Comments on: Ceribus Hemi

Ceribus Hemi

acro — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:34:22 -0800

Magna International has failed in its bid to purchase Chrysler, losing to private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP Bloomberg video: Canadian Auto Workers union president Buzz Hargrove (wmv) fears further job cuts.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:42:16 -0800

I'm telling you, it's the Jeep curse. Every company to acquire Jeep will go down in flames.

By: phaedon

phaedon — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:45:37 -0800

MetaFilter: American car company faces extinction; here's what the Canadians think.

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:46:12 -0800

This thread is nothing without [IMG] tags: O RLY? YA RLY NO WAY!

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:48:47 -0800

This is like the top frickin' news item everywhere.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:52:00 -0800

Daimler lost billions and billions--why did they buy them anyway?

By: porn in the woods

porn in the woods — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:53:40 -0800

Jesus Chrysler!

By: phaedon

phaedon — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:56:15 -0800

why did they buy them anyway? 1. Diversify 2. Synergize 3. Jeep

By: acro

acro — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:58:04 -0800

CBC "Average profit per North American-made vehicle (US$): DaimlerChrysler: $186

By: dhartung

dhartung — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:05:38 -0800

I knew that plucky aardvark would win out in the end.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:12:32 -0800

why did they buy them anyway? 1. Hubris 2. Stupidity 3. They figured Mercedes' quality was too high, and that if it wasn't taken down to somewhere below Nissan level, the universe would soon implode. The best way to ruin the quality of the company reputed to have the highest quality in the world was to merge it with the American company with the worst possible quality and the slimmest per-car profit margins. The icing on the cake was when they canned all of the American brass and moved a bunch of German execs to Auburn Hills, since that's the perfect way to boost morale both among the U.S. employees and the German execs who got to move to Southeastern Michigan. Because when you have a big, strong car company with lots of money and great cars, the best move you can make is to merge with a crappy, weak car company with no money and terrible cars. It restores balance to the universe. And so it goes.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:52:15 -0800

Simply looking at the numbers is astounding: Daimler spent $36 billion to pick up Chrysler originally. If you look at this deal, it actually turns out that Daimler is spending $650 million to get rid of Chrysler. (Daimler retains somewhat less than 20% ownership.) Effectively Daimler is writing off that original investment completely. I think that this one transcends even the AOL/Time-Warner merger in terms of utter stupidity. Ten years from now, my guess is that there will only be one major car maker left in the US. But given how much trouble all three of them are in, I wouldn't want to guess which it is. What I do expect is that all of them are going to do what the airlines all did: declare Chapter 11 and get bankrupcy the court to relieve them of their current union contracts.

By: pax digita

pax digita — Mon, 14 May 2007 17:01:27 -0800

Ten years from now, my guess is that there will only be one major car maker left in the US. Umm, would that be Toyota?

By: acro

acro — Mon, 14 May 2007 17:19:27 -0800

Over the last year, DaimlerChrysler layoffs in Windsor, Canada across the border from Detroit affected 1300 jobs; two Ford plant closures cut a further 1000 jobs... Cerberus hired "former Chrysler COO and Volkswagen executive Wolfgang Bernhard as an automotive adviser" Health care obligations for Chrysler employees and retirees are estimated at $19 billion.

By: datacenter refugee

datacenter refugee — Mon, 14 May 2007 17:21:32 -0800

it actually turns out that Daimler is spending $650 million to get rid of Chrysler Ditto. As they said on ATC tonight, 'it's like paying someone to come and haul away the broken-down car in your front yard' (sic).

By: Freen

Freen — Mon, 14 May 2007 17:22:28 -0800

Steven: You are probably correct, and if the airline market is any sort of bellweather for a highly mature marketplace collapse, I'd lookout for richard branson's "virgin cars".

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Mon, 14 May 2007 17:39:42 -0800

virgin cars Dammit, I drove one of those through most of high school and I'm not going back.

By: pax digita

pax digita — Mon, 14 May 2007 18:10:13 -0800

I'm wondering if the Big Three are going to ramp up the lobbying effort to get single-payer health care so corporations can get out from under the obligation. I just realized it was about 17 years ago that I first heard the anecdote that GM pays more for health care than for steel.

By: winston

winston — Mon, 14 May 2007 18:46:48 -0800

MetaFilter: American car company faces extinction; here's what the Canadians think. More cars are built in Ontario than any other jurisdiction -- that is, more than any US state (including Michigan) or Japanese prefecture or German state, etc. It's a really big deal here.

By: unSane

unSane — Mon, 14 May 2007 18:54:29 -0800

Buzz Hargrove is a twat. I've been thinking that for a long while.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Mon, 14 May 2007 19:21:17 -0800

Health care obligations for Chrysler employees and retirees are estimated at $19 billion. Which means paying someone less than that to buy it was a good deal, in the end.

By: emjaybee

emjaybee — Mon, 14 May 2007 19:28:33 -0800

Reality once again copies a Simpsons episode; I believe Mr. Burns also got the Germans to pay him to buy back his nuclear plant. Silly Germans, always underestimating America's ability to do something shittily. USA! (and seriously: Cerberus? The three-headed hound of hell is into investments? What's next, Satan, Ltd.?)

By: russilwvong

russilwvong — Mon, 14 May 2007 20:21:08 -0800

By the way: Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska buys into Magna. This was just before Magna's bid for Chrysler failed. Globe and Mail background stories: The Russian oligarchs Russia Inc. Is Canada ready?

By: acro

acro — Mon, 14 May 2007 21:09:32 -0800

Russia Inc. Is Canada Ready? Allen Stewart from Vancouver, Canada writes: It is a vast right wing conspiracy led by the communinsts. * Posted 12/05/07 at 9:34 AM EDT

By: Flashman

Flashman — Tue, 15 May 2007 03:33:11 -0800

At least now the word 'Chrysler' will no longer be gloating over Potsdamer Platz.

By: acro

acro — Fri, 18 May 2007 08:38:32 -0800

Cerberus is not out to bail out the automaker for the good of America.

By: acro

acro — Mon, 21 May 2007 07:38:58 -0800

Both Daimler and Cerberus have made significant financial commitments to strengthen Chrysler pensions. Daimler has agreed to provide a guarantee of $1 billion to be paid into the Chrysler plans if the plans terminate within five years," PBGC interim director Vince Snowbarger said in a recent statement.