Who wins (or loses) Chrysler or Nissan

vtdog · **Joined:** Fri Sep 30, 2005 11:27 am **Posts:** 640

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/business/15auto.html

Uffe · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:20 am

Nissan wins IMO.

Nissan could use a helping hand with their engines, as reliability goes.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:00 am

Chrysler. The big truck market is down and they are cutting back. Open up for Nissan and build big trucks for them...in a declining market...Nissan covering the cost. Good for Chrysler.

Chrysler needs help building fuel efficient vehicles in a growing economy car market. So Chrysler adds an "economy car" to help with CAFE standards that need to be met. Good for Chrysler.

MNKK · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:06 am

could renault be coming here eventually then?
Horray for possible job security at the STL, and other MI plant. The ram will stay strong for a while.

JL Rockies · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:52 am

Yeah, maybe they can revive the "Le Car" here again. That was one bad ride!

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

Uffe wrote:

Nissan wins IMO.

Nissan could use a helping hand with their engines, as reliability goes.

Depends on what engine you are talking about:

http://car-reviews.automobile.com/news/ ... -year/389/

The 3.5 and 4.0 gasser V6's are fantastic engines that produce great power with decent fuel economy, fairly light weight, and have demonstrated great longevity. The old 3.0 cast iron V6 they replaced was downright bombproof (though terrible fuel economy). That said, I understand some of their diesels have issues.

Hard to say who is the winner at this point. It seems to me that Nissan is buying a lame horse in terms of pickups... the general consensus has been that the Titan is a great vehicle with good performance and few problems, but expensive as hell and horrendously bad fuel economy. I know many here are Chrysler fans, but they are likely to be getting a decent truck with great engines, crappy transmissions, and chintzy interior components, plus lousy fuel economy. All at a time when big pickup sales (outside of fleets) are dropping faster than Britney Spears record sales.

On the other hand, Chrysler has no decent, fuel efficient small car option right now, and their car design teams seems incapable of designing attractive vehicles that people might actually want to own. But they are also stuck with a reputation based on Dodge Shadows and LeBarrons that continues to be hard to shake (face it, when it comes to cars, Chrysler is the Hyundai of the Big 3). Japanese built Nissan's should give them a big leg up on fuel economy and build quality, but they are going to have to keep the price down. As GM/Pontiac learned with the "Vibe" twin of Toyota's Matrix, most people these days would rather drive a Toyota (right or wrong) than an identical GM product. Toyotas are now middle class status symbols.

Were I Chrysler, though, I'd be wanting a piece of Nissan's Altima action, particularly the Altima hybrid or a hybrid version of the Nissan Rogue.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:43 pm

Threeweight wrote:

Uffe wrote:

Nissan wins IMO.

Nissan could use a helping hand with their engines, as reliability goes.

Depends on what engine you are talking about:

http://car-reviews.automobile.com/news/ ... -year/389/

The 3.5 and 4.0 gasser V6's are fantastic engines that produce great power with decent fuel economy, fairly light weight, and have demonstrated great longevity. The old 3.0 cast iron V6 they replaced was downright bombproof (though terrible fuel economy). That said, I understand some of their diesels have issues.

Hard to say who is the winner at this point. It seems to me that Nissan is buying a lame horse in terms of pickups... the general consensus has been that the Titan is a great vehicle with good performance and few problems, but expensive as hell and horrendously bad fuel economy. I know many here are Chrysler fans, but they are likely to be getting a decent truck with great engines, crappy transmissions, and chintzy interior components, plus lousy fuel economy. All at a time when big pickup sales (outside of fleets) are dropping faster than Britney Spears record sales.

On the other hand, Chrysler has no decent, fuel efficient small car option right now, and their car design teams seems incapable of designing attractive vehicles that people might actually want to own. But they are also stuck with a reputation based on Dodge Shadows and LeBarrons that continues to be hard to shake (face it, when it comes to cars, Chrysler is the Hyundai of the Big 3). Japanese built Nissan's should give them a big leg up on fuel economy and build quality, but they are going to have to keep the price down. As GM/Pontiac learned with the "Vibe" twin of Toyota's Matrix, most people these days would rather drive a Toyota (right or wrong) than an identical GM product. Toyotas are now middle class status symbols.

Were I Chrysler, though, I'd be wanting a piece of Nissan's Altima action, particularly the Altima hybrid or a hybrid version of the Nissan Rogue.

The fuel economy only suffered with the vehicles such as the pickups and SUVs, the cars with the VG/VQ engine did just fine on gas.

Though I agree, the xterra got absolutely horrendous fuel economy.

Uffe · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:05 pm

Threeweight wrote:

Depends on what engine you are talking about:

http://car-reviews.automobile.com/news/ ... -year/389/

The 3.5 and 4.0 gasser V6's are fantastic engines that produce great power with decent fuel economy, fairly light weight, and have demonstrated great longevity. The old 3.0 cast iron V6 they replaced was downright bombproof (though terrible fuel economy). That said, I understand some of their diesels have issues.

