Mercedes must be over the moon. The only company to truly benefit is them. They should have kept Jeep though and made it a proper competitor to Land Rover

So what would the portfolio look like after a GM takeover?

I see the Chrysler brand as a big overlap to the Chevy/Buick mix that GM has been driving? But maybe they put them as a product in between and also have good minivan assets.

The Jeep name and trail-rated idea is something that has equity but the product line would have to be drastically slashed (rid themselves of Compass, Liberty/or/Patriot and Commander). The Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee would fill holes (knowing that the Trailblazer and Envoy are likely short-timers with the emergence of the Acadia/Outlook/Enclave products).

The Ram and Durango’s are suboptimal versus the Colorado and Silverado offerings so I’m not sure I see any Dodge value aside from the Challenger as a halo car.

This would allow C/D/J to get the union savings that GM has driven that they couldn’t get themselves but aside from shutting down one of their competitors, why would GM do this? Neither the product nor the engineering resources nor the Intellectual Property have proven very valuable for the Chrysler group to justify much of a turn-around…

Um…wow. Can GM handle three more marques? Dodge would be at odds with either Chevy and Pontiac (or both), as would Jeep and Hummer. Chrysler would even cannibalize the new Saturn and probably Buick too.

Would they drop the marques and just take the platforms and plants?

This doesn’t make sense for GM. At least how I see it.

In theory, it’s not that bad of an idea. Development costs are incredibly high these days, which makes it really tough to be a “B” player, which is what Chrysler sort of is. If they combine with GM, then they could be a good competitor to the gigantic Toyota.

Guaranteed concrete shoes…

They could close that big looser (..not one cent profit in all these years) SATURN ..and to placate the dealers - bring them a JEEP sign.

Seems to me Chyrsler would be a better fit with Ford. Ford would benefit from Chrysler’s better designs and ability to bring a car to market faster. Chrysler would arguably get some better mechanicals, at least better transmissions. Chrysler could claim a hybrid (albeit on borrowed technology) with the Escape and Ford would have a minivan again with the Caravan. I don’t get how GM would benefit from this, there’s just too much overlap in their product lines.

Wasn’t the whole point for Mercedes buying Chrysler in the first place to get jeep. The only way they could was to buy Chrysler.

Bye Bye Viper. . .

(assuming you believe this report; sounds about as similar as ford and chevy merging, Louis Viouton buying aston, and nissan-renault buying GM)

This is just too unbelievable. I say start the clock ticking for an article in a day or two where both parties patently deny the rumor. The only groups to benefit from this is obviously Daimler, and the other being Toyota. GM and Chrysler would both lose in this. I just don’t see this happening.

6ix– I dont follow. Toyota only has to worry about the Toyota/Lexus/Scion brands, while GM would have to worry about Chevy/GMC/Pontiac/Saturn/Buick/Caddillac/Hummer/Holden/Opel/Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge. See what I’m saying? It wouldn’t really make them good competition for Toyota, it would just stretch GM thinner.

Yeah true. They did say mercedes will share alot of platform with chrysler. Why would they consider sharing platforms if they gonna get rid of them.

Thing about these rumours are, if they spread around enough it effects the share prices(In this case it would go up). When DC shareholder see the share price rise they will probably demand chrysler be drop to make their shares more valuable. Only the DC CEO can make that decision but with shareholders threats he may have no other choice in the near future but to put chrysler up for sale. So if chrysler is sold don’t forget to blame the RUMOUR MAKERS sorry I mean reporters

I don’t see this happening. If GM wouldn’t align itself with a relatively decent company like Nissan, one that sells some convincing products, I don’t see the logic in straping GMto the sinking ship that is Chrysler.

However, I would like to hear GMnumberone4ever’s take on this idea.

