The Chrysler plant in Boone County was in my State Rep. district when it threatened to shut down in the 1970’s.
A ten million dollar bailout was proposed.
One of the middle management employees who was a supporter told me, “Don’t worry, Cal, this is one of the most modern automobile plants in the world. If Chrysler shuts it, another company will buy it.”
Since then Fiat did. The company is now called Stallantis.
It announced last week that it was shutting down production of Jeep Cherokee.
Expect another bailout appeal to Springfield .
I didn’t vote for the 1970’s bailout.
The free enterprise system should allow companies to fail.
But I did manage to include in the loan legislation a clause that would give ownership of the plant to the State of Illinois should it not be repaid.
Well said Cal.
Illinois is continuing to turn into a service based economy with little industrial manufacturing.
Lots of warehouses and trucking centers built for foreign built products to be distributed.
Illinois E.P.A. and Workers Comp.
laws will continue the decline of skilled blue collar jobs here.
American industry is hollowed out.
Just like Ross Perot predicted!
Look at a map of Russia and you see a vast area of unexploited resources. From the shores of the Arctic Ocean to the Silk Road. From the Pacific Rim to Eastern Europe. Eleven time zones!
The UK/US jew/masonic mob wants those resources and they will be happy to expend whatever cannon fodder necessary to accomplish their aims.
As long as the fearless leaders (and their sons and daughters!) can watch the war from their plush bunkers.
Poor Russia! Poor Putin! šŖ
The current Jeep Cherokee that was introduced 9 years ago was mediocre at best.
Little to no improvements in all that time ensured itās eventual death now.
Also a shame the 300 and Charger and Challenger are also ending.
Again, next to zero investment in new designs or models, so none of this is entirely unexpected.
Kaiser, Frazer, Hudson, Nash, Packard, DeSoto, Plymouth, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mercury, Studebaker, Tucker, Edsel, Saturn, Hummer – all U.S. vehicle brands/models that vanished.
What next?
Mellow monk is one of the stupider posters here.
Mellow Punk:
https://globalheart.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/16256074718_89d75d2fd4_k.jpg
Bred winner you forgot Rambler/American Motors
Far more than the 1500 Chrysler workersā¦there are many part suppliers that built plants in and around Belvidere to supply the Chrysler plant.
Hundreds of workers. Cassens Transportation hauled the cars via car transport all over the Midwest, another hundred drivers gone, The UP Railway has 50 or so workers that are dedicated to the plant.
This is like the third major job cut.
A couple years ago they ended the third shift.
About 400 got let go.
Mellow monk, isn’t it time to remove this?
https://www.itsonsitetv.com/innovator-designs-butt-baby-a-prosthetic-baby-that-gives-trans-women-the-experience-of-child-birth/
Koz, thatās more stupidā.
Nothing can top the $36 BILLION Joe Biden bailout of the Teamster pension fund.
https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/brady-democrats-force-taxpayers-to-cover-irresponsible-promises-with-largest-private-pension-bailout-in-history/
According to a road test and review by Car and Driver, the Cherokee ranked 15th in comparison to other vehicle brands/models in its class.
At the top, number one was Honda CRV followed by Mazda CX50, Mazda CX5, VW Tiguan, Kia Sportage, then 9 other vehicle brands/models, THEN FINALLY, Jeep Cherokee at number 15.
https://www.caranddriver.com/jeep/cherokee
Those “consumer report” type analytics are BS.
In the mid to late 1980s there was a JOINT effort by Chrysler’s division of Eagle and Mitsubishi. Same factory in Bloomington/Normal.
Same car.
Same manufacturing plant.
One day they would put the Eagle Talon name plate on; the next day they put the Mitsubishi Eclipse name tag on the car.
Consumer reports gave 5 stars to the Mitsubishi, 2 stars for the Eagle Talon.
Dramatically different “quality”, “fit and finish”, and even “reliability” ratings – for the exact same car made by the same people in the same factory.
Those reviews of cars are FRAUDS.
Anti-American Frauds. They HATE American cars and their reviews show.
I own 3 Chevys and a Buick and LOVE every car.
My 2009 Chevy Traverse has 220,000 miles and hasn’t had a problem.
BUY AMERICAN. THE NEXT JOB YOU SAVE – MAY BE YOUR OWN.
Car and Driver magazine is an automotive enthusiast magazine NOT a consumer report type of publication.
Their main focus for decades has been sports cars, sporty cars and have evolved to also include suvs and pickups in their road tests.
Probably to maintain or add to their readership.
The vehicles they usually test and write about are not appliance type cars/vehicles.
Their road tests are available online and for free.
Very detailed reports.
Consumer Reports has had an annual car/vehicle issue every April that shows reliability of vehicles.
Generally, American branded vehicles have had much poorer reliability than non-American brands such as Honda and Toyota over the decades.
There is not “HATE” of “American cars”.
