GM & Chysler in merger talks..

[ozpont]

Detroit
    General Motors is in preliminary talks about a possible merger with Chrysler, a deal that could drastically remake the landscape of the auto industry by reducing the Big Three of Detroit automakers to the Big Two.

     The talks between G.M. and Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that owns Chrysler, began more than a month ago, and the negotiations are not certain to produce a deal. Two people close to the process said the chances of a merger were "50-50" as of Friday and would most likely still take weeks to work out.

    Speculation about a possible bankruptcy filing by G.M. has mounted in recent weeks because of the automaker's dwindling cash reserves. The automaker had $21 billion in cash on hand at the end of the second quarter, but it was burning through more than $1 billion a month.

   The credit rating firm Standard & Poor's put G.M. on negative credit watch on Thursday.

   But G.M. has said it is confident that it can increase its liquidity, and emphasized in a statement released Thursday that it was not considering a bankruptcy filing.


  More details .. in todays New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/business/11auto.html?th&emc=th

[bootlegger]

Its got me stuffed hows these big guys can be going broke. Can you imagine the next corvette have some chrysler content in it. Maybe a V10 vette. I guess finally people have realised that they have to buy things with the money they have/save rather than credit. Last time I was in the states they were lending money on cars at 1% interest. Only time will tell where all this will end.
I know one thing Im pulling what money I have out of the bank. I dont care what the Govt promises.

[smokem]

Bet if you looked thru Americans homes you would find Made in China ,Made in Japan , Made in Korea etc. and they wonder why they don't have jobs .

[bootlegger]

Hey smoken. All those labels are in our houses also. I bought a made in china sheet metal folder two weeks ago. It broke after the second bend. I had to weld other bits on it to reinforce it then another part broke somewhere else. I cant take it back now because I messed with it. Whats going to happen when all we can buy is this crap. :grr