———>so what does this mean

whats it mean?
- hard times for chrysler-workers coming up if cerberus makes the deal (bye bye uaw!)
- chrylser being run by non-auto-guys, but rather money-guys
- possibility of chrysler being sold in small pieces to the highest bidder –> all chrysler brands disappearing from the market, and all the assets being bought by other companies
- highly speculative: if cerberus sells the Jeep-Brand as a whole, GM might want to buy it (for Jeep is THE american offroad-brand, thus the main competitor to Hummer… now, if GM buys Jeep, they wouldnt need Hummer anymore… and might let it die… possible? yes. propable? no)

(SIGH) IS THIS GOING TO CANCEL THE CHALLENGER?

cerberus sounds like a bad idea. fan pretty much already wrote a lot of my thoughts down, but to reiterate:

-”drastic measures” doesn’t sound like fun
-most likely sell bits of chrysler off piecemeal after acquiring it in order to make the company profitable
-sounds like worker benefits will no longer be a priority
-any company under investigation for corruption is considered suspect in my book, but then again i happen to be a highly moral person
-yes, they might cancel the challenger in order to lower spending and attempt to increase profits

i don’t want chrysler bought by a company that will dissolve the brand and essentially destroy it. let magna buy chrysler. please.

then again, having wolfgang bernhard on board might benefit chrysler brand… maybe he brings in the Auto-guy-ness needed… and chrysler will return, stronger – and maybe a bit more lean – than ever before…

cancellation of the challenger? maybe, but i dont think so. this will only – and ONLY – happen, if the challenger is a bad deal, profit wise… and even an almost even deal would not put the challenger on my cancellation list if i was cerberus… the cars developed to (almost) going-to-market state… it will sell… theres hardly any more costs coming up to chrysler by really putting the challenger into production… thats the good part about money guys… theyre predictable… if something promises a profit, theyre all about it… especially if no further spending is necessary to obtain the profit…

This may be a dumb question…but where do we read that the sale of Chrysler includes Jeep and Dodge? Is it just assumed by us since they are usually under the Chrysler umbrella? A while back, this site had some rumors going around that Daimler would maybe keep the Jeep brand.

this report does not clearly state jeep and dodge being sold along with chrysler, but some other reports (both radio, newspaper and web-based) stated that “the complete branch of chrysler and subbrands” will be sold

plus it says “chrysler group” is being sold… that includes more than just the name plate to me

It’s official now. This is going to be interesting times.

Link to FT story here:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/de11b738-01fa-11dc-ac32-000b5df10621.html
Cerberus is paying 5.5B euro for 80% of Chrysler (the whole group including the financial arm), most of the money is being invested in the business, Daimler is only getting 1B euro. The net result for Daimler seems to be that they are paying 500m euro to get rid of Chrysler but they will have a 20% shareholding so they will get part of any upside.

This is a totally dumb idea and will end badly! It’s even more stupid than Mercedes buying Chyrsler, I knew that wouldn’t work either. Lets face it the US is an anti-American market sad but true, don’t think so? Ask some of your friends if they would buy an American car the answer will be no. So how long do you think Cerberus will put up with lagging sales? I say they’ll carve it up like a roast and sell for as much as they can get. The only good think that could happen is that they would pull the plug on that ridiculous Challenger! That thing is a joke!

I think the 20% MB held onto is centered around the Jeep brand. It’s too valuable to let go, and MB has expressed interest in retaining Jeep for themselves several times in the mainstream media.

I really hope the only company that survives unmolested is Jeep. Chrysler cars come and go with no customer loyalty, but Jeep is a whole other thing.

I’m glad I didn’t get the new Wrangler. I see big changes in the next few years coming, possibly for the better (for Jeep alone).

^”Lets face it the US is an anti-American market”^
So Americans are antiAmerican? That makes sense.
The reality is most Americans buy cars that are American built and GM, Ford and Chrysler have only themselves to blame for lost market share. I’m tired of reading how its all the customers fault or all the UAWs fault that US automakers screwed up.
Chrysler gets billions of dollars of new investment and the headline is “the end is feared”. Where does this negativity come from?

