Jeff B.

12 Cars That Could Spoil a Chrysler-Fiat Deal

When I was in Spain last fall, I spent a lot of time checking out the cars people were driving. The Peugeots are gorgeous looking, the VW's practical, and the hatchback Civic Si's pretty funky & cool. The Fiat's? No se. Underwhelming in the extreme. I'd say there is a zero chance that selling rebranded Fiats here in Chrysler showrooms will be successful.

The 12 Most Important Cars of 2009

Rick: Good call on the most important cars, but I have two comments:
1. The Chevy Equinox? Please. This is the same vehicle that typically shows up at the bottom of customer satisfaction lists, with a drivetrain made in China (maybe Melamine has contaminated the engine?). There's nothing "middling" about this vehicle. The chances of GM outcompeting the CRV, RAV4, Rogue, etc. are near zero in my book. So I woudln't consider this an important vehicle.
2. Maybe we should leave a blank space on the list for Chrysler? My thinking is that Chrysler isn't on this list because they don't make a single vehicle that comes close to leading any segment they serve. IN fact, I'd say there is no chance at all that they will develop anything competitive before they waste the taxpayers' $4B on new "Ram Tough" ads or more irrelevant R/T versions of cars no one wants in the first place. Chrysler is conspicuous by it's absence, no?

Peace.