Fiat about to take majority in GM's Opel
- Thread starter danmand
- Start date
And are they so flush they can also pick up Chrysler over here?
Am I the only one who never understood GM 'competing' with itself, offering all those indistinguishable models? And for the past while the fashion's been for amalgamergerco-op deals, like Ford/Mazda, as well as buy-ins, so who's actually competing? And how?
Or is this just some mad dinosaur clusterfuck before peak oil pretty much dooms the individual auto as we knew it? Lotsa thrashing and hollering and dust raised, way up over our heads, then a few years later some honkin' ugly great baby dets dumped on us.
Am I the only one who never understood GM 'competing' with itself, offering all those indistinguishable models? And for the past while the fashion's been for amalgamergerco-op deals, like Ford/Mazda, as well as buy-ins, so who's actually competing? And how?
Or is this just some mad dinosaur clusterfuck before peak oil pretty much dooms the individual auto as we knew it? Lotsa thrashing and hollering and dust raised, way up over our heads, then a few years later some honkin' ugly great baby dets dumped on us.
forgedboutit!
Fiat just reported a quarterly loss of $410 million, they are not in the position to buy anything.
It's disturbing, from a managerial and innovative standpoint they have done everything right.
Fiat just reported a quarterly loss of $410 million, they are not in the position to buy anything.
It's disturbing, from a managerial and innovative standpoint they have done everything right.
If true, that would be too bad. I think FIAT would do better to ally themselves with Opel than with Chrysler. Fiat's always had trouble establishing themselves in the midpriced sedan market; with Opel they could get the new award winning insignia. Opel also has a new factory in Russia with a capacity to produce 170,000 cars annually, a factory in Poland that's close to their own in Tichy, there are just so many ways they could cut costs and reinvest the savings into better cars or faster design to production cycles. If Daimler couldn't make Chrysler work, I'm not sure how Fiat will be able to pull it off. And will americans buy Fiats?? Maybe, if Fiat offers them a five year unlimited warranty. If an american wants to buy a small car, they already have a huge choice from credible vendors like toyota.danmand said:
I think Fiat and Chrysler make a lot more sense then xxxx and Chrysler did. Fiat is a mid to low end manufacturer, they have great products and need North American distribution/manufacturing. xxxx had no idea how to build cars for a low cost market.FOOTSNIFFER said:
I'm not disputing that Fiat's got some great products (especially the alfa 159 and the new 500C). Fiat's got some great engines, believe or not. In fact, they actually have supplied some diesel engine technology to the germans...sort of like take coal to Newcastle.
But,
a. will americans want to buy small cars all of sudden, when they plainly don't do so now and,
b. if they did, will they consider Fiat, which left the US with it's reputation a bit in tatters back in the 80s?
If Fiat prevails, they better get someone that uses the management style of Tony Soprano or Paulie Walnuts to get the management at Chrysler to get their act together.
But,
a. will americans want to buy small cars all of sudden, when they plainly don't do so now and,
b. if they did, will they consider Fiat, which left the US with it's reputation a bit in tatters back in the 80s?
If Fiat prevails, they better get someone that uses the management style of Tony Soprano or Paulie Walnuts to get the management at Chrysler to get their act together.
Yeah, that's what we need to avoid, regional governments and unions vetoing business strategy - has hopeless as auto executives have been it can only get worse with these two entities.danmand said:
OTB
That is a patently wrong conclusion. The german auto industry, in spiteonthebottom said:
of stronger unions than in the US and constant interference from regional governments,
have done better than the US auto industry by any standard imaginable.
the chrysler deal does not have a cash componant, Fiat would get a % (20% i believe) without paying. They would basicaaly et access to chryslers dealer network in North America and they would bring the small cars and engin technology with them. As far as Opel is concerned GM would love to move it and all its liabilities off their books, I don't knowe if it was making money for them or not.
Except those awful governments also helped to protect local automakers (omg protectionism) and guess what VW is now the world's largest automaker. And no, they won't go bankrupt in 2 years. hmmm I guess free wheeling capitalism doesn't always win in the end.onthebottom said:
Only to the greedy 'globalistas' who make a fortune in destroying home industries, while fattening the wallets of a select few.Meister said:
MIA Laddie in RED China, will attest to that...
The German government should allow Opel to take control of itself, and support it's efforts to do this, if necessary. Fiat and Opel compete with each other too strongly in the European market for a takeover to be pleasant or even successful.FOOTSNIFFER said:
I'm afraid the era of the niche mid-range manufacturer of cars is drawing to a close. Fiat and Opel are too small on their own to survive an industry with increasingly more formidable, worldwide competition. Neither company will long be able to afford to update models and their technologies at a competitive pace set by better financed rivals, like VW, toyota, and even Nissan/Renault.emerging44 said:
Why do you think Saab allied itself with GM, Volvo with Ford? The Swedish government has seen the writing on the wall and demurred from making any further financial commitments to save Saab. That would have been unthinkable 20 years ago. The future of the auto biz is with either high-end niche players (BMW) or continent-spanning mass manufacturers (pretty much every other company).
