Jeep Tent Trailer

My parents had a tent trailer for a time. We would go camping a couple of times a year. My dad's campground coffee is the reason I love coffee today. We enjoyed some of the comforts of home with our tent trailer (gas stove, no bugs or animals, heat, cushioned bedding), but we still were out in the wilds of nature (bears, campfires, fresh air).

Jeep is going to be selling a tent trailer that fits nicely with their...well, there jeeps.

I think this would be a fun way to spend a vacation.  Fresh air, a 4x4, and a cozy place to sleep at night.  I'll take one Chrysler.  You can take the expense out of the loan my tax dollars were.

See more at Autoblog.

Or buy the only Jeep I can afford.

American 3 After The Shake Up

One website coined the phrase the "Carpocalypse." In my blog reading I came across an article on Autoblog.com that pointed to Mint.com which had this pretty interesting graph of the before and after ownership matrix of Ford, GM, and Chrysler. I broke the graphs down a little with my amazing "Windows Paint" skills. (I need a Mac.) Below is the full graph embedded from Mint.com; then below that are my cuts for each major company.
Personal Finance Image from Mint.com Here's Ford (click image to enlarge): I think they are staged to do well. Here's GM (click image to enlarge): I think they are still looking weak. Here's Chrysler (click image to enlarge): They are still hosed. Poor Fiat. Honestly, Ford looks okay. It seems they could still do a lot better without the union making horrible decisions and costing so much money. I can guarantee that, if given the opportunity, I could help shape a smarter, even more lean, company. The problems I see are: the over sized and over powerful unions, too many politics involved in company business, so much wasted money on things like bad advertising methods and an R&D department that doesn't seem to do any research or development among true automotive fans or around what consumers really want, decisions to give up huge market shares like the 85% of police and taxi vehicle sales for reasons that probably stem from tired vehicles and lagging sales of those vehicles among the civilian consumers, and so much more. I have ideas that I know would work. They have to do with what vehicles have been successful and why. It's about making the best, safest, sexiest vehicles available. Get rid of the politics, the back room deals, the greed and lies, and simply make great cars and trucks that are designed around quality of build and the desires of the consumers. Reduce the overhead and reduce the costs. Remove the waste and become a more profitable company. Create a company that is well respected and grow through that reputation.

Fiat Owns Chrysler

An Italian company, Fiat, now owns the once American company, Chrysler. Good job UAW. At least Conan can make is seem funny.

General Motors and Chrysler Talking (General Mopar)

Autoblog is reporting that GM and Chrysler are in talks about a possible merger. Looking for art work to go with this story, I found this one from February 2007, when rumors were circulating of GM's possible take over of Chrysler after Daimler decided to cut their losses and run. I'm not really in the mood to talk about my thoughts on the possibilities of General Mopar becoming the next big automotive story. GM is already the world's largest automotive company, with huge cash flow issues. Right now, they're in the news trying to sell there HQ for $500 million. They bought it 5 or 6 months ago for $626 million. There's a quick $126 million loss. (Glad I don't have stock with those idiots.) They're also talking about unloading other divisions, like Hummer and their medium-duty trucks. GM could benefit from the Charger, Challenger, and other cool cars like these that Chrysler (Dodge) would offer them. GM could get back into the Taxi/Cop car business. It can't be a bad thing to have a big car that is purchased in bulk by huge agencies like the CHP or New York cabbies. Anyway, I don't get it. Why do companies that get so large lose site of smart decision making?

The Automotive Industry of Doom Part 1.5

Looks like an agreement may have been reached with UAW Local 602 which should result in the popular Lambda vehicles (Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook, and GMC Acadia...and soon a Chevrolet version) resuming production. Oh but at the same time I read this information, I found another union striking on GM. The CAW (Canadian Auto Workers). WHAT?!?!?!? The stinking Canadians? There's a whole other issue American car manufacturers have. They build too many different vehicles in too many different places all over the world. The few times I've been out of the country, I've seen some great models that they don't build here. How about this, take all of the best in every country, build just those models, and offer them to the world. What's that? World car? Yes, it's been thought of, tried, and there's been some failures. But, if it's done better, it would work. Oops. This was 1.5 but it almost became 1.75.

The Automotive Industry of Doom Part 1

I’ve called this entry “The Automotive Industry of Doom Part 1” for two reasons. One, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is coming out May 22, 2008. And Two, I’ve been working on a fairly long rant about the UAW (United Auto Workers Union) strikes and their affects on American automotive companies. The long rant is saved on my laptop, which is currently undergoing so work due to issues with heating up and a hard drive that's full. The long rant should follow soon.

The problem I see is the idea of the union in the first place. If we go way back to when unions were started, they had a purpose they served in protecting the rights of the workers. The problem today is their power is out of control and their affect on businesses, and subsequently, consumers is enormous.

My first example is General Motors (GM). GM has been hit with several strikes by the UAW that include shutdowns of plants that produce popular models (Malibu, Acadia, all the truck lines, etc), shutdowns of plants that supply parts for various vehicles (axles, plastics), and now another one that affects metal stamping plant (doors, hoods). Now it may seem like GM has some serious issues with the treatment of its employees, but as one auto blogger writes, “Is the United Auto Workers (UAW) subjecting GM to a death by a thousand cuts? What's the point of negotiating a national contract if every plant covered by the agreement goes out on strike over "local issues?"” (The Truth About Cars).

You see, GM already dealt with a national contract for the members of the UAW, but now there are other local unions and smaller unions such as American Axle’s union that are attacking GM. Theories are that these smaller unions want in on the UAW contract and agreements. Some even believe these unions want to join the UAW.

And the UAW, it’s the same union that represents the workers over at Ford and Chrysler. They’ve become so powerful, they tell the auto companies what they will build and, probably, not build. I read an article a few months back about the Ford Ranger. It’s not even a decent selling vehicle anymore, but the UAW wants to keep building it for a couple of years. Why? Because this will keep a specific group of union members in that job. Sure, this hurts Ford and over time these types of decisions will catch up with the profitability of the automotive companies, but the unions don’t care about that. They don’t see the larger picture. Instead, all 3 American automotive companies are heading towards Chapter 11. One blog even said GM may file this year.

Of course, then the government will work on a bail out program, loaning our tax dollars to these businesses; these businesses that can’t seem to build what the people want. Why are foreign cars so much more desirable? Why are all 3 American companies struggling? It’s a tough question. And I’ll work on that answer in the next installment of The Automotive Industry of Doom.