when do you think GM and Ford will merge??

I mean just thinking, will it ever ever ever happen??

the market, and the competition...
just throwing it out there cus it looks like Toyota is laughing all the way to the bank....literally.. :rolleyes:

could the big one toyota make it possible? or would one let the other fold??

Hrrrm....I'd surmise as to oh, never....

I could see it as a faint possibility *IF* the truck/suv market were to collapse, though, I'd imagine the probability of that happening is akin to the probability of ol' Mr. Gates umm, donating his assets into my portfolio.

Actually this almost happened several decades ago if I remember my history right. I think the government smacked it down though fearing a Monopoly being formed from or that GM didnt have the proper capital at the time to buy out Ford.

Scary thought, but I too remember hearing something about it awhile back. :( Let us hope that never, ever happen.

Never?

When 2 companies have all the same problems merging would compound rather than reduce those problems.

I'd actually think Toyota taking over GM could be more likely. Seriously.

Never

A Mustang-based Camaro with a Ford V8 sounds like a nightmare. :death:

Actually this almost happened several decades ago if I remember my history right. I think the government smacked it down though fearing a Monopoly being formed from or that GM didnt have the proper capital at the time to buy out Ford.
That was in 1909. The loan for $9.5 million was turned down by the bankers.

Actually this almost happened several decades ago if I remember my history right. I think the government smacked it down though fearing a Monopoly being formed from or that GM didnt have the proper capital at the time to buy out Ford.

You are right.

GM attempted to buy Ford or vice versa some decades ago (20s or 30s).

I don't think the government was the one to kill it though. :think:

To give that some perspective, at the time GM was Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland and Cadillac... If the loan went through would they have ever bought Chevrolet?

Then people would bitch "Why does GM need both Ford and Chevy brand pickups? Just dump XXX and only sell YYY" Any one notice as more American brands are dropped (olds, plymouth, eagle) or foreign brands intigrated (Saab, Jaguar) other brands pop up and take market share (Kia, Hyundai, Scion, Mini). GM doesn't need to buy more brands, it needs to perfect the ones it has first!!!

I think that GM could have bought Ford in the late 80s early 90s but just didn't.

I think that GM could have bought Ford in the late 80s early 90s but just didn't.

Actually, it was Ford that could have bought GM in the late 80s to early 90s.

GM was teathering on the edge of bankruptcy after Roger Smith's time at GM, and Ford was awash in cash after a decade of running the long paid off , widely used, and highly successful "fox" body and doing a 180 and drastically improving quality & customer satisfaction over the course of the 80s. Having a car that flattened all competition also helped (Ford Taurus was the best selling car in the US by a massive margin till the late 90s redesign).

Ford also had the resources to at least make a play on GM again in the mid-late 90s. Again, Ford was awash in cash, and they instead went on a buying spree that aquired them Land Rover, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Volvo, and a controlling share of Mazda.

Ford could have easily marshalled their resources and bought the lion's share of General Motors and if not own it outright, most definately own enough of it to run General Motors. Not just in the US, but the whole GM kitty.

NEVER.

I think the two companies would go bankrupt before that ever happened.

NEVER.

I think the two companies would go bankrupt before that ever happened.

I also think that.

A merger wouldn't be bad if one company was doing well, very well. But both are hurting now, GM more than Ford. I'm sure Ford does not want to shoulder GM's problems, and vice versa. Both companies have their own butts to worry about without a second butt raising the stink factor even more for them;).

So no merger. It would just amplify their problems. You don't take on another torubled brand when you yourself are in very hot water.

If anything, GM and Ford will probably unload their more troubled brands to free up some $$$ if things that bad. Both would consider a reduction before an expansion or merger.

There also has to be a compelling reason for one company to buy the other. No one is going to buy a competitor just for s*its and giggles.

Renault bought into AMC for a US distribution network.

Chrysler bought AMC to get ahold of Jeep

Mercedes bought Chrysler because at the time Chrysler had more money than GOD, and, of course, highly profitable Jeep.

Ford bought Aston & Jag to gain a world prestige name.

Unless Ford goes bankrupt, and GM wants to get ahold of Jaguar & Aston Martin, or GM tanks and Ford wants to get Corvette, SAAB, Holden, & Cadillac, there simply isn't an incentive for any mergers between the 2.

HOWEVER, on the other hand, If Chrysler division was ever offered for sale by Daimler, I can easily see Ford, GM, and even Toyota getting into a bloody, throat cutting bidding war to get Chrysler.

Toyota would instantly have an established US nameplate, sales structure, plants, credible trucks, and even a supercar. Everyone would be after Jeep, the relatively low cost RWD LX platform, and Chrysler's minivans (both Ford & GM have never came close to matching Chrysler's minivan's sales and public acceptance) are extremely juicy targets, and which company wouldn't want to get Viper.

That's the scenario I'd see before a GM-Ford merger.

actually, it almost happened........and was only days from being finalized........








.........back in 1912.

William Durant convinced Henry to sell his company...and the papers were all but done.........

...........except that Henry suddenly decided he wanted the 6 million (as I recall) in CASH.......not stock........



.......betcha didn't know Walter P. Chrysler once was a VP of GM, didja???



ah, the incest that went on in the Motor City!

Don't forget...Henry Ford pretty much started Cadillac...

http://www.autoswalk.com/cadmod30.html

Lets hope our kind, loving friends from japan dont buy the entire GM company.