Breaking: GM and CHRYSLER Hold Preliminary Merger Talks

[SlySy]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27125864


DETROIT - General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have held preliminary talks about a merger or an acquisition of Chrysler by GM, according to published reports late Friday.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people it described as familiar with the discussions, said Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that owns 80.1 percent of Chrysler and 51 percent of GMAC Financial Services, proposed trading Chrysler's automotive operations to GM. The Journal said Cerberus would receive GM's remaining 49 percent stake in GMAC.

[Buick Riviera]

As I said before there will be no merger just , maybe these sell of these rest of GMAC that's all. Gm doesn't need Chrysler's automotive operations period.

[Stéphane Dumas]

another more realistic possibility instead of a merger, could be various joint-ventures projects like transmissions or platforms for exemple.

[jry]

Originally Posted by Buick Riviera

As I said before there will be no merger just , maybe these sell of these rest of GMAC that's all. Gm doesn't need Chrysler's automotive operations period.

I don't get what you are saying here, friend.
I see a great advantage here. GM could get more economies of scale on engine production, pick up the valuable Jeep assets (so that the "loss" of Hummer would be no big deal).
They'd get all of the Mercedes stuff out of the Chrysler cars, thus not having to pay Stuttgart their royalty money. The General has been trying to sell the Ren Cen. They could do that and move into Auburn Hills. That would put them closer to some of their production/engineering facilities. It keeps Chrysler out of the hands of Nissan/Renault. The new, emerging firm gets a bigger piece of the government bailout money. The only main drag is that the, once merged General would have to do some quick cutting of fixed expenses. Oh, yes, anti trust/monopoly problems at the DOJ.

[Ming]

A merged HP and Compaq when both were in trouble ultimately made for a stronger whole.

I also see an opportunity for a name change, and along with it, an image change.

While we might like them, the names "General Motors" and "Chrysler LLC" carry a lot of baggage and have a negative image in the eyes of many Americans who have moved on to imports.

The new company name could be one that invites nostalgia and the image of the best of both brands but does not carry on the negatives.

Of course the popular brand names like Chevrolet, Jeep, Cadillac and a select few others would need to stay.

The merger would be an opportunity to take the strongest elements from both (hello, minivans?) and eliminate the weakling brands and overlap product.

Having both GMC and Dodge truck divisions on top of Chevy trucks would make little sense, for instance.

[A.J.]

IMO, the only assets that Chrysler can give to GM is their minivans.

[tamatt27]

Originally Posted by Buick Riviera

As I said before there will be no merger just , maybe these sell of these rest of GMAC that's all. Gm doesn't need Chrysler's automotive operations period.

I agree. I pray that GM Management is smart enough to realize that their own problems come first.
I do wonder, though, if GM will take Chrysler with an interjection of cash from Cerberus and strip all but is necessary for survival from them. Chrysler fans aren't going to be happy when the find out that their beloveed Ram is owned by GM. GM probably realizes this and ****-can most of Chrysler's operations. How did Chrysler do with the UAW talks?

[arcticF7]

I can see merging Jeep and Hummer - Keep only the H2 and kill the Commander (which is already being killed).

Dodge trucks are a tough call - I know a lot of devoted Dodge fans....... I could see axeing all the Dodge cars, but keeping the trucks.

Chrysler and dodge mid and small cars are crap - you could axe them all and nobody would shed a tear. So what to do with the Chrysler brand? Kill Buick and keep Chrysler?

[Buickman]

see this as an attempt to deflect criticism from current woes...in effect nothing more than Gorilla Dust.

H. Ross Perot, Newsweek (12-15-91) "Gorilla dust is his expression for the perennially optimistic statements made by Smith and other company executives. Scooping up some imaginary dirt and tossing it in the air, Perot says, 'When gorillas fight, they throw dust in the air to distract one another.'"

[Buickman]

on the other hand the merger would make sense...only need one bankruptcy case rather than two.

[Beau]

"Gorilla Dust"
Wow.

Lets just hope they are tipping the post-it flicker, mr. phrase make up.

[arcticF7]

Originally Posted by Beau

"Gorilla Dust"
Wow.

Let's hope they don't start throwing poop.

[Firebird00]

What a terrible idea. Of all the Big 3, Chrysler must be the worst off. It makes no sense why GM (almost DOA anyhow) would want to pick up the disaster that is Chrysler. Maybe if they could buy Jeep off of them that would work, but the rest of it is just a disaster. I bet that 3 headed dog from hell company wishes they had stayed away from the pentastar.

[ConcordeNick]

UGH NOOOOOO!!!!!! Chrysler has one of the worst vehicle lines of any manufacturer. GM should not team up with them. Even Mercedes got rid of them. This is not the way to go. Even a merger with FORD would have been prefereable to a merger with Chrysler.

[Clownzilla]

There would have to be some MAJOR restructuring after the merger but I believe that this could end up helping GM quite a bit. I think people need to realize that GM WILL axe brands, factories, etc. after the merger and GM won't necessarily be a "bigger" company. GM will be able to take the best of Chrysler and use it to patch up some holes in GM. For the health of GM, this merger is a Godsend. The acquisition price isn't too bad either.