GM possible to buy Chrysler!

[The_Canuck]

a monopoly on bad cars, he means.

They'd have to buy Ford as well then

[Equinox]

Got these off of another site...

"Automotive News, citing unnamed sources in Germany and the United States, said the companies were engaged in high-level talks about GM buying Chrysler Group, which sells Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles, in its entirety.

The source who spoke to Reuters said it was questionable whether GM would want Chrysler's finance business, having sold its own finance arm, GMAC, last year.

Analysts questioned whether GM would benefit from an outright merger with Chrysler, since both automakers are struggling with excess production capacity, sliding sales and a heavy exposure to trucks and sport utility vehicles.

Feinman, who does not own GM debt, said both GM and Chrysler have too many overlapping models, and any merger would have to result in even deeper cuts to jobs and output. "If they do merge, there would have to be massive streamlining and there would be hundreds of thousands of more jobs lost," he said.

Feinman added, "The only one to benefit would be Daimler because they would get rid of Chrysler."
David Healy, an automotive analyst with Burnham Financial Group, was also skeptical.

"My own feeling is that a full merger wouldn't make any sense," said Healy. "They're bitter competitors, they have the same costs, and they have a similar footprint in the U.S. and Canada.

"That said," Healy continued, "I think there's room for cooperation on joint ventures where, for example, one company lacks a model or a diesel engine -- why do it twice rather than once as a joint venture?"
Burnham owns GM shares. The firm does not have investment banking relationships with GM.'

http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/inve...mentid=2982287

[adrenaline]

Maybe they should by Chrysler, and then sell off the assets, get rid of a few of the stupid GM brands and only have Chev, Saturn and Cadillac. And then sell some cars.

GM don't need Buick, Pontiac or Hummer. Either resurrect Saab or throw it in the trash.

[Ferrer]

Ironically, many seem to forget that in '05 Chrysler helped keep Daimler-Chrysler afloat when Mercedes' sales were flagging. Mercedes was loosing market share to brands like Lexus, and there were various quality issues. Chrysler's sales were strong (They had about 5% growth) with the introduction of new cars such as the 300 and Magnum. That was only a year ago.

What hurt Chrysler the most during '06 was the dramatic increase in gasoline in the states last year. Consumers stopped buying light trucks and SUVs in favor of smaller, more fuel efficient cars from Toyota and Honda. In fact, that is part of D-C's recovery plan. To focus on smaller fuel efficient vehicles instead of trucks and SUVs.

I believe it would be a shame in Daimler spun off Chrysler. No one at Chrysler was asking for Daimler to be sold off when they were struggling, and thye had also underperformed for several quarters. Also, the two brands are finally beginning to share technology (i.e. Mercedes diesel engines). I just believe it would be a knee jerk reaction to appease the European financial community.

IIRC, Mercedes-Benz was struggling, but they were not losing money like Chrysler is doing now. In fact Chrysler has lost 1,3 billion $ this year which is quite a lot, and this is more of a problem than Mercedes losing some sales, if you ask me.

Some have raised the point of the shared engines. I don't think this is a problem for selling. Look at Land Rover, the Range Rover is basically a fully BMW desgined car, and that didn't stop BMW selling the brand to Ford, and the car continued with its BMW parts until recently when it's been Jaguarised.

[2ndclasscitizen]

GM don't need Buick, Pontiac or Hummer. Either resurrect Saab or throw it in the trash.

I thought that was what the gist of my post?

[adrenaline]

I thought that was what the gist of my post?

I intended to expand on it but I got disturbed and cut it short, so it's just me agreeing with you.

[2ndclasscitizen]

I intended to expand on it but I got disturbed and cut it short, so it's just me agreeing with you.

Fair enough. GM's problems disturb me as well

[Ferrer]

GM don't need Buick, Pontiac or Hummer. Either resurrect Saab or throw it in the trash.

They ruined Saab. It would much better if they sold it to Renault.

[NSXType-R]

Maybe GM figures if they buy Chrysler; they'd atleast be best at what they do: being the biggest. And then if the biggest car company in the US needed help, surely the gov't would bail them out.

If a merger or acquisition like this lead to a streamlined new GM, with fewer platforms, it could be a success. Limit the drivetrain development to a centralized engineering department and each of the sub-groups (Chrysler, Buick, Dodge, Cadillac, etc) are only responsible for packaging. Just as a SL55 and G55 couldn't be more different, they share an engine...

Sure, but the SL55 and G55 don't have the same amount of doors.

There is enough competition (GMC with Chevy, and Saturn and Chevy, for instance) as it is, why would they want to further increase the amount of competition?

It doesn't make sense.

[Dino Scuderia]

GM to buy Chrysler? No, but the rumor sells magazines and adverts on blogs.

[Equinox]

I read somewhere that GM and Chrysler would be an alliance rather than a merger. Such an alliance would be modelled on the one between Renault of France and Nissan of Japan. The French company owns about one third of Nissan.

An alliance would mean they remain separate companies, but possibly with a cross-shareholding, while acting as a single company in product development, production and sales.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung said GM had too many problems of its own and would not want to bring another struggling company on board.

[DesmoRob]

At least now Benz stock will finally go up .

[crisis]

Remember GM itself is not a manufacturer but a company that buys other manufacturers. Acquisition of other manufacturers is what they do.

[kingofthering]

Why would GM want to add another money losing brand to it's collection? Sounds like a fast track to chapter 11.

That may not be so bad. They could have a fresh start and screw that up.

[adrenaline]

That may not be so bad. They could have a fresh start and screw that up.

GM is in the middle of a major re-structure and judging by their most recent loss figures, they appear to finally be getting somewhere. So why would they be in the market for a brand that is costing its parent millions?