WI: Chrysler wasn't sold by Mercedes.

With Chrysler being close to bancrupt I ask myself, would things have changed if Mercedes kept Chrysler? And how? Would Chrysler recover from the crisis with the help of Mercedes, or would Chrysler drap Mercedes really deep into the crisis?
 
Hm- well DaimlerChrysler was quite dysfunctional and acted essentially as two companies from what I've heard, which is why it wasn't that much of an effort to split the two when Cerberus showed up, though things had been gradually starting to change it never really got far...

Now, really, if Cerberus doesn't take over Chrysler, then someone else will most likely- General Motors was rumored to be interested, they came close to doing so last month but had to back down, but maybe if it was a year earlier and GM is in better shape they might do it. (Now, will that save them from needing the bailout? Eh, I don't know, doubt it though) Remember, Daimler ended up paying Cerberus to get rid of Chrysler, they were desperate.

It'll be hard for Congress to justify bailing out DaimlerChrysler's US operations, I think... If there's no split, then I suppose Daimler will either have to take the loss or start slashing Chrysler and taking radical actions like cutting brands... The Chrysler brand is the company's worst performing IIRC, so it would likely be first to go (though the name DaimlerChrysler may remain- the company doesn't own the Daimler marque either)
 
Having retired from DC I can tell you that when Chrysler was making money hand over fist a lot of the profits got siphoned off to support Mercedes. When things went the other way Chrysler got left sucking hind tit.
 
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