This just doesn’t make sense… waiting for a follow-up

drop the buick name i guess, it dying anyways here in the states anyways, chrysler can replace it, keep jeeps such as the wrangler and grand cherokee, hummer can stay as the larger offroad suv`s. Dodge is where there would be a problem integrating, the large trucks are worlds apart, then where would the viper fit in (it would only compete with the vette)the cahallenger and camaro would compete with each other needlessly also. so i dont know how to look at this, it has too many pro`s and con`s.

Piablo has to be right. Christ on crutches! I can’t keep up with all of this merging and demerging. It’s like one out of two marriages end in divorce.

…and Iraq had WMD’s and there’s an alien base in the Antarctic, and all the children in France are alchoholics…

The “no comment” comment is the carrot. ALL of the mags are trying to scoop each other. Why NOT perpetuate a rumor, no matter how plausible? A couple of months back, the heads at Daimler “wouldn’t rule it out.” Hell, they HAVE to look at all angles,; it doesn’t mean they are ACTIVELY looking to sell. I don’t know why GM would want to add another domestic company, and all its baggage, to the already UAW-ridden company they already run.

Like someone else said….I’m waiting for another article that this is all BS. I can see this being somewhat good for ailing Chrysler, but I’m not sure how this benefits GM.

Mercedes should swap chrysler for Saab and money on top of saab.

Swap Chrysler + dodge for Saab + 10 billion.Hold onto jeep and tie it with Saab.

The only thing the Chrysler group could bring to GM is a decent mini van and possibly the Wrangler. Everything else they make is subpar to GM and in all honesty that isn’t saying a whole lot. To buy a GM over a Chrysler is like saying you want herpes over AIDS, it’s only slightly better but you’d rather do without both of them.

Depends on what they pay for Chrysler AND what they get stuck with. If they could get only the plants they want, not take over the retirees pension and health care, and the unneeded employees are gone before they buy GM could fill in holes.

Dump Dodge/Chrysler name

Merge Jeep/Hummer

Keep minivans under Chevy/Buick (big hole at GM)

Keep midsize SUV/PU trucks. (GM weak here)

Somehow merge the 300/Magnum with Zeta.

Dump just about everything else.

I can’t imagine GM shareholders approving this takeover. GM still has lots of work to do to get it’s own house in order before taking on a reno of someone else’s.

This combo will surely inspire confusion within an already -cant find ass with both hands- car magnate whose direction has been lost for decades!

the only thing that makes sense is that its a 2 or 3 company swap like in sports. gm is probably interested in a couple divisions and would swap the others for “divisions to be named later”…lol. just cant see it happening without more maneuvers after the sale.

GM is buying out their competitors so a person in the market for a pickup is either gonna buy a ram, f-series from ford, or a silverado from chevy, 2/3 options belong to GM when before it was 1/3, whether dodge competes with chevy or not, GM will profit both ways if they buy out chrysler, i think its a wonderful idea

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17186447/,

I think that the media has blown this way out of proportion. There were talks of sharing the GMT-900 platform with Chrysler but, not a complete merger.

Just to play with this a bit… I think Apple should buy Chrysler. Think of it. You’d get brilliantly designed products with intuitive controls and interfaces. They could rename the models iCar. i.e.

Caliber = iCar S (for small)
Sebring = iCar M (for Medium)
300 = iCar L (for Large)

Then of course there would be the whole iTruck range, iVans (not to be confused with someone named Ivan), iSport (Viper), iSuck (Compass)… the possibilities are endless.

back to the first post, jeep should NEVER be a “proper” competitor to land rover. Jeeps are so great because they are affordable off road monsters (save for the pile of **** compass). If they go jacking up the price and loading them with leather it would ruin the brand.

Merging Jeep and Hummer would be cool

Make the next commander off the platform of the Mercedes GL. If the merger does go through then kill the hummer brand apart from the h2. keep that as the top of the line jeep hummer

this is dumb.

