word has it that Mahindra is going to attempt a purchase of jeep. How that will go over with the jeep faithfull will be a sight to see! However a true jeep fan will know that Mahindra exists because of jeep.

a pairing of mahindra and jeep may work out for the better. they will be bringing their 30+ mpg 4×4’s and trucks over here next year. and they still make a version of the cj3b. so who better to buy-out jeep that…a former jeep subsidiary.

if mahindra buys jeep i bet they will use the jeep name to market their pick-up (the appalachian) here. suppposedly the pik-up, as its called in the rest of the world… is a tough little truck. but their farm tractors arent well liked here. so maybe the name is what they need.

Speaking of which, Mahindra and Tata are both reported to have been asked if they want to buy Hummer.

I thought M & M already made Jeeps under license. Or used to. I don’t see that they need Jeep since they already know how to make them. Of course, maybe you just mean they need the name to compete with LR. In any case it shouldn’t be hard to compete with LR.

A lick of paint for curb appeal (i.e. a CHALLENGER or something) and Bob’s your uncle.

Historically speaking, the company which might “logically” buy Jeep off of the 3-headed dog would be – Ford. Ford built World War II GP’s (”jeeps”) using the Willys pattern, under orders of the United States military.

But Ford? Watch out. Every company which has “held” Jeep has perished. Willys-Overland? Gone in 1953. Kaiser? Gone in 1970. American Motors? Gone in 1987. Chrysler? going, going…

Perhaps the Cereberus people aren’t as dumb as some of us surmise.

Surely “somebody” (some dummy?) would be willing to buy up the Chrysler/Dodge and Jeep bits and pieces, dealer network, brand names and some of the factories.

Most likely the folks with plenty of money (Chinese, Indians) and a desire to get into the United States auto market (Chinese, Indians).

It’ll be interesting to see a bidding war on the remaining assets of Chrysler Corporation and Jeep.

My official bid for Chrysler/Dodge and Jeep stands at $23 (the cash in my wallet right now). Cereberus can contact me via Robert Farago if they want to sell now. My bid ends at midnight tonight. Kind of like Cinderella’s carriage.

Or not…remember the Mod Tops Mopars from the late 60s?

Sadly, yes. Well, I wasn’t alive yet (the mod top was actually offered in 1969 and 1970) but I know of them and have seen a couple of them. There was a matching “mod interior” fabric available too.

I don’t know what Chrysler was thinking with that one. Actually, IIRC Chrysler supplied cars for the “Mod Squad” TV show and maybe there was supposed to be some kind of ill-conceived tie-in.

I don’t know if the plan was strip and flip, but all that is left to do is to part out the wreckage. Cerberus is going to loose big bucks on this one.

Not really. The three headed dog got Chrysler for basically free. Provided they don’t invest additional money into it (which they won’t), they really can’t lose much.

In fact, that might have been the plan. “It’s free-we’ll figure out what to do with it later.”

Hard to really screw up free. Worst case scenerio (for Cereberus, at least) is that they lose nothing.

Or not…remember the Mod Tops Mopars from the late 60s?

Sometimes (occasionally) you CAN sell cars by adding fancy cartoons (Plymouth Roadrunner) and flowers (VW new Beetle).

I would say the addage “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” would be the common automotive parallel of those marketing gimmicks though. It apparently worked for the auto industry for a long time, even though you can’t buy a car that is remotely like the ones that race. I’m mostly thinking of NASCAR. “Stock car” racing indeed.

there are 2 types of manufacturing- complex and simple.

Complex is always about long term strategies and planning , because it takes input cycles, before anything can be yielded. Whenever US industrials deal with food processing, oil production or simple parts stamping- they succeed. When they have to assemble many parts together , they sooner or later fail. because they always want to make money by saving on R%D and product update,always the cheapest suppliers and questionable labourers. Sooner or later it leaves a mark on quality and reliability , that makes customers to flee away.

Whether it is Failing Motorola, the whole truck industry, trains, forklifts,photo cameras, watches, or aviation- there are always common symptoms. Old platforms, which haven`t been replaced in order to save, tiny product range and diversity, and very long product cycles. Everywhere the same. While Chrysler may point out to labour unions, market startegy shifts, oil prices or multimedia prejudices, actually the cancer roots are always the same, it is actually the product, stupid.

