GM to buy... Chrysler?

[Jeffbx]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors is in talks to buy DaimlerChrysler AG's struggling Chrysler group in its entirety, according to several reports.

Linky (http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/16/news/companies/chrysler_gm/index.htm?cnn=yes)

Wow, I would not have been surprised to hear if one of the Japanese companies were considering this, but GM??? This has WTF written all over it.

[DarkFury]

Yup... those crazy Germans are at it again. :heh:

Well, at least I got mine in while it still had some of their "German tech" (i.e. their transmission) in it. :heh:


Pretty much this has been discussed at length over in the Chrysler based forums I participate in. Pretty much, Ze Germans thought that they could overproduce the various Chrysler models they were selling and make a windfall profit, however in the end there were a glut of cars sitting on dealers lots that had to be price slashed to move (which is not the dealers fault as corporate kept pushing more cars on them than they could reasonably sell at MSRP.)

But then the German head office turns around and says... "Hey... you dealers are losing too much money (through the price cuts to move units and other inventory clearing procedures) so now we must cut some of you...

Kinda a weird situation. They finally do make an attractive product (now.. as opposed to 10 - 15 years ago) however through mismanagement of the brand they still find a way to end up losing money. Go figure... :2far:

[Houdini]

Wow. A Chrysler made by GM. Never thought I'd see the day. Always hoped I wouldn't. Until my current car (and well, a '77 Volvo with 300+whoknowshowmanyK miles on it), all I owned were GM. Never been a big Chrysler fan myself, having had to help too many people fix theirs back in high school and college.

Wonder what the new name will be. Mercedes-Benz --> Daimler-Benz --> Daimler Chrysler ---> General Something? (yeah, I know that these were separate transactions of different subsideries and not sequential company name changes.) But to see a Chrysler with a bowtie or GMC on it would be kinda strange.

[johnnymk]

With the financial trouble that GM is in, where are they going to scrape up the cash..Guarantee this will never happen.

[MikeD]

Will either company be able to survive long term, without drastic changes?

They're hemorrhaging money right now. I don't know if a merger will help, but they have to do something to right the ship...

[cheapie]

GM couldn't find their a$$ if you gave them a stick and a mirror. that would be just disastrous. :2far:

[renovation]

Only reason I see GM taking on Chrysler is for the jeep line for which they need a dependable 4x4 platform. They had look at this before way back in the days when American Motors owned the jeep line and it was know as an AM jeep or just jeep.

[Markel]

I wonder if GM just doesn't want to let Toyota be the sales leader?