Yeahbutt, the Germans' fatal-flaw, in exterminating the Plymouth, was
their COMPLETE failure to comprehend basic market-dynamics, and how
brand-loyalty is established.
The Bends has always been established as at the top of the automobile
food chain, with a guaranteed Prussian-Excellence customer base. It/they
never had to "market" their product, which had very few competitors.
It is claimed that the Germans' primary interest, in buying (oh yeah: a
Merger-of-Equals) Chrysler was to acquire the Jeep brand, & mystique (if
you can't beat 'em, buy-em).
The Germans had no iota about mass-market competition, and how/why
"Brand-Loyalty" is established. They also knew nada about the concept of
Loss-Leader, in attracting customers to an "economical" product, to
bring-em-in-the-door ( a legal form of bait-and-switch, which is used to
influence the purchase of a more-expensive product).
Y'all are saying: I knew all this s..t , but guess what? the Germans
didn't!!
Back around 1990, ( and this is ALSO an indictment of Chryco) there
WERE enough unique vehicle/models, to establish an 'independent'
Plymouth marque/identity. The Neon SHOULD be a Plymmie, (including a
performance-version called:" Road Runner") as should ALL of the
mini-vans (except for a Dodge R/T version, and the Chry T&C). Similarly,
the (4-cylinder, econo-stripper) Breeze (remember it?) was a Plymouth, &
Chryco shoulda made it into an awd STATIONWAGON (to compete with
you-know- who, & to attract young "go-anywhere's", And, yeah, they
already HAD the Prowler, AND the PT (which originally 'stood-for':
Plymouth's Truck)
The Dodges (would have) included an upgraded SIX-cylinder Stratus, & R/T
version, the intrepid series, the hi-line vans & R/T version, the
TRUCKS, & the Viper.
Chryco had the two sedans: whats-its-name, & the LHS, AND the 300, and
the T&C van, AND the Sebring convie!!!
"See any significant product-or-market redundancy, above???
Entry/Sport/Luxury levels, which could ALL be sold in one dealership, if
necessary.
One (the most significant) reason I quit the WPC Club (now considering
myself to be an expatriot) is because I wrote an impassioned, but
reasoned, treatise, an open-letter to the imminently Deadler-Chrysler,
envisioning the not-yet-announced demise of Plymouth, "explaining" the
necessity of retaining that brand, as an entry-level marketing tool, to
the new/young drivers, that "then" only looked-at the 'imports' for
fun/affordable/cool/anti-establishment transportation. I also beseeched
the building of the Plymouth "Urban" mini-car (with the bubble-side
windows; can't recall its name, now!).
So, what happened to my 'guest-editorial'? It got BURIED by the
newsletter editor ( I also rightfully-disparaged the front-end stylng of
the LHS & 300, which probably didn't 'help' its publication , any! ).
So, I said Scroom, & left & haven't looked back (often).
Neil Vedder
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