Chrysler interested in buying 20% of VW

[eckonc]

According to the German magazine Focus, Daimler-Chrysler would be interested in buying 20% of VW. The operation would be configured as an exchange of partecipations.

http://www.quattroruote.it/auto/Mond...m?codice=42936

[ASurroca]

I just read this via Autoblog a moment ago. As they commented there, Porsche's plan to take a 20% stake could have pre-empted DaimlerChrystler's. Now, if they were both to buy a 20% stake (something I find extremely unlikely) that would mean that between Porsche, DaimlerChrysler, and the state of Lower Saxony, that would be about 60%.

[noR]

Oh god no Not GM please!

[SMG]

Well, it's like this..

My Bug is made, nothing can make it a GM now

But yes, VW being percieved as a Chrysler would suck...

SMG

[Concept1]

Come on Porsche, hurry up! Buy! Buy! Buy!

[eckonc]

I know....GM ...gosh

[kcfoxie]

I don't think Volkswagen would allow this given that Mercedes, since being a part of Chrysler, has had it's largest recall in company history and their quality has consistantly gone down hill since the partnershiip. I sincerly pray that VW not go this route, but I am rather spoiled since I have the car I wanted and don't intend to buy another new model unless Ragster in a non turbo or diesel is born.

[Atomic Glee]

DaimlerChrysler rules out stake in Volkswagen

Looks like it won't be happening after all.

FRANKFURT, Oct 1 (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth-biggest carmaker, on Saturday ruled out taking a stake in German rival Volkswagen, six days after Porsche said it wanted to buy a fifth of VW.

"We will not take a stake in Volkswagen, even in the future," a company spokesman said, dashing speculation that the rivals would form a financial link.

But the head of Daimler's Mercedes unit, Dieter Zetsche, told the Stuttgarter Zeitung in an interview on Saturday that Daimler would continue to hold talks with VW about intensifying cooperation between the two carmakers on a number of projects.

German media had reported that Daimler and VW had discussed a cross-shareholding to protect each other from a hostile takeover.

Weekly magazine Der Spiegel wrote that the two sides agreed each would take less than 20 percent in the other's shares, although they would not appoint their own representatives to each other's supervisory boards to avoid a conflict of interest.

German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Saturday that VW would swap 10 percent of its shares for 6.9 percent of Daimler shares held by Deutsche Bank.

On Sunday, Stuttgart-based luxury carmaker Porsche said it would acquire a stake of 20 percent in VW, making it the company's largest shareholder. The state of Lower Saxony has 18.2 percent.

Zetsche told the Stuttgarter Zeitung that Daimler was holding talks with VW about a number of projects, such as a minivan and whether to put Volkswagen engines into Chrysler cars.

"We are seeing whether there are more possibilities to intensify our cooperation," Zetsche said. "We're talking about a whole bunch of projects. We meet each other regularly."

Die Welt reported on Saturday that VW and Daimler were holding discussions about the possibility of building the successor to Daimler's Smart ForFour car at Volkswagen.

Both companies declined to comment on the report.

[ASurroca]

I'll just quote my earlier post:

Originally Posted by ASurroca

I just read this via Autoblog a moment ago. As they commented there, Porsche's plan to take a 20% stake could have pre-empted DaimlerChrystler's. Now, if they were both to buy a 20% stake (something I find extremely unlikely) that would mean that between Porsche, DaimlerChrysler, and the state of Lower Saxony, that would be about 60%.

Booya!

I'm sure this came from all the joint-venture projects DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen have been talking about, such as the minivan and engine-swap the article referenced.

[digitalputty]

OH GAHD! NO! ... I hate this stupid stuff. GRRRRRRR!

[Atomic Glee]

I dunno...I never thought I'd ever, ever say this, but some of Chrysler's products these days are pretty darned nifty (300, Charger - can't wait for them to cleanse themselves of the rest of their cruddy lineup). And Mercedes seems to be coming back around to making cars I care about - I LOVE the CLS.

[ASurroca]

I agree about the Chrysler lineup. While I still think the Charger/300C twins have cheap, god-awful interiors, they're solid, oldschool big American sedans which even Europeans apparently love (there's an article in the latest car magazine about how people are importing Magnums through the grey market).

The Chrysler Pacifica is definitely better than a minivan, and despite the fact that the R-Class is based off the ML-Class platform, I still think it's little more than a gussied up Pacifica for twice the price. The Crossfire is a bargain, basically an SLK on the cheap.

And Dodge. The Charger and Magnum. The replacement for the Neon, the "mini Magnum" looking Calibur is bound to be a hit, and the Nitro mini-ute looks fantastic. They're building a rather nice lineup indeed.

Let's hope their upcoming minivan is more Merc than Chrysler, though, since there's still that lingering talk about Chrysler and Volkswagen doing a double-team development job on it so that VW can fast-track a minivan to the US.

[VW2.0Driver]

:-P Diamler-Chrysler is not GM people, so I dunno why people are spazzing about GM grabbing VW.

[tdibugman]

Lets not forget any VW with Monsoon has a little bit of GM in it...

And as some of the first entirely new products since the merger, the 300/Magnums are great for the money and the CLS has Benz's best fit and finish since the W140 chassis. When I hit the lottery, a CLS55 (no matter how much I hate the aristocracy associated with a new Benz) will be in the driveway.