Here are the latest Chrysler (VERY DEPRESSING) sales figures from February 2006. The Crossfire is the worst performing vehicle in the Chrysler product line. Sales of the car declined by 54% to a total # of 412 units per month compared to 902 per month last year. The next lowest car in the line-up, the Sebring, sold 7,897 units per month. The highest sales were for the 300 which sold over 18,000 units per month.

DISAPPOINTING NUMBERS FOR CHRYSLER CROSSFIRE

Sales and production of the Chrysler Crossfire continue to slow down, a signal that the lifespan of the reskinned Mercedes SLK sports car may soon be in question.

From a production peak of 35,700 in 2004, the car's second year on the market, output dropped to 12,500 last year and appears set to drop several thousand more this year.

Sales were 9,900 in 2005.

Sales have never matched production, and hundreds of the sleek little roadsters have been sold or leased to DaimlerChrysler employees in Windsor and elsewhere at discounts.

Production is now so low that DaimlerChrysler Inc. has been forced to negotiate a compensation deal for Karmann of Germany, the coach builders who assemble the Crossfire on contract for DCX at their plant in Osnabrueck, Germany.

The companies announced Monday they are trying to work out a deal. Reuters reports that Chrysler has booked accounting charges of $119 million US to cover the costs of the declining Crossfire.

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DaimlerChrysler is negotiating to pay Karmann to halve production of the sports coupe in the wake of dismal sales.

STUTTGART—DaimlerChrysler may pay German coachworks Karmann more than $119 million to cut production of the Chrysler Crossfire sport coupe because of declining sales, says the Financial Times.

The automaker sold only 871 Crossfires in the first two months of this year.

Karmann’s deal calls for building more than 30,000 Crossfires a year until 2008, the paper said. The company assembled 34,000 of the two-seaters at its Osnabrück, Germany, factory in 2004. But dealer inventories have risen since that point, and output dropped to 12,500 cars in 2005.

Looks like the writing is on the walls guys... Good bye Crossfire.

 

This kinda makes me want to keep my Crossfire even more. But then again I have always liked things that are not too mainstream.

 

CALL me selfish but i too prefer to see less people have the same car as me!

But still is bittersweet...

 

As long as I can get parts I don't care. The less I see my car the better. Yeah, I'm a selfish dude.

 

I agree with that to a point. What does that do to the value of the cars that are already out there. Do they become pariahs? Does it drop the residual value, whereas if you were going to trade it in, it would be worth less? I agree that if they do stop production, they will be a rare commodity in relation to how many are produced, but will they then be treated like the jinxed Fiero? I know that at this point, those questions can probably only be answered with educated guesses, since no one really know what D/C is going to do. I just threw it out there to see what the forum thinks. Bob

 

i know you are just shedding comparisons but the FIERO? i think this is more like apples and oranges... the only thing similar to me is that they both have two doors.

talk about doomed and jinxed, the fiero is a very popular car to strip and rebody with a kit car... i don't foresee anyone down the road stripping the XF body off to drop a kit car on the XF chassis... unless there are no more XF body parts.

and because it is mainly MB parts (drivetrain) THE XF will only have problems if MB goes bust...


j

we have all become a little more eccentric today!!! ewwwhooo!

 

I didn't mean to compare the Fiero with the XF. Same animal, different species. I just was trying to illustrate what happened with that car once Pontiac abandoned it. If they were to discontinue the XF which caused it to become an item people would want, I guess we can be assured that the price would at least not drop and may actually increase in value. No matter what, it is a one of a kind car as far as looks go. For a car that has such a hard time finding buyers, it sure prompts people to ask me "What kind of car is that". That's when I smile. Bob

 

OK Guys: I guess I have to pre-curser every one of my posts with this "I only care about competing in SCCA events with the Crossfire and the availability of affordable aftermarket performance parts".

That being said AGAIN. If the car is not successful or selling well, nobody is going to invest in the R&D and development of performance parts. If the car is discontinued, repair parts become more expensive.

Fiero's great... What does any of this have to do with my original post ? I was sharing the info about DC paying $119 million dollars to the Karmann factory to STOP the production of the Crossfire, which means they will never support any of the things many owners want to do with the car... I give-up...

 

You're delusional.

 

You know HDDP... i really do see your situation clearly... if anyone should be disappointed with the XF being cut, it is people like you... competitors...
in fact you are the only KNOWN person to be competing at the level you do...
you are at a different level; than the rest here...

and in my opinion to have the manufacturer tease you the last three years or so... is a crime and has to be even more frustrating...

you have written that you would dump the XF and obtain a racer that parts and enhancements are in abundance... making racing more enjoyable ...more competitive. I saw that posting of the V-DUB that blows by your XF...
that ticked me off!

But VW is VW... parts parts and more aftermarket parts... everywhere!