@buenos: I like that idea, funny
The Dodge brand wouldn’t work in the GM lineup, except for the Grand Caravan and maybe the Dakota. GM would have to kill either Buick or the Chrysler brand and combine their products somehow. Merging Jeep with Hummer would make sense but both have a lot of brand equity so keeping them separate might work better…

Then of course there would be the whole iTruck range, iVans (not to be confused with someone named Ivan), iSport (Viper), iSuck (Compass)… the possibilities are endless.

Comment by buenos, posted on February16 at 2:19 pm

lmao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s 99.9% likely not to happen anyway.

I think there are a couple of options here
a) gm takes control of some of the more important chysler innovations (HEMI) and sells off the bits and pieces of the rest to whoever wants it
b)gm buys a stake in chrysler, turns it around and sells the stake for a profit (what ford did with hyundai)
i also see renault-nissan taking chrysler into their consortium since kevorkian wouldnt let gm create an alliance

This would certainly shake stuff up. To say the least.

Oh Christ, not this crap again. Acquiring brands for the sake of acquiring brands. I hope GM isn’t stupid enough to get in bed with Chrysler. They have their own problems to remedy at the moment and they’ve just gotten the ball rolling on fixing the first handful of them. They DO NOT need to add fuel to the fire by picking up a few more troubled brands. Please GM… STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM CHRYSLER.

Chevy Vette and Dodge Viper are going to be brothers? Oh Noooeess!

“Jeep Hummer”…

I could almost see a practical, affordable, less costly to operate H1… “Trail rated” trumped by “Combat Rated” but add real civilian usefulness and you have a winner and not just a “wang enhancer”. The H1 and the “CJ” Wrangler sitting next to each other on the lot. Strangely appealing… But I think concerns of making Jeep too fancy and over priced are on the mark.

But all this has to just be a rumor. I know Chrysler has always been in some kind of trouble and maybe it should just fade away like AMC, but All the domestics lost a lot of money. Chrysler is just the only one owned by another company. Frankly, I think Chrysler might be better served by being bought up by some investment firm or some such with some automotive experience. Still, Chrysler was really on it’s way back up to being independently solid again, if only they could get out from under Daimler-Benz and make some decisions on their own.

Detroit made some bad choices and are paying for them. But Chrysler deserves better, at least they are trying. But unlike GM, Chrysler is really ham-strung by the Germans, who seem determined to keep the division (that’s what they are unless that wasn’t a buy out a few years back) from really succeeding. It would have been easy enough to just say, make fewer trucks, focus more on cars people want more as much as or more than they need, and no full-sized SUVs (The Durango/Aspen is good enough).

I think Dr.Z should really look at that before ever suggesting that Chrysler did anything wrong or is holding back “Benz”. Direct Chrysler to make products more in keeping with the Mercedes line-up (Classy, sporty, FR, and fine handling as much a possible) Make the Caliber a serious rally machine (The Neon SRT-4 was close but really needed AWD), make a smaller FR platform for the Sebring and the Avenger, push for more coupes (they make good convertibles and affordable - meaning easily sold - sports cars), a Viper worth what you pay for it (90K and the interior is barely on the Vette’s level), ditch the awkward, gaudy, styling for more purposeful (Dodge) and/or graceful (Chrysler) lines while being true to an American automotive heritage.

The list could cover whole books.

Anyway, Chrysler needs the realignment, streamlining, and some really serious re-tooling of their line-up. Besides what is GM going to do with another whole car company? They don’t need the extra. Need to focus on doing better, not being bigger… especially FORD.

THEY ARE NOT GOING TO AQUIRE THEY ARE COLLABORATING ON A NEW VEHICLE GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT LEFTLANE!!!!

GM clearly will do “whatever it takes” to prevent Toyota from passing them as the #1 automaker.
This will and does include buying Chrysler if that’s what it takes.

Ford is now screwed. Maybe Nissan will look at them again and save them from their desperate situation.

GM is in no position to be talking smack about Chrysler:

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7B3B60D753%2DCB55%2D417A%2DB1E9%2DBEC809C8A02C%7D&dist=rss

Looks like they’re still trying to cook the books for the audit, and need more creative time to do so.

