[Daniel_Plainview]

"Chrysler dealers confirmed to the company at a recent meeting at its headquarters, that they have many willing buyers for Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles but are unable to close the deals, due to lack of financing," the carmaker said in an announcement. "The dealers have stated that they have lost an estimated 20% to 25% of their volume because of this credit situation."

[TheDude]

"Continued lack of consumer credit." You've hit Peak Krill, Mr. Balaenoptera musculus. I'm seriously having doubts about major auto manufacturing being a viable enterprise in a few years. Even Toyota is down 34% and has postponed its new Prii plant in MS indefinitely. Fed can bail out this boat all they want, who in their right mind is going to take a chance on a massive loan in this economic climate? Which only promises to get worse.

Perhaps the future will belong to cottage industry types like Toecutter or the Who Killed the Electric Car guy doing EV mods in their garage. Or it'll be pure used cars ala Cuba, plus their "camels" and other forms of ad hoc MT.

[eastbay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', ':')( The link has a bug in it but I believe you. A two month shutdown should convince the UAW to come to terms. They better hope it can start back up once all the players get THOOTA.

[CarlosFerreira]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '
')Strangely, they're blaming the credit crisis and not their obscene, anachronistic, and ridiculous looking gas hogs for the lack of sales.

[AirlinePilot]

I am pretty sure that during the holidays they shut down for about two weeks anyway. So this isn't quite the "shrill" news its getting spun as. Typical stuff from the MSM though. Don't bother to tell the whole story, and they aren't even being factually incorrect! They are just choosing to let you in on the ugly sounding part and carefully leaving out the other pertinent facts.

Its a lesson in media hype.

[eastbay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AirlinePilot', 'I') am pretty sure that during the holidays they shut down for about two weeks anyway. So this isn't quite the "shrill" news its getting spun as.

[Cog]

There will also be a major cascade of shutdowns in steel mills, tire manufacturing, and parts manufacturing. Some of that has already begun.

There really is no solution here but to let them fail. If we give them money to stay alive in their present configuration, that still doesn't force anyone to purchase their cars. The consumers are waiting to see how this recession shakes out and when(if ever) it will end. People that are afraid of losing their jobs next week simply aren't going to be making big purchases.

If we are after sustainability and profitability we have to realize what will work and let fail what does not. Its painful but there it is.

[heroineworshipper]

U will stop making gas guzzlers, one way or another, then Oobs will become president & you'll get back to normal.

[smallpoxgirl]

Amazing this isn't hitting the stock markets harder. Index futures don't seem to have even noticed.

[Cog]

Perhaps they are confident a bail-out is in the works. Even if Bush does nothing with this, Obama has made it clear they will get the money if they can hold out for another few weeks.

[Snowrunner]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Specop_007', 'W')hy bother shutting down the plants?? The worthless workers will just sit on their ass and get paid. Dont really save much money by turning off a machine.

[the48thronin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AirlinePilot', 'I') am pretty sure that during the holidays they shut down for about two weeks anyway. So this isn't quite the "shrill" news its getting spun as. Typical stuff from the MSM though. Don't bother to tell the whole story, and they aren't even being factually incorrect! They are just choosing to let you in on the ugly sounding part and carefully leaving out the other pertinent facts.

Its a lesson in media hype.

[nobodypanic]

this is taking too long... somebody just let me know when the raindeer are grazing in what's left of downtown detroit.

good bless the collapse.

[AlexdeLarge]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Specop_007', 'W')hy bother shutting down the plants?? The worthless workers will just sit on their ass and get paid. Dont really save much money by turning off a machine.

[ReverseEngineer]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AlexdeLarge', 'I')sn't this called a paid vacation?? Another union benefit, but it looks like they have killed the goose that laid the golden egg.............what fools.

[Minvaren]

Hot off the wire...

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ith cash running low at both companies, Cerberus took the initiative to restart discussions that sputtered just weeks ago. At that time, both GM and Chrysler viewed a business combination as impractical and as a distraction from their mounting liquidity problems.

[Daniel_Plainview]

But see Reuters: GM denies holding new merger talks with Chrysler

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')We have had no talks with them since we announced during our third-quarter earnings call that the talks had been suspended," GM spokesman Tony Cervone said.

[Minvaren]

I see I have brought a knife to a gun fight.

Let's see if/how the "Big 3" survive theirs...

[Tyler_JC]

And why exactly would a merger between GM and Chrysler increase the profitablity of the combined company?

GM already has too many brands, why add more?

Normally, two companies decide to merge because one has something the other one wants.

What does Chrysler have that GM wants?

In October, Daimler decided that its 20% share of Chrysler had a book value of ZERO DOLLARS.

I'd say Chrysler has a book value of negative several billion dollars. GM would buy them...why?

The entire notion of a merger between these companies is utterly absurd.

The merger talks are a stalling action. They are trying to pretend to fix their problems in order to increase the likelihood that Congress will give them money. If Congress can be tricked into believing that GM is making progress, they might be tricked into giving them a couple billion.

[Minvaren]

Originally, Chrysler had some ($7 billion?) cash on hand, that GM wanted access to for immediate liquidity. As that was a month or more ago, who can tell what their situation is now...