German Car Zone

Yeah well I don't think that's really fair, Chrysler are actually doing quite well and they are making some interesting vehicles. The 300c has been very successful - although it does take some inspiration from design characteristics of the R-R Phantom - what a pity the Maybach 57/62 wasn't as bold as the 300c.

BTW, wouldn't it be funny if Chrysler upstaged the Mercedes SLR with this.

http://www.atspeedimages.com/pebble_...welve_concept/

True, and to think about it, the 300 is using the E-Class W210 platform, (same as the Dodge Charger, Dodge Magnum, and Chrysler Pacifica.....).

Sometimes I get the feeling the companies swapped designers and sent the Merc designers to work for Chrysler and viceversa!

Well rarely do I disagree with you, but I'm going to have to here. I think they can get both brands running in the black. They pretty much are going to have to now. Neither of them would survive long without each other, and the bad part is that Chrysler is in better shape than Mercedes so simply cutting Chrysler lose isn't going to work either. Mercedes needs to bring up their side of the bridge while Chrysler is healthy, and I think can and will be done in 1-2 years tops.

M

Chrysler makes a great product, but they dont sell. Its as simple as that. When they do sell they are so cheap that the company cant make any money off of their products. 300 C and SRT 8 is an awsome car, the new Jeep Grand Cherokee and commander are great. The company just cant compete with the Asians even though their cars arent bad. I think Mercedes would do better if they cut off that sluggish American fat off.

Matt, Chrysler is on a sales roll right now so I'm not sure where you're getting it from that they don't sell. The 300, Magnum, minvans, Grand Cherokee, Commander, and Sebring Convertible all do well, plus Chrysler has a lot of new Japanese-competitive cars on the way like the Caliber and the next generation Sebring/Stratus sedans. They're on a roll so calling them sluggish and fat is totally void of the facts. Chrysler is whats keep MB afloat right now and getting rid of them simply isn't going to happen.

M

That is true - the 300c, in particular, could end up being one of the best-selling American cars outside the US in decades.

Also Merc1 - I hope you're correct about DCX being able to turn things around at Mercedes in 1-2 years - but the analysts don't seem to be quite so optimistic.

Merc1 , but we all should consider, why Chrysler is now, as you state, maybe in a better situation than MB. It's still the fact, that the brand MB got less management attention after the merger and run therefore in big problems ( don't forget also the Mitsubitchy desaster, which caused also management problems).
The company is with it's current structure still a too fat giant. I'm still convinced that without Chrysler the MB brand ( we should say the former DaimlerBenz Holding )
would be in a better situation. It's simply not possible to have better operating profit with this clumsy construction.

And BTW , a little OT, but: to release 8500 workers with compensation payments - no one is fired, as some are here declaring - is mainly caused by increasing productivity.
Currently every next model cycle could be produced with 5% less work force. That's the normal evolutiuon in the industry.

I would not be supprised if BMW will announce the same strategy next year!

Interesting theory, but the reality of it is that Mercedes was headed down the wrong read in 1998 before the ink was dry on the agreement to buy Chrysler. Mercedes under Shremp was putting out too many models at once and that combined with running Chrysler ran Mercedes down, not just the merger. The M-Class was presented in 1997 and it was a cheapo product long before Chrysler had anything to do with Mercedes.

Mercedes problem is that they've strayed from the traditional market segments too much and way too fast.

M

Exactly, the problems at DaimlerChrysler are structural and permeate throughout the entire organization. From the way they design cars, the production of them, and the overall strategy. Being 10 years behind BMW and Toyota in terms of factory design and productivity is a HUUUUGE deal.

As for strategy MB needs Chryslers cash now, but whether any truly beneficial synergy can be achieved amongst the two brands in future, I seriously doubt. Chrysler is always going to be a dead weight on Mercedes returns, because they're not a premium brand and can't charge premium prices. And then they expect using premium MB components will help reduce costs? As Martinbo said, the brands are just simply too disparate to share platforms etc. Where exactly they were planning to develop economies of scale from this takeover, I'm not sure. Schremp just had a wet dream of becoming one of the largest in the world, couldn’t possibly do it only through the extension of the MB brand, so went after Chrysler.

I'd like to see MB part ways with Chrysler in the mid term but retain smart. Smart is the brand that should be used to proliferate in the smaller markets. Without it, they can't compete with BMW's mini and the multitude of other makers in this market, and there is no way the MB brand can go any lower than the A. In fact drop the A, keep the B, and develop a proper rival for the 1 and A3.

Also this AMG situation has been bugging me for quite some time. They have just gone overboard with the expansion of the lineup, and some of their cars are completely unnecessary. Who wants an AMG B, and is an AMG R or M essential at this time. Save the pennies and use it elsewhere. Sure they probably only develop these models if they can achieve adequate returns, but the money could better be used elsewhere.

Still though, I think Zetsche is the man for the job. And perhaps its a blessing also that Bernard is now in charge of VW. With these two at the helm of these hemorrhaging companies I have a feeling that we will see much more cooperation between Chrysler and VW, leaving VW to play around with its Audi brand, and Daimler Chrysler with MB.

Very true Merc1, the M-class was developed way ahead of the merger. Most of the work on the S was also done much before, so the quality of these two models can't be put to the Merger entirely. But the fact is Chrysler was a HUGE drain on Mercedes engineering and managment, and they would have started mending MB much earlier if Chrysler weren't in such a critical state. Instead they let MB trade on its reputation for a bit too long, and now the tables have turned completely.