Can The Mighty Dodge Survive a GM Merger?
First, they spoke of killing off their beloved Viper name tag. Next, they sold it all to Cerberus under the Chrysler flag… Now, as if Dodge hasn’t been struggling enough (due to financial crisis and horrific gas prices) – the mighty Ram may soon be under a combined General Motors/Chrysler symbol. But with any merger, someone has to be cut from the team. Will it be Dodge?
Is it us, or are they getting crowded in here?
With a possible GM+Cerberus love affair there may be too many cooks in this kitchen. Let’s face it, you already have Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealerships struggling to sell another Dodge Ram or PT Cruiser thanks to their less than 30 MPG ratings. Wouldn’t it make life a little difficult to browse the lot of your local Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Chevy-HUMMER-GMC-Buick-Pontiac-Caddy and possibly Saab & Saturn dealer? If nothing else, it’s a search engine marketing nightmare for your internet manager!
Ok, so all those makes and models on one lot are not a realistic scenario, more likely someone will get cut.
Luckily, Dodge has the nostalgia coin in their pocket. With revived interest in models like the Challenger a little bit of old school muscle car fandom might be one plus, which will keep Dodge afloat during a trying financial crisis and a possible hostile takeover. With Wall Street’s latest huge dip, merger discussions have been put on hold…for now.
Chrysler will be dropped..
I am not going to lie, the auto industry is screwed up right now, but is narrowing the field really going to help GM? They just want the $11billion so they can ride out the storm for another year. Then it would just be a slug fest between Ford,Toyota, and the GM behemoth
Being a mopar fan, I really would be disapoint if Chrysler went into the history books like Packard, Hudson, and Auburn. There goes another 80 year old company taking it for the economy.
Marc Fournier
I wish I could find out more, as we have an interest in whether or not the Dodge stand alone dealership where my husband works will be closed or not. After losing my business last year, his job is the only income supporting us.
It’s disappointing to see the icons fade into the sunset, yes; but what about the thousands of American workers who will join the ranks of an exploding “unemployed” category? This is a disaster. I don’t know what we will do.
Does anyone know how to pry some good information out of Dodge or Chrysler about which exact dealerships will get the ax?
Kathi
Kathi
It will either (probably) be closed or combined with a Chrysler & Jeep dealer – I didn’t know there were any stand alone one make dealers left – I thought they had all been made into CDJ dealers. GM put out a press release mentioning all the assembly lines to be closed in the near future, don’t know if Chrysler has done that. Detroit News website is a good place to check up on for that type of news, or my blog here!
I try to keep abreast of all the assembly line and dealer closures, as I support the working class and unions. These days, though, it’s hard to keep track.
i think that chrysler will survive in a different country they cant fight bigger companies like GM and Ford but really i think ford will come out on top because they did not take the bailout. it really disiapoints me that these classic car companies are going down i wish chevy and dodge could just break off there relationships with gm and chrysler cause there the ones keeping gm and chrysler alive…
Mabe they could join ford but ford is a litte shakey right now there shedding off alot. all whats left is mercury lincoln and ford itself they need to hang on for a couple more years without bailout.
This GM/Chrysler Merger Never Happend…..And Never Will, Considering Its Fiat That Now Owns Chrysler.
Rumor Has It That In 2010 Or 2011 The New Fiat 500 & 600 Lines Will Be Available In Most Deailerships & Fiat Plans To Also Build (Or Take Over) Separate Deailerships.
But Like I Said That Last Statement Is More Rumor,But The Above Statement Is True…..Purchase Was Completed Sometime In June.