I mean you’re right, but they’re fundamentally different cars. The Stinger is a full-size class up, and is basically a budget S4. The WRX competes against the Civic Type-R.

It’s already mine I called dibs sorry

Would be fun to imagine Lancia living on with my theoretical WRX competitor though, wouldn’t it? Or take it further and imagine a modern 037 or Stratos (with a long enough wheelbase to stop it being deadly).

All fair points and well-made. Car nationalism runs deep and is also deeply odd... And yes you’re right that the number of brands is really irrelevant since they’re all just badge engineering exercises at the end of the day. Still an enjoyable thought exercise to play around with how to cull them, though!

I’m in my early 30s, my mother had a Chrysler van then a Dodge minivan when I was growing up, I’m solidly aware of their recent crap. That being said, Dodge is a venerable name and made some fantastic stuff historically, especially during the muscle car era but even after.

Ehh I think I’ll be able to live fine on ~$6M...

Because it’s only a few years old, and because it’s objectively stupid. Lol.

I’ll get on it once my CEO paperwork comes through.

I think you’re right, but sales don’t necessarily mean that the brand is worth anything, just that some vehicles are still desirable. Ram is worth zillions of sales and the brand itself is still stupid.

Maybe it’s a setting, I’m not sure, but it was on by default when I got mine last year and it’s always behaved this way.

Thank you pls advise on start date

Granted that they kind of do play to the same market type at different tiers. IMO though there’s enough brand equity there with each brand (even though they seem to be trying HARD to trash that with Maserati lately) that it’s worth keeping the separate marques at different tiers.

Ultimately you’re probably right. But calling them a Dodge Ram again wouldn’t take any money away and would remove a redundant brand, so it’s what I would lobby for as CEO.

I think there’s some inherent value in terms of what they COULD be, though. I could easily see a market for a ~$50k WRX competitor from Lancia. $50k Fiat is a tougher sell.

Sure, they’re trash now. But the name still has some brand equity which could easily be used to revive them. A modernized Delta could be great. Look at Alpine now, Mclaren, or Maserati circa 2007, leveraging historical brand value to execute a revitalization/turnaround.

I don’t know how reliable their European-models actually are now but yes that was a positioning statement. The cars should compete with Honda/Toyota etc. just less boring.

There are apparently videos you can run to fix/ameliorate that burn-in.

I’d axe/change the following:

Yeah I’m thinking of them like a boggart in Harry Potter. We won’t reason these asshats out of their beliefs, that’s been tried and has failed. At this point laughing hysterically at their absurd theories, obvious cognitive dissonance, and pantomime costumes may be what it takes to break through by making them feel…

One of my friends runs a plumbing business and uses a Transit. I haven’t heard anything from him about maintenance or reliability concerns.