There’s a reason the headline above attributes this “story” to The Detroit Free Press. Let me put it this way: “people familiar with the situation,” “one of these people added,” “other observers,” “one person told the Free Press,” “a person briefed on the talks,” “several analysts have speculated,” and “a person briefed on the strategy.” Seven references to unnamed sources? That’s gotta be some kind of record– and not for reputable journalism. OK, be that as it may, The Freep is asking us to believe that there’s method to this banker-lead executive hysteria. “If a merger is consummated, Chrysler’s brands would become just like Chevrolet, Pontiac and Buick, people familiar with the situation tell the Free Press.” And that’s a good thing? “Conflicting brands could be dealt with in a few years after this industry turmoil has passed, one of these people added.” Later. Got it. “Another concern raised by analysts and other observers regards the addition of 3,500 Chrysler dealers into GM’s already over-dealered network. One person told the Free Press that those ‘excess dealers’ would cost GM nothing in the short-term and that some — if not many — will fail on their own anyway.” Later. Got it. Of course, Ace scribe Tim Higgins has more conjecture information on GM’s thinking…
“There is no certainty yet that any deal will come to pass,” Higgins writes in a CYA aside. “Smaller ventures or deals with other automakers could be pursued.” Huh? “But a straight-out combination of operations is the assumed model for GM’s team, led by President Fritz Henderson and Ray Young, his chief financial officer.” Assumed by…? And here’s the kicker: “A person briefed on the talks said Cerberus wants to keep a stake in a combined automaker to ensure its GMAC lending business is tied to an automaker when the auto industry rebounds down the road.” See? Now that’s funny.
If the Freep is anywhere close to accurate then it sounds like a psychotic level of group think has overtaken GM. This makes sense from a psychological standpoint. People facing crisis tend to fall back on response patterns learned early in life — even if it results in actions wholly inappropriate to the new situation. GM’s early life was dominated by an almost fatal case of acquisition fever, so one might envision the ghost of William Durant making the rounds right about now.
That said, I’d be a little skeptical about the Freep article given the number of anonymous sources.
Denial is not a river in Egypt, it is the new name for the St. Clair.
This GM-Chrysler merge-omania feels like somebody is pushing it down my throat without me wanting it, and pushing it hard. And whenever I feel like that, I know it is a sure tale of manipulation. Somebody, somewhere wants this merger more than anything, and that somebody will make big bucks out of it. I haven’t felt this cheated, or this kind of manipulation since Bush et al invaded Iraq with the “weapons of mass destruction” mantra spun all over. And what strikes me this time as well, is the american journalists inability to see through the looking glass. America is duped, and screwed over and over and over, and nobody, nobody… writes about it for what it is. It makes me really sad…
Maybe GM intends to rebadge Chrysler and Dodge cars as Oldsmobiles, Jeeps as Hummers, and replace existing GMC trucks and SUVs entirely by rebadging Dodge trucks and SUVs as GMCs.
The picture of the fish-bird sure reminds me of the 1956-57 Packardbakers and GM buying Chrysler will work about as well as Packard buying Studebaker in 1954.
Maybe this is something we should root for, as it will clearly (except to GM) be subtraction by addition: If GM does this deal, it will collapse under the weight.
they are going to try and jam this down our throats, just like Bush did the Great Bank Robbery of 2008. time to wake up people and rise against the evils we all know are being perpetrated against America. these people are traitors, attempting to recolonize us as slaves to the debt the Fed is burying us under. no more middle class, no more individual liberty. shame you didn’t listen to Ron Paul.
At least they claim to have a source. Elias didn’t bother to cite even an “anonymous” source in his GMAC bankruptcy story.
Right on, Buickman. Don’t forget who Ron endorsed for President; not so much a man as much as a party, the Constitution Party. (US Taxpayer Party in Michigan).
Ingvar, your comments made me laugh in agreement, too. You forgot how SOMEONE (read: main stream media aka lame stream media & so-called intelligensia) WANT Obama in so badly they can taste it. The irrational adulation. The “savior complex”.
It is frighteningly familiar to anyone who’s remotely studied any history.
Germany 1933.
And yet in terms of “what he’d do” McCain IS VIRTUALLY NO BETTER. Just slightly different.
As for GMC (GM Chrysler), well – it’s a microcosm of the entire United States, isn’t it?
