CHRYSLER AND FIAT-DYNAMIC DUO TO FORGET, AND WHAT ABOUT THE SHAFTED PARTS SUPPLIER NETWORK?

The deal so pushed by the government as the end all be all, a Chrysler-Fiat venture, is bound to be a DUD, with a capital D.

Did anyone notice that FIAT, aka FLAT, made cars that nobody wanted to buy in America. That is why that brand is not sold here-FIAT made funny cars in which it was hard to figure out which end was the front and which was the back, and it had a bad reputation of always having something not working just right.

I personally never owned an Italian FIAT, but I owned an Italian airplane, the fabulous Waco Vela, which always needed some part. The last part it needed was mandated by the FAA, otherwise it was not allowed to fly, a landing gear part that could pulverize on landing.

I placed the order with the Italian factory, and after about a year I received it; enough said.

Remember those little cars more suited for European drivers used to driving with their knees in their chin? Oh, and do you remember the rust that would engulf the cars after just a few years.

I am not talking about exotics, just the ones that regular people might buy.

For the same amount as the government is now spending to keep this dead DUD alive, it could have built a new robotic factory in Tennesee or Alabama, or Texas, and have billions left to spare, however, that may not include a union pension plan, or outrageous wages as well, so it was dead on arrival.

Now that the wise men ( aka WISEGUYS) from the government are running Chrysler, the first order of business after getting billions in cash, was to SHUT DOWN ALL THE PLANTS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD OF TIME.

That move is so stupid, it can not be adequately described with a sufficient number of *@%&!!! symbols. All the assembly plants will close, and they will start up again....whenever the company exits its Chapter 11 process.

Did someone forget that Chrysler does not actually really make cars, it just assembles them from the parts and pieces that are sent to its "assembly plants" by all kind of little and big REAL manufacturers.

What are these REAL manufacturers to do while Chrysler goes into a type of financial hibernation? Will these often crucial suppliers just wake up too when it comes back to life?

Don't count on it.

In the real world of manufacturing, these other independent businesses need to have a steady stream of revenues to in turn pay their employees, and to STAY IN BUSINESS.

What if when Chrysler says to them "I'm back start shipping me those door handles and oil dipsticks and ashtray covers", nobody answers the phone because these manufacturers are out of business. This may have been a little detail all the new guys running the business may have forgotten, Chrysler really does not REALLY build any cars, the suppliers do, and they can not all just hibernate too, and spring to life when needed.

In a free market this deal would never happen on the announced terms, it would happen as it should though a real reorganization, and Chrysler may have been able to emerge as a competitive business.

Don't buy the stock too soon, until you see what this car line will look like.