'Auto News': GM in Talks to Buy Chrysler
I mean, wow. I can't see how this would be good for GM, other than simply to make it bigger, but maybe there's something I'm missing. Could be they want the Jeep division, which is one of the oddest players in automobiledom, having gone through ownership by Willys, Kaiser, Kaiser-Fraser-Nash, AMC, Chrysler, and DaimlerChrysler over the years. I can't imagine there being a place for the other parts of the corporation within GM, but I guess there's weirder things out there. Such as (as the article also notes) when GM had a controlling stake in Fiat, and that nearly killed them.
Posted by Terry Oglesby at February 16, 2007 03:28 PMNot good for Chrysler, either.
Posted by: steevil (Dr Weevil's bro Steve) at February 16, 2007 03:36 PMNo indeedy. I would say it would mean the death of the Chrysler and Dodge brands. They'd keep the manufacturing and engineering capacity, the dealer net, and Jeep, and all the rest of that stuff would go by the wayside. But as it stands, Chrysler doesn't have a say. It was never a merger, it was a buyout, and DaimlerChrysler would be happy to go back to being profitable Daimler-Benz. They got some experience in low-cost production and rapid product development out of the deal, and a new respect for doing business here, but a lot of baggage from the bad parts of Chrysler's business.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at February 16, 2007 03:44 PM