“Concept cars are used to introduce a new body style and, on top of that, the manufactures throw in all kinds of features. Often, those ideas are not ready for production. It usually takes three years from design to production.”
“There is fairly little overlap between Chrysler and Mercedes. In the U.S, Chrysler's product line pretty much tops out at $30,000. That's where Mercedes begins. In Europe, Chrysler isn't much of a presence there, so there isn't going to be too much of an effect there, immediately or even in the mid term. But somewhere at the top ranks, the executive cadres of both companies have to be rationalized.”
“Engines were calibrated so if you gave up one second of 0-to-60-performance and gained a half-mile-per-gallon in fuel economy, you would make that trade-off every day. Cars were just awful.”