Thought: If Daimler-Chrysler couldn't make it, how can Fiat-Chrysler. If the Germans couldn't do it, how could the crazy Italians???
AFH randomness on Sun. AM
My Response
So very true. I personally think Chrysler is dead. Fiat tried to enter the US market before and made horrid mistakes. Not to say I'm not for second chances, but the record between these two companies does not look good. I've got my money on a cleaned up GM before I have any money on Chrysler.
From the looks of what the car czar and Obama will do, they're going to smash the Union grip, throw away most of the existing contracts, eliminate many of the complete losses that GM owns for liquidation, and get the good backbone of the company moving forward with things like the new Camaro & electric car stuff. GM can do it, but they just have to do the aforementioned things first and finish modernizing their plants - which they can't do until the unions are broken and contracts are renegotiated. The companies that are probably going to be liquidated are; Saturn, Humvee, parts of the big truck division, Pontiac, and I believe a few others.
If GM would stick to trying to make cars instead of financing, being a welfare system, a retirement system, and a be all end all to everything in Detroit they'd do fine. Until they stop doing those things it's dead also. Chrysler is more focused but with the drops in auto sales they won't last too long even under the restructured and HEAVILY subsidized Fiat-Chrysler. If sales don't increase at least 2x what they are now within 1 year, Chrysler-Fiat won't make it except as a small couple thousand car a year niche player. At that point the remains would probably be snatched up for a single model within some larger companies line up.
Toyota, Nissan, Honda will all weather this storm well. Coming out with cars ahead of others with continuing quality enhancements. They have culture, process, and technology on their side still.
Mercedes & BMW will weather the storm, but possibly with bailouts of their own and maybe a small retraction in the US market and a larger one in European markets. The aforementioned Japanese makers are already eating away at their home markets and will continue to do so, since the quality, technology, and luxury gap has been eliminated....that's my analysis for the next 1-2 years. :) U guys have any thoughts on that?