[amit]

Preliminary talks between GM and Chrysler for a merger or acquisition are on for the last month. Is it possible? Can it happen? I don't think GM can acquire anything right now. Merger could be a possiblity though.

Source: Free Press.

Associated Press

[theMAG]

This will be a bad marriage from the start, during even worse times.

[aaggoswami]

Not a bad idea in general. But both of them need to sort out many issues. This wont be as smooth or as good as lets say PSA Peugeot Citroen or Renault-Nissan. And as it wont be smooth, the output will also be not as effective as PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault Nissan.

They should concentrate more on coming out of trouble they are in rather than plan for a merge. None of them are in the health they were 6-7 years earlier. Simply put, the front and rear wheels are not even and in bad shape. The car wont run reliably and efficiently for long.
Best avoided.

[GTO]

Two wrongs don't make a right. GM is losing more money than ever before; the last thing they need is the liability of another American company that nearly went bust (several times!). And that is equally confused on product range. Doesn't Rich Wagoner have his hands full already? Loss of focus is the primary reason for the doldrum that the big 2.5 find themselves in!

The only beneficiary of this would be Cerberus.

[AMATMO]

problem is with the product range and the the attitude of these american companies
+ the technical prolems of the vehicles

throughout their peak time they have only catered to south and north america,australia and middle east

they didnt work much on asia(atleast to the extent they should have)
unlike europeans and japanese who have taken care of the fact that they cater to all kinds of market

both GM and chrysler have a lot of cars in the upper d segment which neither offer the vfm and reliability of the japanese nor the brand image of the europeans

i personally feel that buying daewoo range of cars is one of the good decisions they have made so far

[Steeroid]

Two really bad wrongs do not make a right. Enough said!

EDIT: Just read the other replies and realized that GTO has said much the same in as many words. Apologies.

[GTO - Touring]

Originally Posted by AMATMO

problem is with the product range and the the attitude of these american companies
+ the technical prolems of the vehicles

throughout their peak time they have only catered to south and north america,australia and middle east

Plus the fact that they placed all their eggs in one basket : SUV / TRUCKS!! Building a competent small / mid-size car (hatch or sedan) requires a far greater level of engineering skill than a body-on-chassis pickup truck. I feel the Americans have lost their talent in building truly great compacts. The Japanese, Koreans & Europeans are simply unbeatable at packaging.

[prashanthyr]

A businessweek article on this actually says a GM/Ford marriage maybe better because they have global operations that can be merged, unlike GM/Chrysler, where Chrysler has no international operations to speak of.

An interesting sidelight is that Ford might be looking to offload its stake in Mazda (33%) and guess who's the speculated bidder? TATA! As if they dont already have their hands full with Nano, Vista, Xover, Safari, Jaguar, Land Rover!

Ford to sell Mazda stake? - BusinessWeek

[AMATMO]

i wonder if brands like mercury and saturn actually help these companies,do they?

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by AMATMO

i wonder if brands like mercury and saturn actually help these companies,do they?

Mercury = Ford brand.

Saturn = GMC brand.

Mercury doesnt come into the equation. I guess Saturn must be popular in the US of A, but its unheard of elsewhere. There were other US-specific brands like Olds and Buick but those were also well-known outside. Saturn somehow reminds me of a software company.

[amit V8]

two things will happen,
1. a nearly 100 years of automotive history will change.
2. the joint forces of GM-Chrysler will give others a good (not tough) competition because we are seeing some good cars like the Cruze, Orlando, Beat, Holden range, & the upcoming new Chrysler cars.

[Amien]

Originally Posted by prashanthyr

An interesting sidelight is that Ford might be looking to offload its stake in Mazda (33%) and guess who's the speculated bidder? TATA! As if they dont already have their hands full with Nano, Vista, Xover, Safari, Jaguar, Land Rover!

Ford to sell Mazda stake? - BusinessWeek

OH MY GOD. Dude, if that comes true i will have a heart attack from sheer happiness. It is my belief that locally made Mazda's will be the perfect cars for India. The 3s, 6s, and the others woudn't hurt as well. Well i know that mere share acquisition(if it happens) wont cause them to set up shop here, but come to think of it, Mazda has had ties with India for a long time(Buses/trucks, Swaraj-Mazda). I know that just because Tata owns Jaguar and Land Rover that doesn't mean we'll get to see some locally made ones here, and it doesn't make sense either, but neither has the mass appeal and potential/practicality of mazda vehicles.

[AMATMO]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Mercury = Ford brand.

Saturn = GMC brand.

Mercury doesnt come into the equation. I guess Saturn must be popular in the US of A, but its unheard of elsewhere. There were other US-specific brands like Olds and Buick but those were also well-known outside. Saturn somehow reminds me of a software company.

i know i know
about american car companies in general

do brands like these work well? instead of droppind 33% mazda cant ford get rid of mercury instead?

cant gm get rid of saturn?

why dont they focus on brands which are relativly better establised

BTW buick has sold well around the world aswell

[vasudeva]

Global Insights has today reported that Cerberus Capital Management is accelerating talks with potential buyers/partners General Motors (GM) and Renault over a possible break-up/merger of Chrysler. Daimler, which currently owns 19.9% of Chrysler, has no interest in participating in a merger between Chrysler and another automaker.

See this:
Global Insight // Same-Day Analysis

[AMATMO]

vasudev do you have sales chart of indivisual chrysler and GM brands?