| FIAT was paid several million dollars by GM a few years ago to ease the pain of their "breakup", so that may be some of the money they plan to use. Wherever they get it from, though, Chrysler needs the money. Personally, I think it's a good deal for both sides; maybe a little better for FIAT. FIAT gets a ready-made dealer & service network which would cost them years and millions to assemble themselves. They get Jeep, which enjoys some sales success worldwide, and Dodge's minivan and pickup line, which at least positions them like Toyota as a full-line vendor in the U.S. market if they want to play. Chrysler gets some desirable, competitive small and mid-size cars, something which has escaped them so far. They (well, Cerberus) also get to cut their losses some. FIAT definitely knows more about running a car company than Cerberus does. FIAT ain't lining up for a bailout from the Italian government. They (like Volkswagen and Renault and Mazda and Hyundai and anyone else who's been selling cars for a couple of decades) make a much better product than people remember from back in the 70s and 80s. And I think if Cerberus could get out from under what they're losing on Chrysler, they would do it in a New York minute. Face it -- Chrysler has been on a slow donkey ride for a couple of decades now. They seem to hit it out of the park about once a decade (minivan in the 80s, the LH cars in the 90s, and the 300 in this decade), but they cannot sustain the average. And one home run in every 10 at-bats does not keep you in the major leagues. |
