[DML] Re: Detroit, US government, and DeLorean

["therealdmcvegas" <dmcvegas@xxxxxxx>]

DMC wasn't going to just prooduce one car, and hope to make a living
off the profits and glory of it all. No, John De Lorean wanted to
build an organization that was to become a global conglomorate. And
that's why he got shut down.

Early on, JZD had intentions of taking over another automotive company
to expand his own empire. And he was in some serious negotiations with
Lee Iacoca to have DMC take over Chrysler. Iacoca fended him off, but
that may have put some fearful realizations into the auto industry
that DMC was going to make the Asian imported car invasion look like a
rainy day in the park. Japanese automakers simply took away market
share from American companies, because they were too slow to fill the
niche that American consumers were calling out for. DMC on the other
hand didn't want to take their marketplace shares, they wanted to take
their companies. And DMC could almost have done that...

Allot of people ask "what if"?, but no one has really ever taken a
look at this...

Everyone knows that JZD was pumping cash into the DMC-80 bus project.
But why? Well, aside from being a turn-key automotive project, it had
great potential to be a money maker. GM was really the only other
manufacturer building public transportation buses. And just like
police departments that only have Ford Crown Vic P71's right now if
they want V8 RWD, municipalities too would have been all to willing to
flock to another option. Especially if they were more fuel efficient,
ran cleaner, and had less operating costs. So as you can see, it
wasn't just the sportscar market that JZD was wanting to take on. Just
like the DMC-12, anywhere DMC could fit in, they would get in. And
that's a great business strategy for a fledging company when you think
about it.

Another overlooked facet is AMC. AMC had a partnership with Renault,
because they needed each other. AMC needed fresh vehicles, and Renault
needed AMC's dealer network to distribute their cars. After Renault's
leadership became weakened by the assasination of their president, AMC
was bought by Chrysler. But why? Chrysler, more specificly Iacoca,
hated Renault cars. And Renault was very reluctant to sell to
Chrysler, because they stood to loose millions of invested capital if
Chrysler didn't support their Renault line, and refused to fufil the
AMC contracts for the importation of the A-610, and more importantly,
the commitment to purchase 300,000 PRV engines from Douvrin. Renault
feared Iacoca would back out of these commitments, and they were
right. But why?

Iacoca wanted AMC for one vehicle, and one vehicle alone: The Jeep.
Under his direction, Chrysler buried an entire corporation, and struck
severe financial blows to another, just so that they could get their
hands on that one line. And the only reason that they Cherokee
survived, was because of the SUV market that began to blossom.
Otherwise, vehicles that they didn't want, like the Commanche, & the
Premier were killed off.

So what if DMC were still in business by this time? I've no doubt that
Renualt would have sold AMC off to DeLorean Motor Compnay of America
in a hearbeat. They already had a dedicated vendor to their drivetrain
products who would have no trouble fufilling the commitments of AMC,
and DMC would then have access to Renaults global network to
distribute their products across the globe. More importantly, DMC
would have gotten Jeep. Now, JZD being the hopeless romantic he is
about keeping old nameplates, I'm certain that the CJ-5 would have
been off-limits to change badges. And the fact that keeping the Jeep
intact would have been more profitable. But I don't think it would
have been the same for the rest of Jeep's products. The Commanche
would most likely be DMC's compact truck, with the Wagoneer platform
being developed into a large worktruck platform to compete with Ford &
GM. And the Cherokee would have become the DMC-44, rather than the
original vehicle JZD was looking at (which went on to become the Dodge
Raider/Mitsu Montero). If DMC was around, I've no doubt that AMC would
have been purchased by them, and would have survived, while Chrysler
would have reamined stagnent for much longer. Because the benefits to
DMC/AMC/Renualt would have been equally shared by all.

Now yes, this is speculation on my part, but it is based upon DMC's
business practices. GM may be run like a mighty oak, that slowly
grows, and remains strong enough to weather the economic elements. But
DMC on the otherhand was more like a jungle vine that would grow from
tree to tree, and you'd never have gotten rid of it once it got an
equal foothold in everywhere.

So if you ever question on whether or not there was any "asistance" by
outside forces from the company to shut DMC down, think about this
kind of stuff, and really realize just what kind of a threat JZD was
to the automotive world. And more specificly, other organizations
within it that feed off it, like the UAW.

-Robert
vin 6585 "X"








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