Drastic times take drastic measures. I think people have become far too desensitized to news of a company losing a billion dollars. A billion! And Chrysler has lost BILLIONS. That is an enormous loss that will take years to recoup. Drastic measures. The time for an “automotive” guru to turn this around was years ago when they lost their first billion. It’s now time for the purely business minded to make true business decisions in the interest of Chrysler. I’m excited to see what they will do.

I doubt the UAW will ever be gotten rid of. It’s basically illegal to do so. They’d have to leave voluntarily. But swallowing a big slice of humble pie is perfectly legal. I see only positive things to come.

fan wrote “…- highly speculative: if cerberus sells the Jeep-Brand as a whole, GM might want to buy it (for Jeep is THE american offroad-brand, thus the main competitor to Hummer… now, if GM buys Jeep, they wouldnt need Hummer anymore… yes. propable? no)”

No. Hummer is now well-established in the North American and, soon, the World’s psyche. Currently, there are two Hummer lines, the H2 and H3. They are both offroad-capable. There is a confusing array of Jeep models, including the bizarre Compass and its trail-rated twin, the Patriot. Combine Hummer and Jeep into a single division of offroad vehicles. Clean-up the Jeep brand. Have the Hummer cover the upmarket. Have Jeep cover the downmarket.

How is it anti-American to not want a crappy car? I don’t buy Korean for the same reason I don’t buy American. There are always exceptions, but on the whole, “American” cars are sorely lacking in build quality, design, and interiors. I think it’s a VERY American thing to do, really, because it’s a free market thing. As a consumer, I’m going to purchase the vehicle that best fits my needs and gives me the best value, and (sadly) that vehicle is not from Ford, GM, or Chrysler.

This is going to be interesting, and hopefully a wake up call for the unions and US makers in general.
Hopefully it wont be too painful to the honest hard workers and their families.

Since when were unions victims and such honest, hard working, and noble people? This should be a good thing to KEEP them honest. Unions have killed most things they have touched, and are extremely outdated. Only in a union can someone who doesn’t have a college degree make $80,000 plus great benefits and retirement. Pffft.

Unfortunately for both US car manufacturers and unions the world changed—and they did not change with the world accordingly. They are both to blame.

If the UAW/CAW are truly worried, they’d actually offer to buy out Chrysler from MB and show us what business talent they have. They like to claim that what’s best for their unions is best for the auto business, but they are too chicken**** to put their own dinero on the line for it, aren’t they.
As to whether this is good or bad, Chrysler is bleeding and bleeding and bleeding. It has been going down the crapper, so if Cerberus can turn them around, loosen the union anchor, and make them profitable so that people keep their jobs, then great. If Chrysler employees are nervous, then join the club because most non-civil-service employees are. Yes, it is sad that the people at the bottom will be paying for the idiots and fiefdoms at the top, but that is the way it is everywhere. Go Cerberus … do what needs to be done!

Wow! The Second Great Depression is in it’s early stages! Way to drop the ball Chrysler…….

Richard,

You say the H2 and H3 are off-road capable. Hardly. The underpinnings of the H2 and especially the H3 make them as off-road capable as a RAV4, which means OK for fireroads and gravel pathways but useless for real water-fording and rock-crawling.

Jeep’s lineup is not “confusing;” it’s simply an upscale medium-sized Jeep (Grand Cherokee), the smaller Wrangler, and two entry-level twins. The Commander (the largest, luxury 3-row SUV) is discontinued.

I do see benefits of having GM take over Jeep – improved interiors, better engines. However, I’m worried about quality and dilution of the iconic status of the Wrangler. I would rather see Mercedes keep it, especially since they understand how to evolve a large boxy SUV without losing its military edge (the G-wagon).

