ORIGINAL: BLK 6050
Great I just put my razor blades away....and you had to post more "good news" about Chrysler
Here is my two cents:
I'm not sure that Chrysler needs GM more than vice versa. It seems to me that GM needs Chrysler's 11 billion dollars to keep afloat through next year. The merger for Chrysler has virtually no upside for Chrysler. While with Cerberus, there seems to be support for Chrysler to make a turnaround on its own merits. Let’s face it Cerberus is only looking at the bottom-line…if Chrysler can turn a profit then Cerberus will keep it together for while longer, if not they will continue to look at getting out from under the company.
Ok, so the government steps in and helps this merger along. To which Cerberus says to the government thank you. But, first we are a private company so we don’t report to you. And, secondly we are now going to close a lot of plants and kill off several brands. Which means the US Government would be directly responsible for more lost jobs. Then next you get Ford stepping up and saying "Um… what about us? We haven’t merged or owned a mortgage company or even begged for cash". So then Ford will start to fail under the weight of the cash enhanced mess that is General Mopar. It’s a big mess, that may get a lot bigger before it’s all over….and I don’t see any clear winners………….sad..
There is some truth in this. I don't want to see the Gov't being involved in this. If GM wants to do it, sell off all of your other brands until you have the money for it. There are things that GM has that Chrysler needs: compact car, mid-sized car, and some transmissions. Their compact offering is uncompetitive and they need better fuel efficiency than what they have. Their mid-sized offering is extremely uncompetitive and needs a better platform. They need to get rid of the 4-speeds and need 6-speeds as well as a 6-speed for their trucks.
GM needs a reliable V6 line, a competitive large RWD car, a performance brand that can sell, an entry level luxury brand that can sell to something other than senior citizens, the Hemi engine, etc. GM's High Value engine has developed a bad reputation from problems in its initial run. I've heard bad things about the High Feature engine's quality, and the High Feature engine is a gas hog. It has VVT and much better gearing than the Avenger R/T and the Avenger R/T is getting better fuel economy. The Phoenix engine is supposed to have MDS, VVT, and GDI which should solve all of these problems, plus Chryslers track record with the exception of the 2.7L V6 is much better on V6s than GM. The only good V6 GM made was the 3800 which was originally a V8 anyhow. The G8 is failing to catch on like the 300 and Charger and those two are doing quite well. Dodge's success has been quite a bit better than Pontiac. Chrysler has been able to sell a variety of entry level luxury cars whereas the only thing Buick has been able to sell are large FWD cars meant for a certain age demographic. The Hemi nameplate is quite valuable and I don't think I have to explain the importance of that engine to why GM would want it.
I see more benefit in a Ford & Chrysler relationship. Ford has some of the best platforms in smaller vehicles which is exactly what Chrysler needs and high quality interior. They have a bulletproof I4 line. They have the transmissions needed. Chrysler has the V8 Ford needs to make their truck line be something other than just running off of a legacy. Dodge has the performance image Ford needs to make some cars with great potential, actually sell due to not being associated with dullness. Chrysler is far more interesting than Mercury. Chrysler strength is larger cars which would help Ford out a lot.