Information

[fpb]

Half of Italy is stunned; the other half is cracking jokes or laughing at them. So Fiat, which has been at least four times in living memory close to bankruptcy, is now supposed to rescue Chrysler? A job, mind you, at which the Germans of Daimler failed. Well, well, we shall see what we shall see.

Comments

[jamesenge.livejournal.com]

They have the power of a Latin subjunctive verb on their side, though. (Which is more than Chrysler has.)

[becomethesea.livejournal.com]

I would say something about welcoming the new Fascist American State, but it just depresses me. :-(

[affablestranger.livejournal.com]

I'm not up on automobile makers, but I wondered, "Why Fiat?"

I am of the heartless opinion that a healthy dose of structured bankruptcy is just the shot in the arm a lot of these bailout recipients need.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

It does seem that they had been in negotiations for months before the crunch came. From Fiat's point of view, the great big carrot is entrance to the North American market - something after which Fiat has hankered uselessly for decades. However, the Daimler precedent promises nothing good.

[affablestranger.livejournal.com]

Legacy American automakers (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) have been on shaky enough legs for years. I lean to the inclination that their time as 'going business concerns' was likely over some time ago. It was simply their distinct 'Americanness' and the national nostalgia that goes along with it that made anyone even remotely want to keep them going. And, oh yeah, the UAW.

Why Fiat?

[stigandnasty919.livejournal.com]

Probably because no other Car Company is in a position to help. Fiat may well be in a good position becuase of the times they have been close to bankruptcy, they have restructured and so were in abetter position when the downturn in the global ecconomy came.

I wonder will we see jobs move south, literally, from Detroit. I understand that Fiat operates non-union factories in the Southern part of the USA at the moment. Chrysler is crippled by its benefits packages, Fiat may be able to take the Chrysler name and move production to an area they can escape those benefit payments.

Re: Why Fiat?

[mentalguy.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be surprised. Pretty much every other manufacturer has already left Detroit, to the extent that huge sections of the city and its outskirts are literally abandoned. This is due to more than just benefits packages, though.

I don't think it's entirely outside the realm of possibility that the city of Detroit might fail and be essentially wholly abandoned within the next decade.

[blue-sky-day.livejournal.com]

I really want to know what the logic behind that decision was.