Lost at sea. Clueless. Panicked. Clutching at straws. Delusionally foolish, even. Dying.
jg1708 :
Ken Elias’ “story” was an editorial. This piece was a “news story.”
BIG DIFFERENCE.
Robert,
Who would you say are bigger cheerleaders, the auto writers for the Detroit News and Freep cheerleading for the domestics, or the mainstream media in the tank for Obama?
Yes.
If the MSM was any deeper in the tank for The One, they’d need scuba gear.
When you are familiar with the way press releases from car companies are rewritten as “news” it’s easy to see how the same thing is done in the political coverage. Just as automotive writers have their own interests and biases so too in every aspect of journalism.
Richard Feynman, the Nobel prize winning physicist and boy wonder of the Manhattan Project described what some call the Feynman Amnesiac Effect. Feynman found that when he’d read an article about physics in the newspaper he’d notice obvious errors by the writer and then he’d turn the page and go back to believing that everything else in the newspaper was reliable information, forgetting the evidence that the newspaper was unreliable.
RF, I understand that having transparent sources would be nice, but don’t you think anonymity is likely a big reason the Freep (DetNews, etc.) gets this information in the first place? Much like TTAC, the local news reports what it has, when it has it, even if there are still some outstanding questions. TTAC also has “insiders” that we the readers know nothing about, and it’s a pretty safe bet the Freep does too. You just have to trust the editors to ensure reporters aren’t making stuff up, the same we we trust you to do it. Cleary you think this story has merit, or else you wouldn’t link in on your site.
“If the MSM was any deeper in the tank for The One,”
Remember when they used to pretend they were objective? Now I guess they figure the game’s up, might just as well get naked and jump in one big, sweaty zerobama pile.
Hey Robert- i think now is the time for some good ol’ cheerleader pics. How ’bout it?
Back to this story. GM says it can handle a merger, if you believe the spies. But can Chrylser handle being taken over by GM? I bet the employees can see the writing on the wall and, if not now, will soon be sabotaging the company. Good for them, I say.
“If the MSM was any deeper in the tank for The One,”
“Remember when they used to pretend they were objective? Now I guess they figure the game’s up, might just as well get naked and jump in one big, sweaty zerobama pile.”
I thought this blog was about cars. But if partisans are going to use TTAC to espouse their political beliefs, how about backing it up with some evidence? Can anyone present a credible study to argue that the news media has been pro-Obama? By credible I’m not talking about the opinion of some hot-talk jock at Faux News. Let’s see some quantitative analysis here.
Well, Dr Lemming, all you have to do is to open your eyes and ears and you’ll see clear evidence of the MSM being for the obamanation. Same thing for the Detroit newspapers and TV stations with regards to the Detroit 3, really.
Objective, smegjective.
“He sends tingles up my leg.”
“Look guys (to colleagues in the “news” room), this story about GM Chrysler is virtually written for us!”
It’s all the same.
Since we’re at the Truth About Cars here, some majority of us actually can see other truths, too.
Speaking of truths, here’s one for ya.
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_21568.shtml
Maybe the merger is an attempt to ensure that GM is “too big to fail” therefore guaranteeing a government bailout. Right now they are big, but add Chrysler in with all the jobs/employees/dealers and you have a slam-dunk government cash infusion.
Also, could we please leave the political comments on other sites. TTAC should be a refreshingly Obama/McCain free zone, except as it relates to the auto industry. The comments on this thread do not relate at all.
GENERAL WATCH NEWS
The Cause
Imagine…As the Rothschilds financed both sides of the Civil War, master capitalists, after giving their backing to the Japanese, use the invisible hand to guide GM softly down the stairs of diminished share. As GM becomes weaker, the foreigners invade our shores, setting up their fortresses of non-unionized production. Meanwhile, the ever-increasing costs of organized labor are halted by fierce competition, and a massive media campaign against their portrayed unrealistic demands. The tide of improving standard of living for the masses is halted, and through the might of popular opinion, concessions are wrought. As unionism is weakened, the purse string holders win on both sides of the game. Record profits for the invaders, and lessened expenses for the domestics. The demise of old time factory towns, who suffer setbacks in jobs and tax revenue, is a minor side effect of the intended outcome. The remaining relics of the battle for recognition are forever eliminated from the landscape…
menno, Thanks. I see Colonel Retired Rightard thinks we’re tanking.