Ach! But I LIKE Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep!

sounds SERIOUS

no way GM needs MORE nameplates and I think even they realize it by now. They can use Jeep and the minivan franchise; every other Chrysler product is unnecessary. They’d acquire it to kill most of it — get it off the market and out of the way. In truth, what the hell crucial strategic niche is the Dodge Sebring fillng? Most Chrysler products are answers to questions nobody is asking.

Shame about their fate with DCX but when the acquisition was done 10 years ago MB wasn’t trying to sell sub-$30,000 secretaries’ cars. MB has been eating Chrysler’s bread. They should get rid of ‘em.

Interesting idea, giving MB the Saab business in return for the Jeep business… GM has just about murdered Saab, all those Subarus and GMC trucks running around in cladding…

They can give the Viper and 300C to Pontiac,give the minivan to Chevy, dump Sebring, make Dodge trucks the new GMC etc..
They can also just make Chrysler a new division of GM or just dump everything to eliminate the competition.
Lots of options!

With all those feds looking over their shoulders? REally doubt any book cooking is going on. Just making sure all the t’s are crossed and i’s dotted. Actually looks like they picked up 700,000 in underreported profits which is chump change in the big scheme of things.

Next batch of DMX rumors:
- Daimler will sell off Jeep to Tonka
- Ricaro Montalban is named the new President of Chrysler
- the “Eagle” brand is resurrected as rebadged Renaults
- Dodge will enter a cross-marketing deal with ESPN 8 - “The Ocho”
- The Dodge Viper will be renamed the Plymouth Mayflower

What actually probably happened is MB/Chrylser asked GM if they were interested in acquiring them. Of course this means GM must do a study to be sure they satisfy the board. Like the Renault-Nissan fiasco it will come to nothing.

I don’t see this happening as there is way too much overlap in product. Unless they want to sell the idea as being “more options offered to consumers.” They will probably consolidate workforce (some of the factories and overlapping departments in corporate) and take advantage of the savings from lower cost of operations? Or, maybe they’re probably just focusing on remaining #1 and should be careful not to F-this one up because it can be Pyrrhic victory. The Chrysler group will only bring more red ink to the bottom line, at least in the beginning, anyway. Also, didn’t I hear somewhere last year that GM only had about 1000 days worth of working capital? You’d think they’d want to add to the bottom line not take away?

Re: product overlap… yes, v8havoc, you’re the only guy. Because it makes no financial sense to throw two similar vehicles at the same niche. It costs a lot more per car to manufacture 25,000 Vettes and 25,000 Vipers than it does to build 50,000 of one or the other. Not to mention the cost of marketing and servicing different cars that do the same job. That kind of overlap is stupid product strategy that is already costing GM hundreds of millions under the name “badge engineering.”

Toyota and Honda build one subcompact, one compact, one midsize sedan each, etc. and they’re booming. GM throws about 35 “different” vehicles/nameplates at each market segment and they’re suffering.

So of course if GM buys Chrysler it will make sense to kill off 90% of their nameplates. Why would you build a Dodge Ram pickup alongside the same-sized, same-priced Silverado? You would NOT, if you were a car company with a lick of sense.

I think it is GM’s way of keeping the crown as the world’s biggest although not the best automaker crown. This news will surely upset Toyota LoLz!

Buick should take the 300C and Chrysler be discontinued, the Viper should have a trial run as a Pontiac to see how the public reaction is but should be redesigned to achieve comfort closer to the Corvette rather than being an oven with seats, bring a few Jeep models to Hummer, redesignate GMC as Dodge but do NOT take that ****ty Dodge exterior style. I can see Chevy taking the Caliber SRT-4’s powertrain and using it to build a replacement for the Cobalt SS. The Charger really has no where to go with Zeta applications like the G8 GT coming, so it should go. GM needs to streamline their line-up as they’ve needed to do anyway, by doing away with things like the Pontiac Torrent and Saturn Vue. Dodge/GMC should be the SOLE truck/crossover/suv arm of GM aside from Jeep/Hummer. Saab should be sold also, to streamline operations. GM hasn’t been doing much with them anyway.

