2008 Chrysler Pt Cruiser Base Wagon 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Automakers are getting nervous about Europe's economy

Carmakers BMW and Stellantis on Thursday expressed concerns about Europe's economic outlook, joining a chorus of retailers and others in warning of waning consumer confidence on the continent and hitting their shares. "Obviously the macro(-economic situation) in Europe is more challenging, which gives me pause, personally," Stellantis chief financial officer Richard Palmer said on a conference call with analysts. "If there was anywhere where I was more concerned, it would be Europe than anywhere else really based on the macro." This follows a dire assessment of consumer sentiment in Europe from the likes of consumer goods company Unilever and news of lower spending by Europeans from Amazon. Like other major auto companies, Stellantis and BMW have been hit by supply chain disruptions stemming from the global coronavirus pandemic that have curtailed car production. They have also benefited from strong consumer demand amid low vehicle supply, allowing them to raise prices and keep them high even as the semiconductor shortage shows signs of easing. BMW posted a 35.3% jump in third-quarter revenue despite a small drop in vehicle sales. Stellantis said its revenue rose 29% on the back of a 13% increase in vehicle sales as more semiconductors became available. The concern among analysts has been that demand may falter, just as carmakers get their hands on the supplies they need, undermining pricing and hurting profits. But this week Ferrari said it was confident about its prospects for this year and 2023 as demand for its luxury cars, as well its pricing power, remained strong. Both BMW and Stellantis said on Thursday they had vehicle order books that stretched into the second quarter of 2023. But BMW's chief financial officer Nicolas Peter said high inflation and rising interest rates could hit buyers' wallets. "This is causing conditions for consumers to deteriorate, which will affect their behaviour in the coming months," he said. "We therefore continue to expect our higher-than-average order books to normalise, especially in Europe." He added customers had been unhappy about the wait for new cars, so "a slight reduction (in orders) would not be negative." Palmer said Stellantis was "ready for any softness in demand" but in the short term had been affected by a shortage of drivers to deliver its cars to dealers. "At the moment, we can't build enough cars," he said.

Revisiting the 2008-09 auto bailout that saved GM and Chrysler

The Federal Reserve stayed open late on December 31, 2008. There's almost no way you could remember that because barely anyone knew at the time. But General Motors had to pay its bills, and the Fed wired money so GM could still buy things in January. Without those funds, the nation's largest automaker wouldn't have seen much of 2009. It's one of many heart-stopping moments that illustrate just how close Detroit's Big Three came to extinction nearly a decade ago. They're chronicled in a new movie, Live Another Day, premiering in theaters September 16. Filmmakers Bill Burke and Didier Pietri interviewed nearly all of the key executives, federal officials, and union chiefs to recreate the auto industry's most perilous period. The movie begins in the aftermath of Lehman Brothers' demise amid the global financial meltdown. Things looked bleak for American carmakers, and their CEOs were laughed off Capitol Hill when they sought a Wall Street-style bailout. "It was a feeling that it was the end of the world," Pietri told Autoblog in an interview where he and Burke previewed the film. Saved by last-minute loans authorized by the Bush Administration after Congress refused to act, Detroit staggered into 2009 with a faint pulse. Live Another Day illustrates the downward spiral that played out that winter as President Obama and his task force – with little prior knowledge of the auto industry – wrestled over the fate of hundreds of thousands of jobs. GM's longtime CEO Rick Wagoner was fired in March. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne suddenly appeared as a savior for Chrysler, with his own motives. Obama rejected restructuring plans from the automakers. Chrysler declared bankruptcy on April 30. GM followed June 1. The sequence was very public, but Pietri and Burke showcase lesser-known events that shaped the outcome. They also seek to dispel the notion that the government rescued GM and Chrysler from incompetent leaders. "We never subscribed to the theories that the management structures of the companies were a bunch of idiots who didn't know what is going on," Pietri said. At one point, Chrysler executives were negotiating with Marchionne and Fiat. Unbeknownst to them, the government was having its own talks with the Italian automaker. The filmmakers also cast light on the bankruptcy process, which was shredded to shepherd two of America's industrial icons through reorganizations.

Junkyard Gem of the Week: 1979 Plymouth Horizon (with the Woodgrain Package!)

While Ford and GM proved to have sufficiently deep pockets to design their own US-market subcompacts for the fuel-starved 1970s, Chrysler had to look to its overseas outposts to create such a car. Turning to Simca, which had become part of Chrysler Europe after Chrysler's absorption of the Rootes Group, a promising hatchback concept was developed into both a European-market version and a significantly different American-market version. Today's Junkyard Gem is an example of the latter type, found in a Denver-area self-service boneyard last summer. The first of these cars came off the Belvidere Assembly line in Illinois as 1978 models (sadly, Stellantis just shuttered Belvidere in February). The Dodge-badged version was the Omni, while the Plymouth version was the Horizon; the generic term for this car is thus Omnirizon. The Omnirizon was a great success for Chrysler, and many other vehicles were based on its platform. To name a few members of the extended Omnirizon family: the 1982-1987 Dodge Charger, the Dodge Rampage/Plymouth Scamp minitrucks, and even the Plymouth Turismo of Cocaine Factory fame. Astoundingly, production continued all the way through 1990, which meant that these thoroughly 1970s cars stuck around long enough to get airbags as standard equipment. Just as was the case with the Mitsubishi-built Dodge and Plymouth Colts, there never were any significant differences—pricing or otherwise—between the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon. The Omnirizon got a fascinating assortment of engines during its first half-decade or so. For 1978 through 1980, it received the same 1.7-liter Volkswagen straight-four that went into US-market Rabbits, Sciroccos, Jettas and Audi 4000s. This one was rated at 77 horsepower and 90 pound-feet. Chrysler began bolting in its homegrown 2.2-liter four-banger starting with the 1981 Omnirizons, with the hilariously quick Omni GLH and GLHS getting turbocharged versions a few years later. From the 1983 through 1986 model years, penny-pinching Americans could buy their base-model Omnirizons with 1.6-liter Peugeot-built Simca engines delivering 62 French horses to the front wheels. This Horizon is absolutely loaded by the standards of late-1970s economy cars. The MSRP was just $4,278 (about $18,843 in 2023 dollars), but this automatic transmission would have added another $319 to the cost ($1,405 today). The base transmission for 1979 was a four-on-the-floor manual.