Despite Cerberus having billions in cash, Chrysler recently received $4 Billion from the US Treasury.
They’re grateful and they want you to know it.
So they embarked on a national “Thank You” ad campaign including full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, reportedly at a cost of around a quarter million dollars each.
From the Chrysler Blog:
- Mr. Nardelli,It takes a man with a whole lotta chutzpah to thank a person for investing in a company when they had zero voice in the matter. My elected representatives decided ‘no’. The executive branch decided ‘yes’ through means that might be legal but frankly smell like rotten fish.You may certainly get my money this way, but you will never see a dime of my money voluntarily spent on any of your products.
Brian Dunbar
Neenah, Wisconsin- Mr Nardelli, Fire your PR and advertising teams and execs immediately. We the People did not want to see any more ads and money wasted on ads, be it from Chrysler, et al, or from your own pocket. You should have put up a website thanking the people and just submitted it to various online news aggregators for free. Once again, I am pained to see you are demonstrating a lack of common sense and fiscal responsibility. We supported the bailout of the car companies, even in the face of the horrendously mismanaged and secretive bailout of banks, and you stlil throw money away in the name of your company. Time to wake up. Sincerely, Matt and the rest of the Internet.
- Dear Mr. Nardelli and the “over one million people who depend on Chrysler” – You’ve got some nerve to thank us for our forced “investment” when we didn’t want it to happen in the first place. Isn’t forced or coerced investment akin to robbery? Taking one’s money against one’s will? Hmmm . . . . The very thought that MY money is going to go to some union lackey’s pockets just makes me queasy. You should’ve filed for bankruptcy just like any other business in your position would have to. And that would’ve given you the opportunity to unshackle yourselves from the ridiculous union contracts that you signed on to. You’ve got two major issues to fix: Unions and quality products. If you’d listen to your customers and NOT the media and marketing types, you’d fix your product issues. And the unions . . . sheesh, get out of that racket! Notice the plants in the South where unions aren’t that prominent don’t have the same issues as the ones up North? Let’s see what happens when MY business tanks. Will YOU throw cash at me? I don’t think so. So, in conclusion – to hell with you and your company. Any business that would go begging to the government for a handout has no shame, and deserves to fail. File for Bankruptcy, or crumble!
- I’m speechless. And I’m saddened that a corporate management team is so inept at understanding public opinion. Some advice: issue a press release stating that you regret that you made a mistake using taxpayers’ money in this manner.
[bak-fahyuh
r]
…to bring a result opposite to that which was planned or expected: The plot backfired.
When NWA used bankruptcy as a lever to dismantle/devestate its unions, where was your carping?
LOTS of companies misuse the tools available – to void pensions (for example) – to intimidate labor, to lie to the public, to get public funding (vis a vis – oh, let’s see – The WILD from Normey) when they sure as hell don’t need it.
You seem to have rather selective outrage.
The previous comment was brought to you by THE KING OF SELECTIVE OUTRAGE.
Oh, sure Ryan. Where was YOUR outrage when the GERMANS invaded THE Sudetenland? Hmm??? Hmmm???
(That happened, right?)
Wasn’t so much an invasion as an absorption made possible by British and French appeasement.
I guess I’d best stoke up some outrage over that, too.
(That happened, right?)
“Don’t stop him. He’s on a roll”
If the taxpayers are investing in Big Auto/UAW, does that mean we get to use the UAW’s exclusive ultra-plush private resort in Michigan?
The Sudetenese were actually illegally occupying Palestinian land, and therefore needed to be invaded. Germans were able to leave their refugee camps and reclaim their ancestorial homes.
PIGenma, once again proves how utterly out of touch he is. Nice going!
selective outrage
Meaning of term in this context: not being outraged by whatever Peev is outraged about at the moment, regardless of the topic at hand.
You should really try staying on topic sometime, Peev. It usually helps and others appreciate it. Maybe you could make it a New Year’s Resolution or something.
Peni,
You still have no idea of what you are talking about. Even with the poor NWA pilots having their union benefits reduced, not lost, when it comes to pay per hour worked, major airline pilots are still the best paid income earners out there! Higher than doctors higher than lawyers. So go be outraged about something you might know something about!
If the taxpayers are investing in Big Auto/UAW, does that mean we get to use the UAW’s exclusive ultra-plush private resort in Michigan?
You mean the one that is losing millions of dollars for the UAW right now?
I own a 2003 jeep, & I’m active on a few discussion boards supporting the owners groups. There are many fellow owners who work for Chrysler on many levels of the company.
When Daimler was first thinking about ditching Mopar, The UAW was seriously considering buying at least the Jeep brand to operate for themselves. After the market research was done, they decided that despite Jeep being the most profitable arm of Mopar, it would be a financial disaster… and that was when the economy was hot!
Apparently, even the union wouldn’t commit to the labor contracts they have negotiated & now defend
J-Roo. Yes. Only a labor union could lose millions on every investment they make.
Mr Shirt, perhaps if they purchased the Jeep brand, they could run the factories in the same manner they run their union offices…..by banning their employees from belonging to unions. I’ve always loved the irony.
Or when they hired professional protestors to picket Wal-Mart stores, then paid them sub-minimum wage and forbid them from getting lunch breaks.