Bankruptcy

This Merger is Just Hard to Believe

By J. Michael McBride

It is hard for me to believe that GM would purchase Chrysler. I mean in America one grows up being fundamentally a Chevy guy or a Ford guy – with some blending off into Mopar territory when it shows up with a really good product (which happens every so often, like with the 300 sedan). (The 300 sedan by the way was an excellent product of the Mercedes/Chrysler management, using many good suspension parts from the E class Mercedes, but I digress.) So, the whole idea of GM and Chrysler merging is – well just difficult for me. I was raised to be able to differentiate between the sound of Chrysler starters (whiny) and GM starters (more of a deep purr). Ditto, exhaust sounds. So, which will win? I mean will the new Challenger, a Dodge product for those of you who do not know, start sounding like a Chevy Camaro? Will a Hemi find its way into a Cadillac? We do know that Jeep will win out over Hummer since GM is trying hard to unload Hummer as we speak. Or will the number of products automotive just halve? Will there be a competition to see what mid sized 4 door will still be in the GMsler (Chrydillac?) showrooms a year from now? All of this is hard for this car guy to really comprehend.

However, one way of looking at this proposed merger is to realize that this is yet another indication of how bad the economy really is – since the internal car guys at Chrysler and GM are thinking the same thoughts as I am right now, I promise!

Here is a link to one recent article on this merger:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-10-19-gm-chrysler_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Michael

Full post as published by Texas Lawyer Blog on October 20, 2008 (boomark / email).