And such a sad song…
Crazy 
Good to see Government Motors spending taxpayer bailout dollars on something useful.
They’ve paid back all the money, haven’t they?
That took some imagination.
No.
Chrysler is now completely private again. (Owned by Fiat now, which is why we’re seeing the new Fiats on the market here and will soon be seeing rebadged Lancias) GM stock is now 30% government controlled. They had an IPO that cut it from 60% last year and that IPO covered almost all of the government money infusion that kept GM afloat.
This is a very popular topic amongst the car folks i hang out with.
They paid back what was set up as a loan. There is still a big chunk of money that was converted into equity. The Government sold a chunk of that, but still holds about 26% of the company stock. The stock will need to double from its current price for the Government to break even. The IPO covered part of the cash infusion, but not all.
Chrysler is also bringing out cars based on the Alfa Romeo platforms. See the new Duster for an example.
Were your friends dealership owners, or stockholders prior to the government takeover?
Industry writers, drivers and the like
I was under the impression that Fiat has a “stake” in Chrysler not ownership.
Fiat has controlling interest in Chrysler.
That’s cool because haven’t they had a history with Fiat? The straight 4 2.2L was a Fiat engine that was in all 5 of my Omni’s was pretty badass. It wasn’t the engine but what was around it that gave the most problems! ;D
Let’s face it… once you start following the flow of sharing, parts borrowing, platform extensions and rebadging that goes on in the industry, you kinda get the sense it’s like the bloodlines of European royalty.
The diagram gets pretty complex, as to who is sourcing what from who. Fiat has had tie ups with many, many other manufacturers over the years. Fiat has many divorces from those tie ups too.
back on track, that was friggin awesome. it must have taken weeks to set that up.
LOL
They had a green light by GM. I think it cost a lot. And they had to practice to get it just right.
Sounds like an interesting time to invest a bit in Chrysler. Although my next car will still be from Peugeot Citroën. They’ve got a new system for basically turning any car into a hybrid - get rid of some trunk space and install an electric motor on top of the rear axel. Discover Peugeot Models & SUV Vehicles | Peugeot UK – 60mpg diesel. Of course Diesels are much more popular over here, for some reason, I don’t know why.
I’d totally buy an American-made truck, if they were available. Good 'ol boy F-150 or Chevy S-10, but the only truck sold here is the Toyota Hilux, which is I think a Tacoma but smaller.
I love OKGO. Those guys do really amazing stuff for their videos.
Diesel costs more here than gas. That is the main reason, as the added cost of the engine does not pay off in savings.
In Europe the fuel taxes are high enough that they can discount diesel fuel a buck a gallon by just lowering the tax on that fuel. That makes it very attractive to buy a diesel.
Diesels are planned for many of the US designed and built vehicles. The new fuel economy standards will drive that.
I haven’t done the math and I suspect that it will indeed take a heck of a long time to of offset the ~5000 extra that the diesel engine costs but it is nice to get nearly 50 mpg. but just roughing it out I save about $1000 a year with the diesel on fuel. If you add in additional savings related to ease of maintenance, less tune ups, less oil changes etc. it might end up being 1200 a year so It’s only going to take me about 5 years to break even. Not to bad. I suspect on the used diesel I got 5 years ago it’s already passed the break even point.