General Motors or Nissan, Who Could/Should Take Over Chrysler?

The recent, constant merger/buyout talk has a great many
Dodge enthusiasts aggravated, and while there is hope that our beloved Dodge
will pull through this unscathed, analysts talk as though there is no way
around some sort of takeover. 

The highly paid market analysts at Cerberus have just
recently discovered that the automotive market is slumping, and they want out.
General Motors is looking to acquire any assets that it can, and Nissan/Renault
are looking for an American operations branch. 
What does this mean for the Dodge faithful?

Based on what has been said by both automotive and general
media sources, the Nissan merger may be the best bet for Dodge, as Nissan is
interested in having an American branch to its growing corporation.  Keep in mind, Dodge has already worked out a
deal to build the next generation of Nissan quarter ton trucks, and Nissan is
reportedly working on a subcompact for Dodge. 
There has always been rumors that Nissan is one of the interested
parties, along with Roush and Saleen, to buy control of the Dodge Viper. In
short, Nissan is already doing business with Chrysler Corporation and it would
trim their costs to have a controlling interest in the company, along with the
assets of the company.

However, the angle of GM buying Chrysler is very, very
different.  General Motors is struggling
as much as anyone else, having recently come out of buyout talks themselves,
and they are grasping at anything to keep them above water while sales are so
low.  A buyout of Chrysler, a company who
offers so many vehicles in direct competition with GMs layout of underachieving
trucks, bland build-for-rental cars, and of course the Corvette and Camaro,
would allow GM to increase their strength in certain markets by simply ending
production of their biggest competitors. 
It has been rumored that the only models that they are interested in
producing are the trucks and SUVs (including Jeep), and they may help the sales
of models like the G8, Camaro, and Corvette by bring a swift death to the
Charger, Challenger, and Viper.  Along
with the sickening end to these legendary Dodges, this may account for a
tremendous amount of job loss as the need for dealerships and factories drops
significantly.

So, we face the invasion of a “foreign company” into the
front office at Dodge, or possible extinction at the hands of the weakening
General Motors.  The way that I see it,
having the future option to go out and buy a Nissan-owned but Dodge badged
Challenger far outweighs the option of being forced to buy a GM owned and built
Ram, and not being able to buy a Charger or Challenger, and considering the
state of GM, how long can we really expect them to be around at this rate?

What do you think? Tell us in the forum!!

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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