I can really only speak for myself, and I'm about as "abnormal" as they
come :-). I don't think that sales numbers necessarily dictate what
companies do (case and point: Viper, 18 available for sale in Canada in
1998, I'm sure they are not making much money off the Viper line in
Canada!); a lot is image and "up/down/sideways" selling once they get
you into the dealership. Also a lot about keeping you "in the family"
when you get another car or trade.
The reasoning would go if I own a Dakota with the 5.2l, and oops its
family time and need a car, I'm looking at Chrysler first, and want
something with some poke (so I'm not so depressed with getting rid of
the Dak). Nothing in the Chrysler line, so off I go elsewhere. Now if I
want a mini-van or a small car for the wife, I'm prob. not going back to
Chrysler, as I've already "found" another dealership and brand. On the
other hand if I was driving an Ford Ranger/F150, then I would have a
choice of "performance" versions of the Contour or Taurus. Now if I need
a small car, bingo I'd be looking at Escort. Its the "brand loyalty"
thing, and whether I'm loyal or lazy I'm not sure, but I tend to buy
from the company that I'm driving now. I started with Honda (Civic) and
moved up the line to Prelude. Then they didn't have enough poke in the
Prelude so I went to Toyota (MR2), and went up to the Supra Twin Turbo.
When it came time for a truck I went to the Toyota Tacoma first, but no
V8 so I went to Dodge (Dakota). When it was time to replace the Supra, I
bought a Viper. Problem is now I'll be needing a "family car" next, and
by the looks of things it won't be a Chrysler...
The one thing that I loved about Chrysler was that they built things for
the "car guys" that made absolutely no sense from the point of view of
the bean counters (Viper and Prowler). Now I want the equiv. of the
Impala SS that Chev built a while ago. Memo to Bob E.; I'm looking to
get a new car. Get some power out of that V6 (300hp minimum, or get on
the stick with the new V8 ), stick it in the Avenger and mate it with a
6 speed manual and I'll be at the dealership shortly. And while your at
it, put the 5spd in the Dakota R/T with the 360; some of us still
remember how to use the 3rd pedal...
Craig
____________________________________________
Craig Baltzer - Anjura Technology Corp - Ottawa, Ontario
Craig.Baltzer@anjura.com - (613) 727-1411
_____________________________________________
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Trottmann [SMTP:rotrottmann@davidson.edu]
> Sent: Saturday, February 21, 1998 6:14 PM
> To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
> Subject: Re: DML: RE: Re 0-60 sedans!?
>
> Quick question, and I'm serious here: are we normal? In most of the
> world
> out there, people don't know what size their engine is, and if they
> do, they
> can't tell you what that size means, except for bigger is faster. The
> fact
> is, there isn't much of a market left for performance sedans. There's
> no
> market to cover. How many Taurus' are there compared to SHO's? Do
> you
> really think that if these upgrades were made, enough people would buy
> them? The fact is J. Crew has a larger distribution than JC Whitney.
> If
> there was a market for these cars, the economists at CC would tell
> them to
> make them. Quick econo boxes sell, they're a dime a dozen. Quick
> trucks
> sell, there's a 360 offered in a Dakota. Quick luxo things sell.
> Quick
> family sedans don't, at least in the price range CC caters to.
> Just my uneducated opinion,
> Robert Trottmann
>
>
>
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