Rumors abound, Saturn to divorce

Ok so I seem to have a penchant for surpassing my ability for cheesy headlines, it looks like I may have a future working for a tabloid.

While devoid of details it looks like GM may be planning on spinning off the Saturn division,the how and why is still unexplained but considering that GM seems intent on everything short of a fire sale this doesn't seem improbable.

Saturn which  was originally created to compete with the Japanese imports and was supposed to be a different way for GM to do things. Unfortunately things haven't faired as well, the division seemed to languish as the top brass at GM showed a lack of commitment on what they wanted to do with the brand. Now with the economy and bankruptcy a real possibility the General wants to unload Saturn to reduce costs and overhead.

This ongoing soap opera shows no sign of letting up.

Fiat plans for Chrysler

While the new Chrysler,FIAT relationship is only a few days old, it seems  as though the bloom is wearing of the deal.

Questions are already being asked as to how Fiat will utilize Chrysler to enter the north American market and how will a pairing up with Fiat Benefit the company that Walter Chrysler built.

Dire times always make it easier for these kind of deals to get at least initial approval and with Chrysler bleeding money it’s no wonder that their quite happy to have a suitor who's  interested in merging with the company.

As with everything in business mergers, synergy between the two is critical to making such a large transaction work. but there are bigger questions that should be asked here, no doubt that combining the two companies would give each the kind of scale needed to compete in such a hotly contested market.

But another question that hasn’t been asked is should there be any effort made to help Chrysler, obviously with the economy still trending downwards the last thing needed is more unemployed workers and the ramifications that would come from this occurring but…

Lets face it.. the market in north America is saturated with too many players and the weak ones are being weeded out, would there be such an effort in better times or would the government let fate take its course.

Probably the latter.

Fiat and Chrysler are Dating

Sure is sounds kind of tacky but it seems that the two are together making a sort of automotive odd couple. The Italian Auto giant has decided that it wants a piece of Chrysler even after Daimler Benz realized that it couldn't make the relationship work.

What makes the Italian auto giant think it can do what the industrious Germans couldn't, only Fiat and Chrysler know.

Fusion Hybrid claims fuel crown

Fords fusion seems to be the jewel in the lineup that gets the respect it needs form the automotive press  but gets no love from the public when it comes to comparisons against the Asian manufacturers.

Inside Line put the fusion through its paces and found the car quite capable but lacking in some of its mileage claims, otherwise the car pleased in the driving feel and fit and finish inspections.

Hybrids today seem to have the same level of appeal that SUVs had several years ago, with a certain segment of the population wanting the car bad enough and ignoring the fact that they won’t recoup the additional expense in the car for many years.

The Fusion Hybrid will bring Ford lots of good press and positive image in the eyes of the auto neophyte , but like every other Hybrid, its not the real answer to reducing or eliminating the reliance on fossil fuels.

In the end this car will help Ford and put some cash in the coffers and that's always a good thing.

Link

GM’s Stock Worthless

From Inside line

DETROIT — General Motors stock tanked precipitously by 30 percent on Monday on news that Deutsche Bank analysts called the stock worthless — and predicted the company could be out of cash as soon as December. GM stock is at its lowest level in six decades, hitting a new low of $3.08 on Tuesday morning

How the mighty have fallen, GM… once the 800 pound gorilla of the business world is now on life support and begging for a handout from the government.

Ironically with all the bad news about the auto industry and GM and Ford/Chrysler in particular, all these companies have vastly better products for sale now and in the pipeline than they’ve ever had in the

past.

Unfortunately all three are the victims of a perfect storm of lingering bad public perception, a meltdown in the economy and the distaste left in the  minds of the truck buying consumer after gas prices reached stratospheric levels earlier in the year.

The help cant come soon enough.

GM & Ford and India

This posted from Insideline…

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DETROIT — Chrysler and General Motors appear to be following Ford's lead in cultivating closer ties with India's automakers. GM is discussing the sale of its Hummer brand to Indian SUV specialist Mahindra & Mahindra, while Chrysler is negotiating a possible alliance with Tata, the Indian company that last month acquired Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.

It would have seemed like a bad joke to even consider selling any premium mark to a foreign government much less India..Insert crude Joke here…

India is now one of the worlds fastest growing economies, and with its share of Billionaire entrepreneurs, and a possible perfect fit for an ailing domestic auto maker to sell or strike up an alliance.

You can’t blame ford or GM for trying to stake territory in a country with the kind of potential that India shows,my only guess is that both automakers would probably come to the negotiating table in a position of weakness and may not be able to strike the most lucrative deal.

Otherwise it looks like GM may be stuck with Hummer for a while and Ford

is still looking for answers to it’s financial predicaments.

Link

Chrysler to stop leasing programs

In what must be one of the unbelievable moves to come in a long time, Chrysler has made it’s intention to stop offering leasing programs for the their dealerships known.

While this is certainly causing reverberations in Chryslers dealer body its really not surprising to anyone watching the the worsening financial pictures for the automakers, and with resale values of large trucks and SUV's plummeting. it was only a matter of time until the leasing programs where reduced or pulled all together.

While leasing can be seen as one of the smarter moves of the Auto makers to improve sales and the various programs did. It was for the most part seen as a sign of the bigger problems facing the industry in general.

Over the last 15 years as cars have become increasingly more expensive and and the average salary hasn't kept pace new more creative ways where devised to increase the sales for the various manufacturers.

In other words, leasing is a way for people to Rent a vehicle that they would otherwise not be able to afford, but with many cars now costing the average consumer 20 to 30 or forty thousand dollars, there’s only so many ways to package money and make it work.

This isn’t just a problem for Chrysler,when other companies such as BMW need to increase sales and market share, finding ways for people to buy increasingly expensive cars and Sporty SUV's.

What's really needed is some lessons on better financial common sense and that may be a bigger mountain to climb  then the unaffordable price of cars.

The good old and care free days of free spending and eternal optimism may seem like a long time ago, buts its generally these environments that make for creative thinking.

Now's the time.