they also have access to dozens of French, Italian, Russian, Korean, and even British brands we never see on our shores.

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Chrysler: facts and figures - Telegraph MonitorixV0.2

DEARBORN, Mich., April 30, 2009 — Today’s announcement that Chrysler is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy is an important development during this unprecedented period for the auto industry and the global economy.
Our teams are monitoring the situation and have been working hard for months to ensure that the external environment and industry restructuring do not slow progress on our Ford transformation plan, which remains solid and unchanged.

Importantly, we share President Obama’s hope that Chrysler’s bankruptcy will be controlled and quick, while we continue planning for all contingencies as a prudent business measure. Our industry is highly interdependent, and the health of the supply base and dealer network is critical for all automakers. Ford appreciates that the U.S. Automotive Task Force is focused on the stability of the supply chain and is committed to ensuring that a healthy U.S. auto industry emerges from this difficult economic period. At this time, we do not expect any disruptions to our operations as a result of today’s news. All of us at Ford remain absolutely committed to continuing to make progress on our transformation plan. Our greatest opportunity is to create ONE Ford, leveraging our global assets and delivering more high-quality, fuel efficient vehicles that customers want and value. MonitorixV0.2

04/30/2009 For Chrysler employee Shawn Hurley, the revised United Auto Workers contract represents more than the loss of bonuses or changes in unemployment assistance. It could force him to leave the company and lose his health care plan, which is covering treatment for his 5-year-old daughter’s brain tumor. The government-imposed changes to the UAW’s 2007 contract which members nationwide approved Wednesday range from elimination of Christmas and performance bonuses this year and next year, to requiring the use of vacation days for a mandatory shutdown in the summer.
The modifications will be in effect until the current contract ends in September 2011, unless they are further modified, according to a copy of the new agreement. Local workers gathered Wednesday at the union hall of UAW Local 136, which represents workers at the Fenton pickup plant. Several workers said the revisions will be painful. The UAW announced late Wednesday that 82 percent of production workers and 80 percent of skilled-trades workers voted for the agreement. Ninety percent of office and clerical workers and 94 percent of UAW-represented engineering workers voted in favor. Union members were told that if they didn’t vote for the changes, that’s the end of us, said David Horton, a 20-year Chrysler worker who is an inspector at the pickup plant. You don’t have a choice that’s why I went on and voted, Horton, 47, of Ballwin, said. The vote came just one day before Chrysler’s deadline today to reach deals with the UAW and creditors and finalize an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA. If those deals are completed, the automaker will get $6 billion more in government loans on top of the $4 billion it has received. The new contract, which takes effect on Monday, will affect more than 1,300 active UAW members in Fenton’s pickup and adjacent shuttered minivan plants, plus thousands of retirees. One major change concerns transfers. Under the 2007 contract, laid-off workers could receive up to four offers to transfer to another facility, a union official said in October. On the final offer, workers must accept or they are dropped from supplemental unemployment benefits Under the proposed modifications, workers will only get one offer to transfer, which they must take or leave the company.

RELATED LINKS Get more business news, blogs and opinion Hurley laid off from the Fenton pickup plant in September said he’ll have a tough decision. He can stay with the automaker and transfer to another plant, far from his daughter’s doctors, or he can take a buyout and be forced to find health care coverage after six months. Some health care benefits also will be changed for retirees. The revised contract calls for retirees to lose eye care and dental benefits on July 1, among other changes. In the proposed agreement, UAW officials outlined changes to the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association, or VEBA, retiree health care fund that Chrysler will hand over to the UAW in January. Under the new agreement and to comply with the U.S. Treasury’s requirements, the UAW will have a 55 percent stake in a restructured Chrysler. Officials wrote that changes to the retiree health care and VEBA deal would help Chrysler avoid failure and a likely liquidation. The Associated Press contributed to this report. MonitorixV0.2