American branded manufacturers simply do not know how to make cars that Americans want to own and drive. That is why most American car models have disappeared such as the Chevrolet Impala.
Not many cars available with the exception of Chevrolet Camaro and some Cadillac sedans. Germany, Japan and South Korea have the car market covered with their superior offerings.
The U.S. companies cannot compete with the likes of Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai, Genesis, etc.
Oh, but the U.S. companies are good at making monster pickups that some people use to drive to the grocery store.
Its the macho thing.
Here, perhaps, was an indicator of the start of the downfall of American branded auto design and engineering.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Roadmaster#/media/File:Buick_Roadmaster_75_1958.jpg
American manufacturers have given up engineering and manufacturing cars.
Foreign manufacturers are supreme.
Honda, Acura, Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Hyundai, Genesis, Kia.
Sorry, folks….my Japanese and German cars have been aweful.
I pay too much to maintain their vehicles, they break down, their defrost/heating systems suck, their front light fog up and break, they are crap.
My Buicks, Chevys, and Fords are less expensive, MUCH less to maintain, the A/C and heating/defrost are vastly superior.
I’ll never buy a foreign piece of crap again.
Iāve had good and bad – American and Japanese both.
My current German car does require somewhat more frequent and expensive service, but Iāve had no repairs.
Iāve blown way past the mileage where I was being nickeled and dimed to death with replacements and repairs on the others.
Had something like 13 recalls on a Toyota, 3 fuel pumps on a Ford.
Sometimes itās the luck of the draw (or lot numbers), as my model has had some issues reported by other owners.
Have heard replacement parts are luck of the draw now.
Even OEM stuff.
Thereās a lot to be said for design and engineering. Americans do poorly and/or cheaply on this.
The number one source for Honda Accords manufactured and shipped to the worldwide left drive market is their factory in Marysville, OH.
And a goodly amount of its materials and content are made here too.
Call Elon Musk to see if he wants to buy it
Just bowing to the green new deal people and idling down the line to convert it to EV assembly lines for the next 6 months to a year.
Gonna pump out those 250 miles to the charge vehicles called colt goat.
Run past you while eating green, all the way to Effingham.
Workers get about 60% of their pay while gone.
That Car and Driver ranking was idiotic.
The Cherokee is bigger than the other vehicles, it can tow, and it has actual off road capability.
Of course it’s going to get worse mileage and not handle as well the others.
I’m not saying the Cherokee is a good vehicle, but it belongs in an entirely different category.
Ah yes. The Jeep Cherokee is so great that dealers cannot get enough of them to sell.
The nearby factory is working overtime and the parent company is looking to have another assembly plant elsewhere in the U.S. to tool up, get suppliers in line and get ready for the anticipated rush of customers coming through the dealership doors all around the U.S. this coming Spring.
In the meantime, manufacturers of competing brands are all looking to cut back on their production due to the massive sales surge of the Cherokee that’s coming.
Thereās no sales surge coming.
They went from 3 shifts to 2 shifts, now zero shifts.
A car being ASSEMBLED in the USA does NOT mean it is “made in the USA”.
My American cars are first concept cars (Detroit); the go through design and engineering (Detroit, Ann Arbor, Hammtramack), then testing, re-designing, re-engineered to create a prototype. That prototype (many of which never make it to this stage) then gets prepared for manufacturing. Parts are resigned and readied for the multiple parts assemply plants (most of this manufacturing is also done in the USA, some in other countries). Then a plan for assembly of the product is organized at the headquarters in Detroit. Further testing and refining is done.
All this is done in the USA by Ford and GM. In Japan for Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. In South Korea for Hyundi and in Germany for BMW, VW, and Mercedes. All this is done years before a car is “ASSEMBLED”.
Then, after ALL this work (including logistics, legal, organizational, and HR and other supportive work by American manufacturers), the car is ready for “ASSEMBLY”. My Chevy Traverse was assembled in Kansas City. But it was “made in Detroit” years earlier.
Your Honda was Conceptualized, Designed, Engineered, tested, and organized in Japan. Then, Japaneses, Mexican, Indonesian, and Chinese parts were sent to Ohip to get “Assembled”.
Don’t kid yourself, Mellow Monk.
To say your Honda was “manufactured” in the USA is a laugh – you have no idea what is involved in creating, manufacturing, and assembling an automobile.
The duplicity of the argument made by people is this:
“American cars suck. Besides, American cars aren’t really American. They are made in Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Japan, China, and Indonesia. They aren’t really American.
But American cars still suck and my Japanese, German, or other foreign car is “great” and “reliable”…despite being made in the same countries they claim American cars are made.
Think about the absolute shameless duplicity of this belief system. Small wonder America is collapsing. Dumbass self-loathing BS.
Actually, I do know CLM – my final two jobs were at manufacturers that produced parts directly for Tier
One customers such as Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.
