Chryslerberussanwagen?
Published: December 14th, 2007
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Chrysler and Nissan are reportedly in talks to share technology for trucks and small cars. "People with knowledge of the companies' discussions" told Bloomberg that Nissan wants Chrysler to help them salvage their floundering full-size truck line, and Chrysler wants access to Nissan's small car expertise. It won't be the first such agreement for either company; Nissan announced earlier this week they're going to supply Suzuki with rebadged Frontiers in return for minicars for the European and Japanese markets, while Chrysler will begin producing VW-badged minivans late next year. Pretty soon we're going to need the automotive equivalent of a DNA test to determine who built what for whom.
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This will work for Nissan/Chrysler the same way it "worked" for Mitsubishi's Raider and Precis. Remember the Precis? Oy vey! +1 for OldandSlow, the Ghosn-Nardelli partnership was love at first sight.
Funny, my girlfriend calls Nissan "the Dodge of Japan"--plenty of horsepower, but shoddy interiors and poor reliability. This seems like the perfect marriage to me.
Boy, talk about your three-headed dog...
Cerberus has got to be looking for any port in a storm. They may well end up as the distributor for a passel of other people's production before it is over. They could sell the assets of the truck group to Nissan-Renault and then buy truck from Nissan-Renault to sell in Dodge dealerships. Presto, no more union workers building Dodge trucks. Get in on the Nissan-Suzuki India venture and get the next generation Neon from there. Presto, low cost small cars. Move all rear wheel drive production to Mexico next to the hemi engine factory. I wonder how many buyers who Gotta Have a Hemi know that the engine is made at Chrysler's Ramos Arizpe, Mexico Saltillo Engine plant. Maybe Chrysler does end up looking like Home Depot, a big distributor selling stuff from everyone but making nothing.