Chrysler / Dodge car need desirable products ASAP. 300C was a hit and the SRT line has promise. Personally, I don’t care for any of the new cars in their line-up. Caliber = turd, Sebring = disaster

Rental cars at best

Hi. for the guy knocking Korean cars..
FEEL FREE TO CHECK YOUR SOURCES FIRST, BEFORE NEGATIVE COMMENTS ARE MADE, SUCH AS THESE EXPERT(UNLIKE YOURS) OPINONS:
MOTORWEEK.ORG, 2006 DRIVERS CHOICE AWARDS: 2006 SONATA, WON THIER FIRST PALCE FOR FAMILY SEDAN.
EDMUNDS.COM, 2007, EDITORS MOST WANTED: KIA AND HYUNDAI PLACED FIRST, WITH ACCENT AND RIO, IN THE UNDER 15k CATAGORY, AND IIRC, THE AZERA BEAT THE AVALON AND OTHERS IN THE UNDER 30k MSRP( AND OVER 25k MSRP) IIR, NEAR LUXURY CATAGORY.
Glad you know it all.
And I’ll even say cars such as the 500/Taurs are above avg. I don’t care to buy GM or Ford, but with the new Opels, and a few Fords, they aren’t trash.
Unless sludging Toyota engines, Honda tranny recalls, and Nissan’s 2.3 million altima recalls in 03, for engine stop running…
ps, i own a scion tC, 2005 model, nice car, but at 75K, needed work done to throttle body, it stuck shut, and a new thermostat 2 weeks prior. car has 80K on it, spouse drive s it 125 miles per day for work car. 32-34MPG, BUT IT’S NOT PERFECT!NO CAR IS!
I have owned 90 sentra and 97 200sx, Not Perfect either.

Not, to the subject:
I don’t care what they do anymore. Chrysler had a bailout by the US govt over 2 decades ago, and that worked, for a short period of time. This buy out, will it be any different than a US Govt handout was 20 years + ago?
I don’t care: keep it, sell it to Chery…whatever.
I like the PT Cruiser, but instead of updating it, they’re wanting to do a Ford(with Taurus a few years ago)… dump it, change it, cal it something else( a CUV thing…nothing like the current PT, according to spy photos).
They have no clue anymore. Glad we did nto buy that Sebring last October! It was an acceptable car.

CHRYSLER MAY END UP LIKE DAEWOO DID 6-5 YEARS AGO, WHEN GM BOUGHT CERTAIN FACTORIES AND CAR DESIGNS, NOW CALLED GM-DAT.

ps: sorry to be such a jerk in my reply to the american/korean car hating person.

Where they get the information is beyond me. Personla opinions, fine. my inlaw said same thing about hyundai, until i go tmy 99 gls v6 sonata, and had it until sept 04, with 149,000 miles on it, and traded it in for a more fuel efficient scion tC, for the spouse to drive.
he said he was worng about hyundai(korean cars).

most people talk smack never even sat in one, let alone had one for a day of rental or long test drive.
roll-eyes.
when you say” i owned one, it was junk for the following reasons”, then i will bemore than glad ot accpet your opinons, rather than making a blanket statement all american and korean cars are junk.whatever makes you feel good about your purchase, keep on sayin’ it.
take care/not offense.

If you know nothing about Private Equity Funds as they are NOW not 20 years ago, a lot of views seems to be formed from the 1980s when corporate raiding was a real problem, then it is very easy to decide that this means the end of Chrysler. However Cerberus seems to be intent on making the necessary fixes, no matter how much they may hurt, to make the company profitable again. The Unions have also come to the realization that they need to take a real big step back and “let the doctors do the surgery”.

I am myself worried that Chrysler many have to postpone or drop products, but given that the next 300/Charger and the Challenger are so far down the pipeline they shouldn’t sanely be stopped or even delayed. That’s short term.

A much stronger relationship with Daimler-Benz and maybe Mitsubishi should be on the horizon with Chrysler moving further up scale, Dodge becoming a stronger sports and performance division, Jeep getting back on task, and maybe the return of Plymouth as the mainstream division (wishful thinking). Even The Viper being handled more assertively as a real sports/racing car, rather than yet another “gold chain”, could be coming. I’d love to see the Viper whup the Vette again.

