Chrysler Parts-A Legacy of Innovation

Chrysler was founded by a man who had a reputation for saving foundering companies. Walter Chrysler rose from the ranks to become the president of Buick. He resigned from his position and was hired by Willy's Overland Motor Company to supervise the rehabilitation of its ailing operations. He did a similar job by turning around the Maxwell-Chalmers Company. In 1925, he purchased Maxwell's assets to form the firm that still bears his name - Chrysler Corporation. Aside from the Chrysler marque, the Plymouth and DeSoto marques were created to cater to the low priced and medium priced ends of the market, respectively. Chrysler acquired The Dodge Brothers Motor Company and by spinning off Imperial as a separate luxury brand in 1955, Chrysler has assembled a five-brand lineup to compete with General Motors, which has a similar offering.

What sets Chrysler Corporation apart from other car manufacturers is its emphasis on automotive engineering rather than styling. Walter Chrysler supported engineering research and continued funding the department even through the Depression era. Because of this, Chrysler cars have been at the forefront of automotive engineering since Chrysler Six, Chrysler's first car introduced in 1924. The Chrysler Six is touted by many as the first modern car, scoring several firsts in the industry such as an oil filter, air cleaner, high compression engine, four-wheel hydraulic brakes, and other advanced Chrysler parts. Innovation also resulted in part from the input of brilliant engineers throughout Chrysler's history who invented those Chrysler parts and pushed the envelope of automotive engineering. The Three Musketeers, a trio of talented engineers composed of Frederick Zeder, Owen Skelton, and Carl Breer set the direction during Chrysler's early years.

The Chrysler Corporation has gone through a series of financial difficulties, but it has always pulled through. The Plymouth and Dodge brands sustained the company during the Depression, when its introduction of the world's first aerodynamic car, the Airflow, proved a failure. National recession again put the company in the red in 1957 but continuing innovations like the now-standard unibody helped the company recover. The 1970's proved costly to Chrysler. Its big investment for a new full-body lineup went down the drain as demand for large vehicles plummeted during the first gas crisis in 1973. It was saved in turn by a spike in sales of its old but smaller compacts. Unsuccessful product launches and the second gas crisis would have killed Chrysler if not for the 1 billion dollars the government loaned in 1979 to bail out the company. With Lee Iacocca at the helm and with a new trio of talented car designers, the Gale-Herlitz-Creed team, Chrysler steadily recovered and became once again, a dominant force in the American automotive industry. in 1998, Chrysler merged with Daimler Benz to form the DaimlerChrysler AG company.

The Chrysler history is one in which innovation holds the key for long-term success. The passion for upgrading, refining, and looking for ways to improve Chrysler parts and Chrysler as a whole is what the company is all about. Chrysler parts like the air filter, transmission modulator, torque converter, and brake systems all contribute to make Chrysler what it is today. A car, after all, is a sum of its parts.

By Catherine Covarubias.

Two Private Equity Firms Interested On Chrysler

February 14 was a sad day for Chrysler employees in the country. On that day, DaimlerChrysler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche announced that due to the poor performance of the U.S. brand, all options are open for the brand including its sale. The day also saw the workforce reduction carried out by the company as a part of its restructuring plan.

The speculations that Chrysler will be for sale is made even more plausible with the emergence of interested firms popping out and saying that they are interested in buying the U.S. arm of DaimlerChrysler AG. It can be remembered that Chrysler has already planed to cut down the number of their employees in the following months.

Aside from workforce reduction, the restructuring plan of Chrysler involves closing down of a plant and eliminating shifts on two plants. These steps, as Chrysler maintained, are necessary to address the reduced demand for their vehicles.

Recently, The Associated Press reported that there are now two firms which are most likely going to be the next owner of Chrysler. The Cerberus Capital Management LLC and a group of investors led by the Blackstone Group and Centerbridge Partners LP. These firms have expressed their intention to buy the troubled company. The American news agency reported that representatives of the group have made a visit at Chrysler’s headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

The Associated Press also spoke with a Chrysler insider who disclosed that potential bidders are now looking into Chrysler’s financial status.

Another firm that has shown interest in Chrysler is Canadian car parts manufacturer Magna International along with the largest car manufacture in the world, General Motors. Although the Canadian firm has shown interest, insiders said that the possibility of the Canadian firm buying the company has been reduced. There are also other firms that have shown interest on Chrysler although these are not as strong as the interest shown by Cerberus and Blackstone are Apollo Management LP, and the Carlyle Group. These firms have not yet made comments about their interest on the car maker.

As far as the rumored takeover of General Motors of the ailing Chrysler group, experts pointed out that it looks unlikely. While General Motors has yet to comment about the rumored interest they might have on the third U.S. car maker, speculations in the auto industry says that the world’s largest car manufacturer will not gain any advantage from the acquisition of the ailing group. On the other hand, another U.S. brand, Ford, when asked whether there is a possibility of them buying Chrysler, Ford CEO Alan Mulally flatly said that it will never happen.

On a sudden twist, DaimlerChrysler AG Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche has announced that there is a possibility that Chrysler will still remain as a part of the German company. But the emergence of the two firms most interested in the purchase of Chrysler has a look similar to Nissan cornering lights which shows which way Chrysler is going in the future.

By Ryan Thomas.