As I was driving into work this morning I could have sworn that I heard a piece about Ford buying out GM on the radio.
Does anyone have news on this or was I hearing things?
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GM and Chrysler merging is on the cards, the story about Ford is that they have announced that they want to sell some or all of their stake in Mazda.
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I read that GM did consider merging with Ford before thinking about Chrysler. I too have heard about the desire to sell the Mazda stake.
I cannot see how GM merging with Chrysler (or Ford) solves anything. For too long they relied on the highly profitable (but basic) trucks and SUVs and did not see the day coming soon enough when American's no longer want a gas guzzler.
Back in 1999 my sister in law (American) was grumbling about the cost of fuel hitting the equivalent of a few dollars a US gallon! Cannot remember the actual price but it was significantly less than we paid then.
But my brother swapped a Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.2L V8 for a VW diesel 1.9 back in 1998/99 due to fuel costs (smarter than the Americans?) and his wife got a Honda Civic with the fuel efficient VVT style engine which did excellent mpg. So some were switching ten years ago... and then California outlawed diesel cars!
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I cannot see how GM merging with Chrysler (or Ford) solves anything.
Tsk tsk, have you no sense of history?
Don't you remember how the merger of a clump of failing car companies worked so well in the UK, producing that successful automotive giant called British Leyland?
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GM buying out Chrysler has got to be someones idea of a joke. Seriously, the management at GM have often shown themselves to be consistently ignorant and out of touch, but they can't be that stupid as to think buying a company with all the same problems (but worse) will help them in anyway at all. A GM/Ford merger would be even more insane, akin to a US mega-British Leyland monster.
Toyota execs must be laughing until their ribs hurt.
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Toyota execs must be laughing until their ribs hurt.
Indeed.
A GM/Chrysler merger would of course make GM the largest manufacturer in the world again, and by some margin. However, I'd much prefer to be profitable than the biggest, wouldn't you?
American businesses don't seem to see it that way though.
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I can see one good reason why a Ford/GM/Chrysler merger would make sense.
The merged company would account for so many jobs that when it goes to the wall, it'll be much harder for politicians to avoid a bailout. A bit like BL in the 70s and 80s, just too many votes at stake.
It remains to be seen just how much the catastrophically-indebted USA can afford such bailouts, but at least merger would bring the auto-makers further up the queue
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There is a perverse kind of logic to that. I guess what's more likely in such circumstances is not outright bankruptcy, but a slow steady shrinking until hardly anybody cares if they go bust or not.
c.f. BL -> MG Rover
Don't forget that Ford/GM/Chrysler aren't the only manufacturers making cars in the USA. Toyota, Honda and others have several big plants too, partly to muddy the waters on pro-US / anti-Far East sentiment from many buyers.
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