We also did parts and assemblies for Tier Two and Three Endorās and suppliers.
^vendors
Other than the Borg Warner-made transaxle, transmission and rear differential which come directly from Germany, 90% of my remaining car is manufactured entirely in Mexico, including the engine.
Goes back to my point that design and engineering of products and processes are far more important than who manufactures and assembles.
If Americans were given good, well-engineered products to manufacture and assemble, theyād end up with a finished product just as good as any other.
Back in the aughts, if the vehicle you were purchasing had a leather interior, and that manufacturer had a plant in Mexico making that model, your car would most likely come from the Mexico factory.
Even if there was a plant in the USA or Canada assembling the same model.
Apparently, leather interiors were far more reasonably sourced south of the border.
Some persons PRETEND to know better than the āmarketplaceā that sorts things out insofar as value for dollars spent for a product. American buyers have figured out which car brands and models offer the best value for quality, reliability, performance.
The vehicular car products that were/are engineered by traditional American manufacturers have lost market share to foreign brands over the decades. American manufacturers have greatly cut back on the engineering and manufacture of cars. So much of their products of the past few decades were inferior to the foreign brands such as Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Audi, Mercedes, etc. So much inferiority that there are not many car models made by American brands compared to the proliferation of car models by foreign brands.
Weāre still doing well with full-size pickups because almost no other global market is interested in buying them.
The Tundra has a good following, but Nissan gave up. I think theyāve also given up on their full size van, too.
Itās easy to be popular when you only have to compete with yourself.
Well, not for my.
Chevy Malibu is an awesome car.
Chevy Traverse is spectacular – above 200,000 and doing great. I hope to make 400,000.
Buick Regal (engine made in Germany) but assembled in the USA – great car.
Chevy Impala – best large sedan I ever have owned.
My old Honda Civic crapped out at 63,000 miles. My Toyota Camry was crap from day one – transmission and heater problems within a year. VW Passat was just crap. Mercedes – forget it. $850 to “maintain” it every 3 months.
My American cars were FAR superior and cheaper and more reliable than the foreign junk. You guys are quoting Consumer reports and Edmunds etc….you probably haven’t driven an American Car since the 70s
American manufacturers of pickups, which are high profit when fitted with many options, run idiotic commercials depicting OFF-ROAD use. Who except for ranchers, farmers, construction, utility workers need to leave the road pavement and drive on grass and dirt? But, the marketplace and advertising have apparently convinced people that a pickup is necessary to drive to the grocery store, drug store, doctor, whatever rather than using a car. It’s in “in thing” now. Especially with monster tires and jacked way, way up. Intimidating too.
I needed an actual station wagon this time around as it made it easier for my Dad to enter, and I could fit either his walker or wheelchair into the back without having to drop any seats or anything.
Nobody wants to be seen in āwagonā, yet what are all those SUVās? And under the skin, theyāre really just on platforms derived from minivans, mostly.
The Regal was sourced from Opel, and was a great car.
I liked the Impala, and I thought the Malibu was a compelling choice in certain trims.
Itās too bad GM just gave up. We used to be a GM, then Jeep family for a while.
I prefer other magazines to determine which cars Iām interested in from a dynamic and performance standpoint. While Consumer Reports only really reports on basically the appliance-type aspects of a car, I do find their reliability stats to be informative and fairly accurate.
The cars they say really suck really DO suck. The cars they say are really good are really pretty good.
Not all too long ago, Buick killed in the quality rankings, right up there with the best.
Car and Driver tested Buickās top model, the Enclave.
https://www.caranddriver.com/buick/enclave
It rated Enclave against other vehicle brands/models in its class. The Buick was rated number 27. Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 were: Genesis GV80, Porsche Cayenne, BMW X5, Volvo XC90, Audi RS Q8. So, 26 vehicles were rated better than the Buick.
Bred winner – that the point.
Car and Driver, Edmunds, Consumer Reports are all anti-American Globalist self-loathing frauds.
YOU read them and believe them. I don’t, buy what they say is trash and LOVE the cars they hate.
The cars THEY say are unreliable for me go 200,000 miles with NO problems.
The cars they say aren’t great performers are awesome to me.
I love my GM and Ford automobiles.
LOL. CLM I remember when CR would give you actual invoice price on any vehicle you wanted down to the options. That tool was taken from CR by the car dealerships so the consumer is clueless. I got my last truck for well under invoice before trade. Now the market is so owned by the dealerships you have no clue if you’re getting a good deal.
I only buy low mileage used at this point for a fair deal.
PS, Gary Lange is a crook in case you weren’t aware.
Gary Lange is but Reichert was the best.
Iāve usually bought end-of-year inventory in Fall.
In each of the last 3 purchases, they were cars I was already shopping, so was pleased with the selection and price.
In each case, they were at Dealer Invoice.
Buying an already āone year oldānew car doesnāt impact me as I keep them for 5+ years or so.