This is how I see a merger like this working. It can be successful if GM realizes they have to get rid of 90% of Chrysler Group’s vehicles, along with a portion of their own.

Of course, it’s just as likely that it won’t happen at all.

Seems everyone has an opinion on how they can merge both companies but can someone explain first of money they intend to pay the asking price for chrysler and then secondly the cost to make all these changes when GM only has 3 years of money left to survive.

Plus ain’t chrysler worth more then GM

Chrysler Group on its own is not worth as much as GM, and Daimler will be selling it at a loss.

As far as having the money to buy it, it’s not like GM would be the first company to buy on a margin.

IMHO, GM is looking for ways to stop toyota from becomming number one. This aquisition will guarentee GM’s top position for many years.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I feel like I need to exercise my speculative muscles.

I agree with a lot of people here insofar as I’ll believe this when I see it. And while I can’t really accept this as a good idea, I do see some logic in it. And considering GM’s record with good ideas, I can imagine them going for this.

I think one distinct possibility is that GM is looking to acquire Chrysler’s manufacturing resources. There have been talks of a revival of RWD cars from GM on the zeta platform, but this isn’t really happening, and certainly not with any great speed. Yeah, I like the sound of the new Pontiac G8, but it’s still being built in, and imported from, Australia. So I really don’t know when GM is planning to have the domestic capability to put their upmarket models from Chevy, Buick, Pontiac, and even Saturn on rear- or all-wheel drive platforms. If it were to acquire Chrysler, it could do this.

As far as overlap is concerned, I don’t necessarily see this as being a huge problem, especially as far as most of the models discussed so far are concerned. Case in point, the Vette and the Viper. While the Viper arguably competes with the Vette, there are more than 90% fewer of them built every year. So, they could actually be complimentary models.

The only problem I see with this is GM not wanting to place the Viper above the Vette in its sports car pantheon. And it would be pretty confusing to have a system that looked something like: Base Corvette, Viper, Z06. And I don’t think it would feasible to move the Viper beneath the base model Corvette, because, as I understand it, one of the reasons it’s not built in huge numbers is because it has no large scale manufacturing infrastructure. But, as long as the cars continue to sell, and they’re still turning a profit, it only makes sense to keep building them.

As far as the rest of the overlap is concerned, GM could, theoretically, expand into new markets. For example, they could move Cadillac completely upmarket (maybe even build the Sixteen), and move Chrysler into Cadillac’s current position. Buick would stay more or less untouched, but would probably borrow a lot from the current stable of DCX. Pontiac could, possibly be moved into a niche where it’s level with Buick, but the attraction is performance rather than “luxury.” It’s kinda hard for me to make a huge case for retaining Dodge, though. Unless it was moved into a position where it became the performance variant of Chevrolet. There are obvious problems with that, though–primarily the Camaro and the Corvette. Throw the Challenger and Charger into the mix and it becomes even more complicated.

I don’t think it’d really be possible to re-brand any of these cars. I don’t think people would want a Dodge Camaro or a Chevrolet Charger. One option I think might be interesting is to “un-brand” these cars. It might seem counter intuitive, but I would argue that the individual model names are actually more valuable than the nameplates. So instead of a Chevrolet Corvette, it’s just a Corvette. And instead of a Dodge Challenger, it’s just a Challenger. There’s already an advantage insofar as all of these cars begin with a C, so there’s some alliteration happening (although the addition of The Viper would compromise this). Furthermore, if really necessary, they could be grouped as SS-cars, as Chevrolet had Super Sport and Dodge had Super Stock.

