Chrysler – along with the rest of the world’s automakers – has been caught in the perfect storm of a slumping global economy and a tighter credit market. As the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures, with rumors popping up over the weekend that Chrysler is considering merging with General Motors. Neither side has confirmed the rumored, but Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli did little to deny the merger in a letter sent to Chrysler employees on Monday.
In a letter obtained by CNBC, Nardelli revealed that Chrysler is “looking at a number of potential global partnerships.” Nardelli touched on Chrysler’s alliances with Nissan and Volkswagen, but also hinted that more talks have been going on behind closed doors.
“I can tell you that we have approached and have been approached by third parties who are interested in exploring future possibilities with Chrysler,” he said. However, Nardelli failed to mention any specific third parties in the interest of protecting all parties involved.
Although not a full on confession that Chrysler is teaming with GM – or possibly even Renault/Nissan — Nardelli’s letter seems to be priming Chrysler employees for the possibility. Stay tuned as more seems to be unfolding on this drama by the hour.



10/13, 1:17 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
[edited by Leftlane Staff]
Please keep your posts relevant and on topic, mayer_ray_nagin.
10/13, 1:24 PM
posted by:
pavlindrom
So, we will have the BIG 2 now? Tough times demand stupid decisions!
10/13, 1:25 PM
posted by:
pavlindrom
And Katrina wasn’t funny, no matter what you say.
10/13, 1:28 PM
posted by:
Lionwithoutpride
The only real problem I would have with a Chrysler-GM tie-up (other than it would leave just two “powerful” American car manufacturers) is the personnel transfer. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but have not a lot of commentators on this site bemoaned the fact that both GM and Chrysler have, despite the Cerberus takeover of Chrysler, retained so many of the old hands who are castigated for having run these companies so far off the road to begin with? It would seem that if a full merger occurred there would be a lot of duplicated positions, which would probably result in a lot of golden parachutes opening. The seeming end result would be that at least half of the old leadership from the combined companies would remain. I do not have an MBA, so there is no real basis for what I am saying, but I think for this to work they would have to seriously consider just how many old hands this new company would need/can handle.
10/13, 1:36 PM
posted by:
deutschetouring1337
Really no other choice than to be bought out by a foreign entity, And if Volkswagen is involved at all it will be with Volvo. If GM doesn’t get GMAC and DiTech out of the water we possible could see GM in trouble more so than Ford.
10/13, 1:38 PM
posted by:
deutschetouring1337
Whats funny Lion you really don’t need an MBA to understand economic basics, just that manufacturing and a sound currency is what helps make an economy turn.
10/13, 1:41 PM
posted by:
Scarface03
LLN has almost degenerated into random reporting? OK, so where exactly are the rumors coming from that Chrysler and GM will merge? It’s definitely not the Nardelli letter, which did not specifically name any of the third parties, except “touching” on the alliances with VW and Nissan.
Re the Nardelli letter, LLN says: “Although not a full on confession that Chrysler is teaming with GM….” Full on confession? There’s not even a hint of a rumor? So, LLN, did Nardelli suggest a GM partnership, or is your source of the rumor something else? Is this speculation on your part?
10/13, 2:02 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
Does every picture of Nardelli really need to look so happy?
Seriously, if I got just one of the golden parachutes this guy has pulled off for being a failure, I’d be smiling in every pic.
10/13, 2:07 PM
posted by:
Lariat Luxury Locomotive Liner No.3
The LLN picture says it all as Nardelli calculates his golden parachute of several millions dollars. I wonder what company he is off to loot next? Really, what potential customer is going to have any faith in Chrysler at this point if they have been following the news?
10/13, 2:53 PM
posted by:
JoshyLofty
i just hope they go with either VW or nissan/renault…
10/13, 2:59 PM
posted by:
chryslercurse
any company would be crazy to get in bed with chrysler , they would be putting more weight on an already heavy anchor
10/13, 3:08 PM
posted by:
yarddog82abn
Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli, IS A PENDEJO….
10/13, 3:14 PM
posted by:
Mr. Piston
[edited by Leftlane Staff]
Yeah, we know you’re rich, nice Lambo by the way, stop bragging.
10/13, 4:18 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
^^WTF?^^
10/13, 5:07 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
I really would like to know just how much of a puppet Nardelli is in the grand scheme of things. I understand the press tends to dwell on the negative, but he must have some leadership qualities seeing as he keeps landing on his feet. So either Cerberus gave him the position because they knew he’d never put up much of a fight if ever the time came to rid themselves of Chrysler, or they thought he actually had the skills to orchestrate a turnaround. From what little I’ve read he strikes me as the type who would just prefer to land softly and walk away from the golden parachute without looking back. Crunch time is coming; I guess it won’t be too long before we find out.
10/13, 5:37 PM
posted by:
Mr. Piston
……WTF?
10/13, 6:21 PM
posted by:
autonut
I wonder how this communication was executed: “Dear former colleague,…”.
10/13, 7:02 PM
posted by:
hateful83
I, for the life of me, can’t figure out how GM would benefit from this merger. GM products, across the board, are superior to Chryslers. GM needs to eliminate this “badge engineering” once and for all. Granted, they’ve done a better job of it as of late, but still. We do not need 4 going on 5 Lambdas. We don’t need a bunch of brands offering the same thing. It pains me to say this, but it’s the truth. This day and age they just can’t do it. I can see GM functioning if it became Chevy, Cadillac, and Saturn (or maybe Pontiac instead of Saturn). Spend the developement money on creating a class leading vehicle as opposed to a midpack one that we’ll get 5 different versions of.
10/13, 7:50 PM
posted by:
autonut
GM probably would get some badly needed cash along with Chrysler baggage for 49% in GMAC, which just became prime real estate, since “we the people” take all risk off it’s books.
10/14, 1:43 PM
posted by:
jumpoffit
this is almost like God and the Devil possibly merging heaven and hell for souls
10/14, 11:23 PM
posted by:
VWgrouP
All Im worried about if this merge does happen, is the beat down it will have on Ford. Here we have Ford, against ONE giant company.. In my opinion, even though Chrysler and GM are both NA, I think they have different “personalitys” in their cars. Atleast Ford has Volkswagen in its genes now.