>>Chrysler sales outside of North America are anemic, even in the last few
>>years. One of the main reasons Ford and GM weathered the automotive
>>downturns in North America much better than Chrysler was their strong
>>European presence, which Chrysler has very little of.
The European character of the merged company will be increasingly important
if the EC passes more protectionist legislation in the coming years in an
attempt to support their sagging welfare states. Chrysler´s sales have been
growing steadily in the EU, and now they have a chance to continue making
inroads. Europeans would be thrilled, I expect, to be able to get their
Grand Cherokee, Wagoneer (Durango derivative to come soon), or 300M
serviced at their neighborhood Mercedes dealer. From what I´ve read of the
merger, DC has says they don´t plan any changes to the North American
dealer network, but I haven´t heard anything about dealerships in the rest
of the world.
>>misrepresentation of the facts. Mercedes-Benz is the most recognized
>>automoive name wold wide. Period.
> The Hindenberg is the most recognized airship name world-wide, but that
>is not nescessarily a good thing. :-)
Mercedes-Benz is the most RESPECTED name in automobiles in the world. How´s
that. They set the standards that Lexus and Infinitum aim for.
The only other company I could imagine being preferable to M-B as far as a
merger would be BMW, because of their performance orientation. But BMW is
puny compared to M-B, and are nobodies in Asia and South America. M-B is
truly worldwide.
Jim
Corporate lurkers: You can drop the keys to the 500SL through the mail
slot. Thanks.
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