I’m not really sure how to work out the truck side of things, because, quite frankly, I don’t care. However, I will say that I’d actually see Hummer being discontinued and replaced by Jeep. The H1 is already gone, and the acquisition of Jeep makes the H3 completely superfluous. All that’s left is the H2, and honestly, how long can that keep going? The best thing they could do there would be to axe Hummer as a brand, and maybe keep the H2 on as long as possible as just The Hummer.

Also, the SSR could be grouped with the HHR and the PT Cruiser, resurrect a version of the Prowler, maybe diversify the line-up with some other retro-themed cars and bring back the Plymouth and Oldsmobile nameplates. (This could very well be a bridge too far).

All of the positive speculation aside, there are some serious problems with this. Most pressing, I agree, is where does the cash for this acquisition come from? Furthermore, as many of my proposals illustrate, a lot of American cars seem designed to compete solely with other American cars. So the engineering gene pool is already pretty thin, and if GM bought up Chrysler only to perform a massive cull, it would take the situation from bad to worse. The only way I see this working is if GM wants to attempt to compete in pretty much every segment that exists. If one looks at European companies, there are already established segments, a lot of them, that American companies just aren’t competing in. They might have some similar models, but they’re not really competing. I mean, yeah, the Z06 might very well be faster than the Gallardo, but as far as the marketplace is concerned, are these cars really competing with each other? No, no they’re not. The same is true for every single American luxury car. Are these cars genuinely competing with their European and/or Japanese counterparts? No.

I happen to think that if GM really wanted to, it could put models on the market that competed with BMW, Audi, and Lexus. I just don’t think that it’s ever going to happen. In that respect, I think this is a really dangerous game. If GM goes through with this and doesn’t do it right, it could be the end for GM and Chrysler. The one who stands to gain most from this could actually be Ford.

Don’t see you posting anything of even half that value, deantj, so why don’t you go cry some more?

now i remember why it’s been so long since i posted.

i’m genuinely amazed that someone read that much of it, though.

I haven’t seen one post of yours that isn’t just an incoherent rant of irrelevant insults aimed at whoever you disagree with but don’t have the mental capacity to actually debate.

I rest my case.

Makes absolutely no sense! And away goes another American company down the drain!

Thoughts if they did merge:
1) Rebadge all buicks as chryslers and then kill buick
2) Keep Hummer as its growing the fastest of GM brands.
3) Keep Jeep and share platforms so H4 would be on a wrangler unlimeted platform.
4) Immediatly stop dodge development of demon but keep challanger and rebadge pontiacs as dodges in a few years (gradual faze out). The next charger would actually be a holden. Pontiac would die a slow death as it merges with dodge, but the cars would actully be pontiacs.
5) Keep GMC but when pontiac fazes out merge it with chrysler.
6) Position chrysler below caddilac

the remaining brands in a few years would be
caddy (luxury)
chrysler/GMC (near luxury)
chevy (main stream)
dodge (performance)
hummer (nich luxury suv)
jeep (suv)

Get some help.

