As seen by Charles Ribakoff, President, The Harr Motor Companies

I have a pretty vested interest in the Chrysler Corporation not doing the funky chicken and going belly up (if that is not mixing metaphors). I like to eat pretty often, and my kids need new shoes, too. So I was interested to be on a conference call with Jim Press, the co-president of Chrysler, last Friday.

To me, being a co-president would be about as graceful as being a Siamese twin, but that may be one of the reasons I was not offered the job. I have known Jim (although I should point out he would only all me Charles if he was reading my name badge) since his previous job as head of Toyota USA, and the first white guy ever to be on Toyota’s board. He has probably the best marketing mind in the industry, and a good part of my interest in expanding our Dodge business to include Chrysler and Jeep last year was his taking the job at Chrysler (which as used here means Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge., which us too long to type). The purpose of the call was to fill dealers in on his view of the state of the world from Chrysler’s vantage.

Jim remains hugely optimistic about Chrysler, even given that there is a lot of razzle and a lot of dazzle in his any other marketing job. He pointed out that, until the world fell off a cliff last fall, Chrysler was hitting all its internal projections. He mentioned the great acceptance of the new Jeeps, and the Dodge and Chrysler minivans. He is excited about the new line of electric cars, SUVs and vans that will start their debut next year (I am particularly excited about the Lotus – based Dodge sports car). He pointed out that warranty expense per vehicle is the lowest it’s been in 55 years (which may be before there were any warranties at all), and on par with Toyota, as proof that Chrysler is building world class vehicles, now.

He points out that, in many ways, Chrysler is an old company with a great history, and in many ways is an 18 month old start up. 

Jim is pretty honest, in at least some part of his soul, and admits that additional government funding will be crucial to Chrysler’s survival in the near term. Honestly (and you can trust me because I am a car dealer), I have mixed feelings about this: if Harr screws up, ain’t no Yobama coming to bail out me. On the other hand, America needs to keep an industrial base for lots of reasons– when the bad guys need to be addressed, you can’t fight back by throwing Big Macs at them, and the 100,000 or so people who we be tossed out of work if Chrysler bites the big one don’t do anybody much good, among other things.

Chrysler has a world class management team in place, is currently making products that will compete with anyone’s, and they have even better stuff coming.

So what do I think about the future of Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge, and, more important, can I sell one to a friend in good conscience? To the point, will there be service available, and what’ll happen to resale? The answers are: I don’t know, absolutely yes, and absolutely yes. The key here is that, no matter what, owners will be supported, and good products always have good resale value. The best asset of any company is its owner base, and no one in their right mind will whiz that away.

In the worst case, Chrysler gets caught by the great celestial ambulance. This would not be good. Except: There is huge value to the Dodge truck, Chrysler van and Jeep brands and products. Somebody – the Indians, maybe – would love them, especially for free. The model here is Tata, the new owners of Jaguar and Land Rover. Buying Chrysler will save any buyer a generation of setting up their own distribution in this country, and give them a built in owner base. But for the owner base to have any value, they have to take very good care of existing customers, and, not being stupid, they will.

In the medium case, Chrysler limps on by with some government assistance, and cuts out a bunch of products that no one will especially miss. A limping Chrysler will have to support its owners well simply to survive, and that will certainly be a condition of any future loans. They will continue to develop superior products because they can. It won’t be pretty, nor will it be a case study in excellence for That Business School Across The River, but it will be fine.

The best case (and I’m a Capricorn, so I’m not buying this so fast, either) is that All Is Well. The bailout works, and fast. People go back to (or, like 93% of us, continue to) work. Banks loosen up, and people buy cars like crazy. Chrysler still has to have world class product and product support; the car business won’t get any less competitive.

In all of these scenarios, customers, and, with any luck, even we, will be fine. It’s a long and winding road out there, but I think you can by one of these suckers today, love driving and owning it, and be there at the finish.