Where’s the quantitative analysis? As far as I can tell, McCain is getting equal time with Obama; which is to say very little because the local press is spending all their ink loving Governor Palin and her First Dude.
I was really hoping to get some people into the White House that weren’t total ignoramuses. If McCain wins, OK, but if he then has some bad luck, we’re right back to January, 2001, as far as total ignoramuses in the White House goes.
It would make far more sense for VW to acquire some or all of Chrysler than for a GM-Chrysler combination to go through. VW has a long history of successfully turning around and integrating previously failing automotive companies. NSA(Audi), Seat, Skoda, Bentley and Lamborghini all come to mind. VW’s has a major market weakness is in North America. They are already number one in China and number one in Europe. VW has efficient small car platforms and power-trains ranging from the miniature to the monster. VW needs a bigger US manufacturing footprint. VW has plenty of money and the most valuable stock in all of autodom.
GM, on the other hand, needs almost nothing of what Chrysler has … and GM has (in modern times) an absolutely horrible track record with acquisitions and even with joint ventures. Daewoo stands out as the only GM deal which sort of worked out, because GM is using it as a source of cheap and “good enough” products to pump and dump. But Isuzu, Fiat, Subaru, Saab and others are part of the long list of bad marriages.
VW’s internal politics are messed up right now, but they will eventually get sorted out.
Kix,
On what do you base your perception of Obama’s intelligence? I know it’s not his grades, as he has not released that information to the public.
I’ve never understood how Fox News is not part of the “Mainstream Media”. They certainly aren’t in the tank for Obama.
I don’t underatand the argument of “GM will absorb Chrysler, beacuse then it will be too big to fail, considering that $25 billion handout”. I mean, couldn’t the government turn that against GM? If they had resources to buy Chrysler, then they would have resources to save their own ass. Or what? I don’t see the logic, but perhaps you have to be Rick Wagoner to make sense of this deal?
Never said I personally wanted McPain, Kixstart! On the contrary, I personally think he’s as bad as the Obamanation.
Kind of analagous to GM and Chrysler. I won’t own either make. My last (ever) GM product was a 1997 Cavalier commuter car. I simply could not get the dealer to honor their (apparently worthless) warrantee. I kept getting brake rotors warping and the dealer would simply “turn” them. Then I was handed an $80 bill. “What about your 36 month 36,000 mile warrantee? The car hasn’t got 28,000 miles on it.” Response: the brake rotors aren’t covered over 17,000 miles.
I responded back “you turned the rotors yourself right here at this dealer at 16,000 miles and at 22,000 miles. Do you want $80 or a GM customer for oh, another 35 years or so?” Gotta have the $80.
So I said here’s your check. Went out, bought non-GM brake rotors myself (to keep the subsequent owner safe as best I could) and traded the car off on a 1999 Dodge Neon.
Which was the last Chrysler product I ever will buy. Having manufactured cars for nearly a century, you’d think they’d be capable of manufacturing engines which could keep a head gasket intact. But, no….
Kind of analagous to the two major political parties.
KixStart: Where’s the quantitative analysis? As far as I can tell, McCain is getting equal time with Obama; which is to say very little because the local press is spending all their ink loving Governor Palin and her First Dude.
Equal time is a red herring; it’s the type and tone of the stories.
And please show me the articles in the mainstream media that are spreading the love Governor Palin and her husband; if anything, they’ve been pretty thoroughly investigated. Reading the mainstream media, one will learn far more about her husband’s membership in the supposedly separatist, Alaska-based party than Senator Obama’s close association and friendship with two unrepentant terrorists, one of whom thought that the Sharon Tate-LaBianca murders were a good idea at the time…
geeber : Obama is not, and never has been, a “close friend or associate” of Ayers or his wife (I assume Dohrn is the second terrorist you mention).
Geotpf, sorry, but no. They may not have gotten together every Sunday for dinner, but he worked with him on projects, and they were both early supporters of his campaigns. That sounds like a close associate and friend to me…
What about this whole merger rumor is NOT a pump and dump for their respective stock prices?
The suits/market/”insiders” are trying/hoping for one last spike in stock price in order to cut and run.
That’s the only reason I can think of for anyone to perpetuate the story.
FYI, that image is originally from a July 2000 cover of The Economist: http://www.economist.com/printedition/cover_index.cfm?year=2000&quarter=3&edition=US