Diamler knew what they were doing from the get-go and got exactly what they wanted.

The worst part is just the thought of where Chrysler would be right now had they remained independent and had not been stifled by almost a decade of mismanagement from Stuttgart. At the very least it’s safe to say they’d be in a much stronger position than they’re in now.

That’s all merely the tip of the iceberg…. If you “can’t figure it out” then that’s only because you have no real desire to do so.

Also, which other country on earth would want to pay for the non-sense they put out. The U.S. is the number one market for many brands in the world. It consumes more vehicles than any single country out there. The bottom line is that good desireable products sell. And undersireable exteriors with bland, plastic, monotone interiors, with questionable reliabilty will get you where Daimler took a very profitable automaker (in the 90’s).

As many of us have been saying for quite some time, “CHRYSLER got screwed.”

“‘It’s fair to say that we overestimated the potential of passing leading-edge technology from Mercedes-Benz to Chrysler,’ he said. ‘Unlike premium brand customers, American volume brand customers are far too price-sensitive to absorb its cost.’”

In other words… Diamler realized they couldn’t keep forcing Chrysler to buy old, overpriced, last-generation platforms/part/technology from Mercedes and then pass such price gouging onto the consumers exactly how they would’ve liked.

It’s a real shame too… Had Diamler gone into this deal with honest intentions of creating a global automotive power rather than with their real hidden, exploitative agenda, then the company could have brought to market some truly extraordinary products… Products which would have resulted from the unique strengths each company was capable of bringing to the table. But reality has shown it was all nothing but sweet talk… which Chrysler and everyone else fell for. That was the only reason Chrysler agreed to go into the deal… Despite anyone’s misconceptions, Chrysler didn’t “need” the merger… They weren’t in any sort of dire condition as some have tried to make it seem and they were definitely in a much stronger position at the time of the merger then they were when they came out of it and also are now. They were “wooed” by all those fanciful possibilities Diamler whispered into their ears and just like many women having been pursued by a suave “gentleman”… Chrysler wound up just getting screwed in the end.

All Diamler wanted was to get into Chrysler’s “pants” and they succeeded… I hope no one is fooled by these “remorseful” statements by Zetsche… Diamler got exactly what they wanted from this deal and then some.