[King T]

Originally Posted by nester7929

Because that company is run by idiots.

Originally Posted by mikeyg36

That's unfortunately true. It's incredible how incompetent Chrysler is.

Chrysler hasn't had a say in its own affairs since the late '90's.

Starting with its takeover aka "Merger of Equals" by Jürgen Schrempp and Mercedes into DaimlerChrysler

Continued into the clueless acquisition by Cerberus Capital Management that knew absolutely 0 about the auto industry, and for the most part didn't care about it

"For years, Cerberus was largely a trading shop specializing in distressed debt. But by the mid- 1990s, Mr. Feinberg expanded into buying and selling distressed companies and hired dozens of seasoned corporate executives to run them. Chrysler was the biggest prize he had ever bagged, and many co-investors say they always believed Cerberus’s stake in Chrysler’s auto operation was never the main reason the firm was interested in the company.

According to five people who heard Cerberus’s Chrysler pitch, all of whom requested anonymity because of confidentiality agreements, Mr. Feinberg’s deputies valued the financing unit more than the auto operation. In fact, the deputies believed, the finance unit’s value covered the cost of buying Chrysler, making the car company something of a bonus — if that part of the investment worked out, great; if not, Cerberus could still profit on the finance unit."

Hired one of the worst CEO in U.S. history, Bob Nardelli, and Cerberus tried to sell off the Viper separately.

....And now enter Sergio Marchionne and Fiat. Sergio would only green light the 5th gen Viper if it could be a positive business case. That means no serious money was going to be thrown at it, and it would have to make do with what it can (no all-new platform, no new or heavily revised V10, no DCT/Auto, etc..)

Sergio doesn't care about the Viper. If it sales, cool that's a bonus. If it doesn't, well we didn't sink too much into it and will pull the plug when necessary.

When have the talents and assets at Ferrari on hand, Sergio could have easily sent some engineers or advisors over there to help development, and make it the very best in its class segment.