LMAO…you guys are a funny bunch. :p

“I agree with a lot of people here insofar as I’ll believe this when I see it. And while I can’t really accept this as a good idea, I do see some logic in it. And considering GM’s record with good ideas, I can imagine them going for this.” - Comment by nowei, posted on February17 at 4:32 pm
–> Agreed - for now this isn’t much more than rumour, but I am troubled with no denial from GM or Chrysler.
.
“I think one distinct possibility is that GM is looking to acquire Chrysler’s manufacturing resources. There have been talks of a revival of RWD cars from GM on the zeta platform, but this isn’t really happening, and certainly not with any great speed. Yeah, I like the sound of the new Pontiac G8, but it’s still being built in, and imported from, Australia. So I really don’t know when GM is planning to have the domestic capability to put their upmarket models from Chevy, Buick, Pontiac, and even Saturn on rear- or all-wheel drive platforms. If it were to acquire Chrysler, it could do this.” - Comment by nowei, posted on February17 at 4:32 pm
–> So far this is one of the better arguments in favor of a merger, but I don’t think the pros outweigh the cons here. GM is on a steady path to offer more RWD platforms, but I have not seen evidence that they intend to switch over Buick, Chevy, or Saturn. For one thing, Buick keeps rejecting the idea (they had first dibs on the commodore before Pontiac, and just recently said no again to the Statesman) and for another, RWD doesn’t really make sense when you’re talking about cars suited for applications other than sporty performance. As such, RWD makes perfect sense for Pontiac, but difficult to justify elsewhere. In this regard, I can’t see Saturn really going for it beyond the Sky, and Chevy routinely encounters costumers who care more about interior room, power everything, and gas mileage than performance and handling. RWD is coming because there is indeed a demand for it, but I also think it’s important to not over-estimate said demand. The heart of your point here is to say that GM can meet this demand faster than their current track puts them. Getting RWD cars out the door 2 or 3 years earlier than GM is capable on it’s own might sound good right now, but in 5 years practically no one will care or remember, and I’d hate the news then to be about how GM is looking for a government bailout because the collapse of this incredibly HUGE corporate conglomerate would permanently devastate and likewise cripple the American automotive industry for the rest of our natural-born lives. Essentially the case I’m making here is that Chrysler can fix a temporary problem today that already has a solution, but the cost will be unimaginable engineering and corporate complexity. Financial Armageddon isn’t unrealistic if GM intends to keep all existing brands PLUS the Chrysler Group intact. I really *like* GM, but I don’t like them enough to pay the price for the cars, yearly state taxes to own them, and then add additional tax money — taken from me at gunpoint by the Federeal Government — just to keep GM around when the consequences of such bad corporate policy dictated they should collapse. The solution here would be for GM to avoid the nightmare of biblical proportions in the first place.
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“As far as overlap is concerned, I don’t necessarily see this as being a huge problem, especially as far as most of the models discussed so far are concerned. Case in point, the Vette and the Viper. While the Viper arguably competes with the Vette, there are more than 90% fewer of them built every year. So, they could actually be complimentary models.” - Comment by nowei, posted on February17 at 4:32 pm
–> It’s already a huge problem now. Buick and GMC have no exclusive models to speak of, and adding Chrysler/Dodge to the mix doesn’t help. Brand image doesn’t change overnight - it’s something that must be cultivated over a period of time, and at the end of the day, people will see Dodge as a Chevy equivalent competing with Pontiac *and* Chevy for a long time to come. Chrysler is above Buick but below Cadillac, and Caddy is pretty much as upscale as it can get for now.. the only thing left to raise is the price. Chrysler simply doesn’t fit in logically without stepping on another brand’s toes, and right now that’s Buick’s job. If GM buys the Chrysler group then Dodge needs to be absorbed into Chevrolet and/or Pontiac as appropriate and drop whatever doesn’t fit: Chevy gets the minvan and maybe some truck enhancements, and Pontiac could maybe do something with the HEMI engines.. but having the brand essentially be America’s Holden seems like too good a formula to screw up, so I don’t about messing with an already good thing here. Chrysler goes to Buick or simply vanishes entirely. The way to solve the Corvette/Viper issue isn’t too complicated, but we’re not talking something simple either. I know this suggestion wouldn’t be popular, but I think it’s logical: spin Corvette off into a world-class performance brand a la Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, ect. The Vette has earned something very few models ever do: the success and prestige to be it’s own brand, and it’s already regularly compared to the marques I just listed. Effectively, it already is. The brand should be called Corvette, and the models the “C6″, “Z06″, and “C6 SS”. The Viper could become the “Corvette V1″ or something along those lines. It could work, but then there would have to be some way to make these two products offer different and independent attributes yet still appeal to the same market. Otherwise it’s pointless overlap and wasteful business. Not exactly an enviable task here.

More next week.. time to enjoy the weeked!

Or not.. too much snow and I think I’ve made my point.