Rumor: Ford and GM to merge, form vortex of suck.

[Blind_Io]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060918/ap_on_bi_ge/gm_ford

Could long time rivals Ford and GM merge or form an alliance? Expect to see exploding heads of brand loyal die-hards on both sides of the Ford vs. Chevy debate soon.

DETROIT - Executives of General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have discussed a possible merger or alliance, the trade journal Automotive News reported Monday. Both companies declined comment.

Automotive News quoted what it said were several people familiar with the talks as saying that discussions involving senior executives began in July and are not taking place now.

The journal quoted one source as saying that GM Chief Financial Officer Fritz Henderson and his Ford counterpart, Don Leclair, discussed a GM-Ford alliance in August.

The report comes as GM and Ford have been slashing their work forces and closing plants in efforts to reverse multibillion dollar losses. Their sales have been hurt by competition from more fuel-efficient models from Asian automakers.

As the two biggest U.S. automakers, any deal would presumably face scrutiny by U.S. antitrust regulators.

In July, GM, Renault SA of France and Nissan Motor Co. of Japan announced a 90-day review of an alliance among them.

"As we've often said, GM officials routinely discuss issues of mutual interest with other automakers," GM spokesman Brian Akre said before business hours Monday. "As a policy, we do not confirm or comment publicly on those private discussions, which in many cases do not lead anywhere."

Ford Oscar Suris, also speaking before business hours, said: "We're not commenting on speculation."

Talk of alliances involving GM came after GM shareholder Kirk Kerkorian, who owns a 9.9 percent stake in the company, called for GM, Renault and Nissan to pursue an alliance.

Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Renault and Nissan, has said the benefits from an alliance would be similar to the gains from the Renault-Nissan alliance, which have included cost savings from joint purchases of auto parts.

Ford earlier declined to comment on an August Wall Street Journal report that then-Chief Executive Bill Ford approached Ghosn about a Ford alliance with Renault and Nissan.

[BlaRo]

I can't wait to see the mismanagement, brand dilution, inner-department bickering, beancounter muck-ups, and general sheer incompentance that's gonna take place if this happens. It'll make Enron look like a lemonade stand.

I bet Ghosn's laughing his ass off. Which is probably a terrifying sight. Have you seen that guy? He's friggin' creepy!

[FATMOUSE]

I can see terrible, terrible cars being produced in the future ahead should this occur.

[Vette Boss]

Henry Ford is rolling and twisting round in his grave right now.

[Labcoatguy]

'Cuz it worked for British Leyland

[Kebab gud]

FOX NEWS ALERT!
Ford and GM to merge!

..

This just in! a black hole has been spottetd in Detroit
The hole has been named "the Bland hole" by Steven hawkings

[un-dee]

Oh my god. Please. Dont. It would kill them both, and they would also kill all the excitement, heritage and individuality that is left in both companies.

[Redliner]

I remember "Autolatina" when Ford and VW joined forces to produce cars in Brazil. Man, that was quite a fiasco...after ONE crappy car, it was all over.
Anybody wanna see pics?

[epp_b]

Anybody wanna see pics?

Please!

[bartboy9891]

i dont believe it

[Prost264]

Ya know, you would think the two largest companies could come together to make awesome cars, but no.. they are not intelligent enough to make that happen.

Maybe if they would stop buying every other company out there and just worry about themselves they could take that money and make a quality automobile.

GM should go back to only Chevy, Cadillac, Pontiac and Buick.
Ford should do the same and drop Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover, Mazda etc....

American auto companies need to save some money by not wasting it on other crap and build a decent enough car so I can stop buying imports... oh wait, the Challenger and Camaro are already on their way.

[teletubby-warrior]

this will never happen............right?

[Leonidae]

well, maybe vette will get rid of it's leaf springs when the Ford's engineers redesign it to be a super Focus..

[mautzel]

Originally Posted by Leonidae

well, maybe vette will get rid of it's leaf springs when the Ford's engineers redesign it to be a super Focus..

Flaming alert!

And I don't think that this merger ever will happen.

[Cobol74]

Is this even legal - are there not anti trust legislation laws to prevent such a merger of two dominant companies in one market? Any way, if they need more fuel efficient cars they both have subsidiaries overseas that the could borrow the platforms from and put on bodies cheaply that would appeal to the US market. Random thought - do executives get HUGH payoffs if they get laid off because of the merger? Oh and it damn well did not work for BL - it was a fiasco - Morris Marina and Austin Allegro anyone.

[BlaRo]

I like the British Leyland references in this thread. Even though I'm American (and the only BL products we got was something called a "Sterling"), I know what happened to them, and the comparisons between them and GM/Ford are natural. It's only a matter of time, frankly, if they keep at it like this.

[Cobol74]

The execs may be thinking Merc and Chrysler - MERC and Chrysler were - in their own ways - well run companies and it almost did not work for them.

[British_Rover]

Originally Posted by Prost264

Y
Ford should do the same and drop Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover, Mazda etc....

American auto companies need to save some money by not wasting it on other crap and build a decent enough car so I can stop buying imports... oh wait, the Challenger and Camaro are already on their way.

Yeah but if ford dropped all of those brands then they wouldn't be profitable any longer.

All of those brands with the exeption of Jaguar, and I have no idea why Jaguar is not profitable they make reliable vehicles that have soul, are profitable for Ford.

[Prost264]

Originally Posted by Cobol74

Is this even legal...

I think it is since the imports dominate the market already, it's not like GM and Ford own the American roads these days and we can't buy anything else.

[The_Clincher]

Originally Posted by British_Rover

Yeah but if ford dropped all of those brands then they wouldn't be profitable any longer.

All of those brands with the exeption of Jaguar, and I have no idea why Jaguar is not profitable they make reliable vehicles that have soul, are profitable for Ford.

jag isnt profitable because nobody buys any...

if jaguar is to survive the next gen S and X-types are going to have to be really damn good!

mayb they might also make an A3, 1-series fighter