As guessed, the negotiations between Renault and Cerberus, the private equity company that owns Chrysler, have ceased.
   The deal would have seen more jobs preserved as Renault does not have much of a manufacturing base in North America other than its Nissan plants.
   The problem, as far as I can see, is that Renault doesn’t have a financial arm. Cerberus would love to get its hands on GMAC, GM’s credit company, even if Moody’s rates the long-term ratings at junk status.
   Bugger American jobs: at the executive level, what Cerberus sees a corporate fit between its own operations and GMAC. GM sees a way of eliminating certain competing models and keep Jeep and the minivans. That’s bad news for the workers.
   It’s a cinch that the majority of Chrysler models will die if GM and Chrysler got together, and plenty of the workforce will go, too.
   Models such as the PT Cruiser, developed as a Plymouth, are after their sell-by date, and the Sebring and Avenger have never really been that good to begin with.
   Through mismanagement under DaimlerChrysler AG for many years, the Chrysler brand has ceased to mean much and would not survive. Dodge conflicts too much with Pontiac’s performance image, though it could still work on trucks and on the Viper for as long as people buy it. But they may disappear as marques within GM just as AMC (renamed Eagle) did within Chrysler.
   The result is that the combined firm won’t see a need to carry on with so many plants and so many workers. The Murdoch Press estimates the number of lay-offs could be as high as 200,000. And the multiplier effect that any first-year economics student will tell you about says that that isn’t good news for the US economy. Posted by Jack Yan, 05:25  permalink

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