Forever the old-movie buff, sometimes I can’t help but relate fictional film characters to the reality of current events.
Errol Flynn was a star before I was born, but I’m fascinated by his old movies. One in particular flashes to mind when it comes to FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne and his seemingly stressful effort to find another auto company willing to merge with his.
The movie I’m thinking of is the 1941 epic “They Died With Their Boots On.”
The definitive scene in the highly fictionalized film shows Errol Flynn as General George Custer and what was left of his troops fighting to the end as the entire Sioux and Cheyenne Indian nations encircle them. If you didn’t know the historical outcome, you’d get the impression Errol Flynn was going to get out of this jam.
The auto industry increasingly is getting the feeling Marchionne is up against the wall. You wonder what the outcome will be.
Wait a minute, Ziegler, Chrysler dealers are knocking it out of the ballpark aren’t they? Sales are outdistancing most of their competitors. Jeep is on fire and Ram trucks are increasing market share. I still get mad when I have to call it FCA, but on the surface it seems like Chrysler, OK FCA, is bulletproof.
Read the whole article on WardsAuto here.
