Brad2893

I think a lot of the Hummer brand is dying a slow death anyways; Jeep can fill that void.

After all, the H2 is just a dressed up Tahoe and the H3 is a dressed up Colorado.

Too bad they spent all the development on the H4 if they're not going to use it, but hey, Jeep is an existing brand that has a huge history. It's not going away anytime soon.

RSCU Green

I don't know about you all, but I'd much prefer if Chrysler is absorbed by GM than with Nissan-Renault. Let's keep the American car companies in AMERICA. It's going to be a real shame to see all those good people lose jobs as a result of consolidation, but lets keep Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge in America. I've been reading a lot about all the merger talk, and it seems like GM has the most interest in the Jeep brand. Let's just hope that's really the case.. and they're not just in it for the 11 billion Chrysler has on hand..

BadDrivr

Unfortunately, this deal is about the money. GM wants the $11 billion Chrysler has on hand. Cerberus wants a piece of the $700 billion govt "rescue" plan that the larger stake in GMAC would allow them to have. I wish I could say they (GM) cared about more, but ultimately, they don't.

One thing the gov't won't be too keen on is helping a merger that will cause the loss of several thousand jobs due to the closure of dealerships, Chrysler or GM owned plants, and the supplier facilities that would no longer be necessary due to the merger.

Worse yet, there is no guarantee that GM would not continue with the exact same financial difficulties once they burn the newly acquired Chrysler cash.

Just my .02

tgrt

I hope the government doesn't give them the money. The market wanted to be left alone, so let it succeed or fail.

Mike's Totally Free Jeep News is reporting that there should be a deal by election day.

rpiotr01

Looks like Mike may be wrong. Apparently the Bush admin isn't going for it.


http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php...s-backing-off/

tgrt

This is good news. It's time these companies learn the government isn't their piggy bank... Now if we could only teach the government that.

rpiotr01

I'm sure the government would be more than happy to be the piggybank if it didn't so clearly mean the loss of thousands of american jobs. Don't get me wrong, GM and Chrysler both need to downsize pretty significantly and those jobs are probably doomed anyway. I just think the Bush administration - and hopefully whoever is in there next - doesn't want to be seen as doing something that directly leads to the loss of those jobs.

Fubeka

I don't know how I feel about this latest development. I would hope any merger would increase quality, reliability and produce some new innovations for the Wrangler. Not sure if GM would do that

tgrt

Not unless by "innovations" you mean to profitablity. You can count on them cutting corners and cost wherever they can.

RSCU Green

I've been reading some more on all this.. seems Bush and the treasury had second thoughts on funding the merger of GM / Chrysler.. and Chrysler is talking again with Nissan/Renault.. I'd much rather we keep Chrysler in America, but if a deal with Nissan is the only way for it to survive.. maybe they should go to Japan.. let's just hope they don't axe the Jeep brand through all this chaos. GM is desperately trying to get rid of Hummer.. at first glance, a GM / Chrysler deal would mean Jeep would fill that void.. but maybe GM would be just as quick to kill the Jeep brand while closing factories and laying off almost all of Chrysler's workforce.. Let's just hope Jeep survives all this mess.. I'd really like to see the new electric Jeeps on the market.. if Chrysler can hang on a few more years, I really think they're on to something with the "ENVI" electric line that they can really turn the company around with.