Hard to say who is the winner at this point. It seems to me that Nissan is buying a lame horse in terms of pickups... the general consensus has been that the Titan is a great vehicle with good performance and few problems, but expensive as hell and horrendously bad fuel economy. I know many here are Chrysler fans, but they are likely to be getting a decent truck with great engines, crappy transmissions, and chintzy interior components, plus lousy fuel economy. All at a time when big pickup sales (outside of fleets) are dropping faster than Britney Spears record sales.

On the other hand, Chrysler has no decent, fuel efficient small car option right now, and their car design teams seems incapable of designing attractive vehicles that people might actually want to own. But they are also stuck with a reputation based on Dodge Shadows and LeBarrons that continues to be hard to shake (face it, when it comes to cars, Chrysler is the Hyundai of the Big 3). Japanese built Nissan's should give them a big leg up on fuel economy and build quality, but they are going to have to keep the price down. As GM/Pontiac learned with the "Vibe" twin of Toyota's Matrix, most people these days would rather drive a Toyota (right or wrong) than an identical GM product. Toyotas are now middle class status symbols.

Were I Chrysler, though, I'd be wanting a piece of Nissan's Altima action, particularly the Altima hybrid or a hybrid version of the Nissan Rogue.

Glad to hear that they do produce good engines at Nissan - it must have been just the patrol which suffered from a bad designed engine for nearly 12 years then... which is the only Nissan I had wanted to buy

The 4.2 TD (which obviously didn't reach my country) was a good engine for reliability, but a bit sad on fuel economy. The 2.8 was good when it didn't blow it's own gasket or head, which happened every 100,000ks or less. Well when I say good it was actually a bit underpowered in stock outfit. Some do say they have gotten quite a nice power boost from their huge turbos and intercoolers on them...

dog_party · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:14 pm

Well that's interesting. I was looking forward to Nissan putting one of it's small diesels in the Titan. Oh well. I wonder if the Nissan Truck, built by Chrysler, has any hopes of having a Nissan diesel in it... Or will it be a Chrysler diesel.

I'm also interested to see the new Nissan light commercial vehicles. Anyone have any more info on that?

flash7210 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:24 pm

Does this mean Chrysler will drop its Mitsubishi based cars?

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

I think they already have, at least in the US. I can't think of a current Chrysler model sold in the US that is based on a Mitsubishi (though there is a Mitsu pickup that is actually a Dakota).

flash7210 · **Posted:** Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:12 pm

Threeweight wrote:

I think they already have, at least in the US. I can't think of a current Chrysler model sold in the US that is based on a Mitsubishi (though there is a Mitsu pickup that is actually a Dakota).

The Caliber/Compass/Patriot all share the same platform as the Mitsu Lancer/
Outlander along with engine/tranny.

I think the Avenger still shares some common parts with the Galant/Eclipse too.

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

Doh, I stand corrected. Looking at a Lancer and a Compass, I would have never guessed they are related.

Though they are both butt-fugly looking.

railguy · **Posted:** Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:04 pm

Quite honestly, Chrysler is looking a lot like it did in the late 1970's--poorly built vehicles with worse fuel economy and outdated designs compared to its competitors, along with a lot of fed-up dealers and warranty problems. Aside from the Jeep line--and a lot of it could go by the wayside as far as I'm concerned (I'm not enamored with much of anything there now, other than the Wrangler)--and the Cummins-powered pickup, I'm not sure what any prospective purchaser of Chrysler gets, aside from the dealer network. Maybe a couple of US plants? Nissan, on the other hand, has come a long ways. The Maxima is a crack vehicle, and the Altima, Sentra, etc. are getting better, too. The Xterra is one of the very few 4WD's for sale in the US right now that is actually off-road capable out of the box. I'm very impressed with the Nissan's 3.5 V6. If Nissan builds more powerful, yet economical engines like that one, all the better. I would love to see Nissan's Micra sold in the US with the diesel engine--that one could give the small-car market a run for its money. Given where I think fuel prices and the economy is going, I don't think Chrysler really has much future. In fact, I don't think any of the US manufacturers are gong to have it easy from here on out--not unless they can start producing some damned fuel-efficient vehicles--and NOW. Nissan's main weakness in the US is that, like all of the manufacturers, it can't sell vehicles in the US with the much more fuel-efficient diesel engines that are available in those same vehicles overseas.

Unless the US backs off on its diesel-emission standards and adopts the European standard, I think what's going to be left of the American automotive market will mostly be Toyota, with its next-generation gasoline hybrids, with whatever remains of the rest of the US auto industry fighting over the few scraps of market left for less fuel-efficient vehicles. Three years ago, I would have bet on Ford to be the dead weak sister of the American Big Three. Now, I think Chrysler sits squarely in that spot.

Who wins (or loses) Chrysler or Nissan

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