Doug Korthof

Chrysler's Rebadging Plan: Strategic Blunder for Nissan?

Well, Nissan has nothing to lose with this deal (it can sell less-than-perfect seconds to Chrysler); and Chrysler has nothing to lose either (doesn't cost them a thing to stock a rebranded Nissan; at worst, they don't sell).

On the other hand, most likely, they won't gain, either. But for Chrysler, it's worth the gamble: no loss vs. some possible gain, however unlikely.

Chrysler's problems are legion, but NONE of them involve the UAW or line workers. ALL of them involve betting the company on big, gas-guzzling monster hemi-mobiles; they just don't have the expertise, let alone the money, to develop a small excellent car.

Chrysler's best bet is to sell some brands to a company like Nissan that wants to be considered 'American'. And that's what they seem to be starting to do. If I were them, I'd rebrand the Nissans as "Plymouth" or even "Desoto", and eventually drop the Chysler connection, just sell them at rebranded Nissan dealers as "Plymouth Dealer". After all, Nissan was once Datsun...

SUV Makers Feel the Heat of Higher Oil Prices

Very funny, GM putting SUV engineers to work on fuel-efficient cars! As if it just takes skin designers to make a new bumper or better door!

GM will find out that it has no skillsets needed for plug-in and other efficient cars; importing small cars (built using expensive Euros) into American is a money-loser.

The one plug-in car that GM had, the EV1, is NOT under consideration for a resumption of production. That entails, the rest is nonsense.