While Harley _Davidson drags the legend by adding one bike per decade, Bose -by one shelf system a decade, Boeing – one Civil aircraft per decade, they still try to find every possible way to sell , except product itself. Kodak is sinking? Well, Nikon isn`t. because probably large SLR cameras matter. Honda is succeeding in bikes? well, because that`s how you succeed by making more and more, better and better bikes, diversity plus quality. Every car company evolves by selling more, making more money, and investing that money again in higher level cars.

Does Chrysler think to evolve by cutting? Well, if I am bleeding , I don`t declare that I am just downsizing, I call for doctor!If you can`t make it, fake it! So Chrysler will say we are okey, except that the whole model range will be mitsu or Tata clones in a decade.

So here we go, Capitalists have forgotten one tiny detail, if you close local factories, and in best case move to China, you also close wallets of local people- of your potential customers. Who will by your XLR caddies that zig, if the fired people now work at sish-kebab bistro for 8 bucks an hour? Don`t spit in a well that you drink from! Of course , you could export them, but local taste in spanish Texas or Loisiana jazz club ain`t the same as high- quality spoiled europeans playing and shuffling songs on Audi Symphony series….

By the way you can always sell cereal by adding fancy cartoons or shampoos by adding more flowers to the picture. Ain`t work for cars.

Much better chance of dumping the union in a right to work state right?

Some may argue hubris fueled the purchase decision, but I really think it had more to do with ignorance, both about Chrysler’s stature, and about the state of the American car market where Chrysler does most of its business. (But truth be told, the fact that Chrysler was heavily weighted in trucks, had stuffed all of its pipelines to the max, and that oil was surging was common knowledge to anyone who reads autoblog or TTAC daily).

In any case, the purchase price of Chrysler, if you recall, was a nominal amount. I’ll wager Cerberus hasn’t sunk an additional penny into the automaker (if the interiors of the rentals are anything to judge by). So at this stage, the only exposure is the cost of acquisition, and someone’s pride.

Can you make money by making in the rental business by making your own cars? Maybe that’s Cerberus’s game. Cerberus owns Alamo & National Car rental companies. They have other leasing operations as well. Maybe the game is to get out of retail, and manufacture cars for themselves and as a contract manufacturer to third parties.

This would make perfect sense, except for one small problem-Cerberus sold Alamo and National to Enterprise at almost the exact same time that they bought Chrysler.

So that’s not it either.

People, you have got to stop thinking that chapter 11 is going to get rid of your union and plant problems. It just means the courts manage your problems for you.

I think if you get a less dysfunctional different judge, you may get vastly different results. And given the Delphi example and current economic conditions, expect anyone buying Chrysler’s remains to demand appropriately brutal terms.

They could continue to continue to try selling hipo and some resto parts for classic mopars BUT the fact is there are many companies that do that already…and better. The only thing they do that others do not is make repro Hemi and Wedge blocks. However, there are aftermarket companies making ‘copies’ of small block Fords, small and big block Chevies, and even AMC. If there is a market, they will fill it.

Mopar is worth something…but not much.

Chrysler is done because they deserve to be. The land and buildings will bring something at auction and someone will by the Jeep name for sales in China.

This will help Ford and GM to a degree so lets get on with it

The day they stop making Chryslers, is pretty close to the day that MOPAR’s value peaks. Sure, it may go up and down over the years a bit, but where is the long term value? You would be better off buying a company with history making parts for other people’s cars than buying Mopar.

MOPAR’s service parts organization is needed to help fix all the Chryslers still rolling in the world. Think Autolite. Then think Magna. Anyone?

Year One, or some muscle car resto place, would love to have a large chunk of ‘em. 426 create HEMIs for all!

Ok, you find out your supplier can’t make money in its current state, but with a little bankruptcy court intervention, you get a chance to dump the labor contracts, dump the dealer network, and buy a dozen or so factories and all their designs for a couple more billion dollars. You get rid of the plants you don’t need. You operate the rest on an efficient level.

Chapter 11 protection does not allow you to dump the labor contracts or get rid of the plants you don’t need. Look at Delphi. They did neither.

People, you have got to stop thinking that chapter 11 is going to get rid of your union and plant problems. It just means the courts manage your problems for you.