Yes the XF will never see the day where chrysler is a dependable source for refining...
Speculation... but if D/C used a CHYRSLER bred ENGINE AND DRIVETRAIN, as opposed to the SLK leftovers... we would have a different story...

to better your times/speeds... what does the XF need to make you happy?

hey... you said that you would get the solstice.. give up the XF and count your losses... but in a way i see good news there, because there isn't any aftermarket industry for the XF, you saved money on parts you didn't get!!!

well in a way Chrysler failed us all...

to better your times/speeds... what does the XF need to make you happy?

ARE there other options besides the EXIGE and SOLSTICE that you are/were romancing with?

 

Trying to relate sales to last year seems a little meaningless. Last year the model year for sale was a 2005 (in 2005 if you can relate to that). Who wants to by a new 2005 in the 2006 model year when it's basically over a year old to start with and secondly, one might expect a 2006 any day now - or not. I for one would be waiting for the new model not buying the old model; not unless they are giving them away.

Ste7of1

 

They are giving them away!!! there are still '04 leftovers here in ny and the dealer where i bought mine, is selling them for $19,999...

I wonder how low they will go once production stops and they need to clear the ports!!!

 

oh yes this is going to get ugly...
hey look at it this way if we damage ours we can just buy a new leftover for 10k instead of fixing ours...ugg.

 

Heck that was fun, my buddies run with a bunch of GTI's, and they have a really fun group of people who share set-ups and parts at the track. You didn't see the whole video where we played cat-and-mouse for an hour on the track, swapping the lead and follow car. That's some of the best ways to learn the line of the track. Always remember, I only have a camera pointing forward in my car, so you don't get a chance to see the fun stuff behind me.

The very simple and very basic answer to your question "What would make you happy with the Crossfire ?"

The Limited Edition with 115 more hp.
The SRT6 with a manual 6 speed sequential transmission.
A 3.8:1 rear differential.
Software & hardware to tune the car and access the ECU, FMU.


The rest of the issues I have already worked out on my own... OK santa send me the elves !!!

 

Actually by paying off Karmann $119 million that makes the Crossfires real cost go Up!

 

Yes you're right Dan, whatever you're trying to say...

 

That's not much... i mean look those are basic/fundamental upgrades...and D/C has not come through... for you and basically us...

how i see it, HDDP & Co is a very honest and transparent operation...
DCHQ is not...

I say redirect any campaigning and or networking...that's left in you.

What about DRIFTING... i've seen 2 or 3 XFs in a documentary ... they were top performing vehicles in their class... i wonder how much hype/where?/ they put into their engines...

sticking with DC is like keeping all the eggs in one basket... i am now learning...

anyway...1 5 10 20 years from now my XF will not nor never be in need of anything... if i can not obtain, i or through a network will engineer/build it.

hey... was it Bob Marley or Santa that says "the sun is always shinning!" hehehe

j

 

Call me quirky, narrow minded or just a lame SOB, but I have never enjoyed driving fast for 10 seconds in a straight line. Nor have I understood the fascination with driving around in a circle for hours at a time. Now, I'm having a hard time grasping onto destroying tires by spinning them on a track as they inch their way around in a ballet of HP.

Call me old school, I grew-up admiring Jackie Stewart & Derek Bell and how they could finesse' a sports car around the daunting corners of european mountain roads and circuits like Le Mans, Nurbergring and Laguna Seca. I grew my *****, and almost lost them a few times driving the canyon and mountain roads of California, and that will never leave my system.

I was lucky enough to have my father send me to Jim Russel's school in 1976 and I have never thanked him enough for that opportunity. Now I'm in at a point in my life that I can afford to play with the sport that I love.

Not to appear boisterous, but I could buy pretty much any SCCA class car and actively campaign it nationally, but that's not the point. The Crossfire was a project and a -pseudo-passion, but when reality sets-in and you realize that the mfg. is not and will not support their own product, how can I be excited about it any longer.

I should have realized that Chrysler has never been in the sports car business, nor were they ever involved in pursuing motorsports. DUH, SILLY ME !

 

Why don't they spend the money on decent marketing rather than paying off Karmann?

Most people don't know about the Crossfire and I rarely see any advertising for them so it's no wonder sales are low. It's occasionally mentioned at best. When people actually see it they love it. I get lots of compliments and I'm sure there's a lot of people that would buy them but there's basically no marketing now and their original marketing was horrible.

I'm also worried about what it's going to do to the value. I'm hoping the value won't just drop to $10,000. What do yall think?

 

What's wrong with you Brother? Sell it and buy another car, but I do not see it in you to cry over spill milk... HDDP get on with life and stop trying to prove you can make the crossfire something it ain't. Get "that can do" back in your as* and do something about your problem Brother. hooah