Chrysler staff now face an uncertain few weeks Chrysler is to enter bankruptcy protection after failing to persuade a number of hedge funds to write off its debts, a White House official has said. President Barack Obama is due to make a statement shortly on the future of the struggling US carmaker. The news comes as Chrysler has been in last minute talks to restructure the business before a midnight deadline. President Obama has already said that Chrysler would emerge stronger after any move into bankruptcy protection. ‘Hedge fund block’ The US government had told Chrysler it would be given a further $6bn ( 4bn) of vital state loans if it had successfully restructured the business by midnight. This included trying to persuade the firm’s main lenders to accept $2bn in cash, in exchange for writing off all of Chrysler’s $6.9bn secured debt. While Chrysler’s main banks, holding 70% of the debt, accepted this proposal, it was reportedly rejected by hedge funds that hold a sizeable proportion of its remaining debt. Hedge funds are private investment funds that typically attract rich private investors. MonitorixV0.2

guardian.co.uk , Thursday 30 April 2009 09.43 BST Two women admire a 1947 Chrysler Town & Country convertible car in Marseille. Photograph: Maurice Ambler/Getty Images After his first car was denied entry at the 1924 New York Auto Show, Walter Chrysler parked his prototype for the 1924 Chrysler Six in the lobby. It became the first affordable car with a six-cylinder engine, the most powerful of its time. He founded the Chrysler Corporation on 6 June 1925. Inspired by fighter plane manoeuvres, the Airflow was created in 1934. The car was a financial failure, despite setting new speed records on Utah’s salt flats and publicity stunts including driving the Airflow to the brink of a Pennsylvania cliff. However, innovations such as Fluid Drive, a forerunner of automatic transmission, helped the firm turn a profit in 1934 and maintain growth throughout the 1930s. Some time after the company founder died in 1940, the luxury-oriented Town and Country was launched. But in 1942 automobile production was halted and factory resources diverted towards the war effort. Chrysler supplied the allied forces with goods ranging from tanks to aircraft engines and trailer-mounted anti-aircraft guns. After the war, the "Woody" became a popular convertible. In the 1950s, the carmaker ran an advertising campaign entitled "Beautiful Chrysler". Innovations included air-cooled brakes, the Hemi-head V8 engine and Hydraglide, the industry’s first power-steering unit. The 1955 Chrysler C-300’s engine was so powerful that the car was banned from racing. Chrysler then teamed up with CBS to offer "Highway Hi-Fi", a compact record player mounted under the dashboard. The company lured designer Elwood Engel from Ford to reshape Chrysler styling. He created the 1963 "Engelbird", which had an experimental gas turbine engine. Chrysler also collaborated with Nasa on the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz space mission. The US car industry slumped in the wake of the oil shock of 1973 and due to the greater fuel efficiency of Japanese imports. But Lee Iacocca, appointed president of Chrysler in 1978, rekindled sales and became the manufacturer’s face through a highly successful series of "New Chrysler" print and TV ads. In the 1990s, the company merged with Daimler-Benz to form DaimlerChrysler. MonitorixV0.2

White House Press spokesman Robert Gibbs, shown at his daily press briefing April 27, 2009. (UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch) "surgical bankruptcy "United States "White House " search results AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 29 (UPI) — U.S. auto giant Chrysler LLC would have its management shifted from Michigan to Italy in the event of bankruptcy, people connected to the negotiations said. The deadline for Chrysler to strike cost-cutting deals and a partnership with Fiat of Turin, Italy, is Thursday. If the company files for bankruptcy, however, U.S. and Canadian governments would provide about $4 billion with 80 percent from United States, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. A bankrupt Chrysler would emerge 55 percent owned by the United Auto Workers, 35 percent by Fiat, 8 percent by the United States and 2 percent by the Canadian government. A company of Chrysler’s size majority owned by a union is "unprecedented on this scale," said University of California-Berkley Professor Harley Shaiken, a labor relations expert. Creditors would receive $2 billion, but no stake in the emerged company. That leaves Cerberus Capital Management, Chrysler’s current owner, which would be get nothing. Fiat intends to join forces with Chrysler even if it files for bankruptcy. Fiat Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne is in Washington, ready to sign an agreement, The Detroit News reported. MonitorixV0.2