Car guys love cars but not necessarily know money. Money guys who know cars and more importantly know people who know cars, can do better for the company.

The biggest faults for the DCX merger was likely that Mercedes-Benz was a “Cost is no object” kind of company while Chrysler like all American automakers have from their starts been penny pinchers. This simple and fundamental approach to the auto market was like trying to mix oil and water, as some market experts had put it. This was just one fault. Hopefully other companies in the future will learn from this.

But the pain and suffer for Chrysler have not yet passed. the work has just begun and certainly more changes will be coming to get costs down and profits coming in. Cerberus is set on a long term course they are willing to stick to.

I’m hoping for a bright and solid Chyrsler in the future.

Blakkarr, damn you, you make more sense than I do!

Well … what you did was say it all, perfectly. So many here mope about Chrysler (et al) not doing what needs to be done, and now that someone will be coming on board to do just that, people complain. Fact is Chrysler needs to make a buck fast not just to stay in but to survive. Developing the right products for the long term is possible as long as you survive the short-term. Ceberus is hell-bent on doing just that.

Good post Blakkar, but I’m still gonna rent the movie “Wall Street” tonight “Greed is Good…”

Yes, well said Blakkar. The time for a “car guy” to come in and turn things around was years ago. There are some serious problems, from the top all the way down to the bottom, when Chrylser can be selling certain vehicles very well and be in such dire straits as they are. It will take a complete restructuring to make this boat float again. There are so many possibilities that could take place… Anything from new designs, to a completely new image. Will Smart take center stage? Or will the Challenger lead the revolution? Will brands be sold, invented, reborn, or bought? Will they move the headquarters out of Detroit? How scared is the UAW, and how willing are they to negotiate considering the direct impact it will have on their standing with GM and Ford? I think one thing is for sure, quite a few people will be fired. That guy who talks to the customers so the engineers don’t have to, will surely be gone. Oh wait, that was Dr. Z, he’s already gone.

Now Mercedes can finally focus on the really important stuff!

Now that the Buick Enclave is availible, buyers will have three excellent choices when they are ready to buy a Lambda crossover. Along with General Motors full line of Chevrolet and GMC trucks and SUV’s, GM is leading the way with a full range to meet buyers wants, needs and budget.

Let’s make this a GM record breaking year everyone. Be American, buy American, buy GM. It is your duty.

Thank you

Richard – Hummer upper market, Jeep lower market (cleaned up)

Good call – I agree.

@LJ what part of “there are always exceptions” wasn’t clear? I seem to remember some safety issues with several Korean cars within the past few years, airbags not deploying, poor passenger compartment integrity, etc. The interiors are on par with most of the American cars they’re going up against, which are on par with most of the Japanese and European cars from 10 years ago. Lose the caps lock. Ford has made improvements, mainly because they’ve learned lessons from Ford of EUROPE, Volvo, and Mazda, but they still have improvements to make.

Mercedes will still continue to build overpriced, unreliable cars.

I wonder went the other two will go this route. Hopefully pretty soon.

I meant “when” not went?
Sorry.

rompn4x is rite. theyre crap as of the moment. they pour their money into “technology and advancement” w/o funding the improvement of quality and reliability.

Daimler should have held on to the Jeep brand as a souvenir.

I still believe Chrysler will weather this through, and hopefully the new boss(es) will have a great strategy in place ready to execute and make Chrysler even better than it already is.

So Chrysler Holding LLC is the portion of DC sold off to Cerberis.. so what will DC be named now? I’m guessing Mercedes-Benz? The Daimler name has been tarnished by the initial acquisition and now all this nonsense, and Jaguar actually owns the Daimler marque name anyway.. so why not name the company for their core product?

guessing a nameplate for the new / old Daimer… I think they will be going back to the lines they had before they bought Chrysler, sorry, merged with Chrysler (just for the hurt american soul)

I think we may be looking at a new DaimlerBenz AG soon

Daimler-Benz will own about 20% of Chrysler when this is done. But Chyrsler will no longer be on their hands. They will just have a stake in it.

anyone here really care?????