ABC's Good Morning America knows that Cerberus isn't a car company, so they're quick to point the obvious fact out this morning in their coverage of the unwinding of the "merger of equals." Because they're a private equity company in addition to never manufacturing a vehicle before, it means they're looking at making some money on this whole venture (as opposed to what traditional US auto manufacturers have more or less been submitting on earnings forms for the past couple of years) doing one of two things. They could decide to make money immediately, via selling the Chrysler group off part and parcel — or they could decide to look at getting Chrysler all fixed up again with Wolfgang Bernhard (now an adviser to the Cerberus Group) at the helm. We're more inclined to believe the second of the two options is the most likely course of action — what with Bernhard's involvement as well as the UAW's tacit blessing of the decision. But either way, we're feeling this story's going to be the gift that keeps on giving to the automotive news media and talking heads pundits for quite a while to come — or at least until UAW negotiations grind everything to a halt later this year.
Good Morning America [ABCNews.com]
Related:
Lasorda E-mail on the Unmerger of Equals; Corporate Unmerger of E-mails: Dieter Style [internal]