It's about damn time. This takeover should have happened years ago. I own a DC product, and do extensive business with all DC assembly plants, so I know how mismanaged the company was under North American control. It's about time some new and revitalizing management philospophies are implemented and gain greater control over manufacturing a quality product and also the fat bellied unions.

Explains alot.Goodbye Jeep. Goodbye Great
American Tradition. It appears jeep has come full circle from its World War 2 roots. How ironic.
Rich

here is my comment A LITTLE OVER TWO YEARS AGO WHEN I FIRST HEARD
THAT CHRYSLER AND DAIMLER WERE MERGING I DIDN'T BELIEVE IT FOR A
SECOND. IN FACT SHORTLY AFTER THE NEWS I HAD A CONVERSAION WITH A
FRIEND OF MINE WHO IS A SALESMAN AT A LOCAL CHRYSLER DEALER. AT THE TIME HE WAS EXCITED ABOUT THE MERGER, I ON THE OTHER HAND WAS SADDENED BECAUSE I FELT THAT IT WAS A PURE TAKEOVER BY THE GERMANS.
UNFORTUNATELY IT APPEARS THAT MY WORRIES WERE TRUE. I ALSO REMEMBER TELLING MY FRIEND THAT I THOUGHT DAIMLER WOULD SUCK EVERYTHING THEY COULD OUT OF CHRYSLER UNTIL THER WAS NOTHING LEFT
WITHIN FIVE YEARS. I HOPE LIKE HELL THAT I AM WRONG ABOUT THAT, BECAUSE CHRYSLER WAS ONCE A PROUD COMPANY WITH PROUD WORKERS AND OWNERS. ROBERT EATON IS NOTHING MORE THAN ONE OF THE GREATEST
AMERICAN TRAITORS OF ALL TIME, WHO WAS MOTIVATED BY PURE GREED. AS
FOR JUERGEN SCHREMPP I WOULD FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THERE IS A BIGGER IDIOT ON THIS PLANET THAN THIS GUY. MAYBE WE WILL GET LUCKY
SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD AND DAIMLER WILL DUMP THE ALBATROSS THAT
THEY TURNED CHRYSLER INTO AND FORD OR GM COME ALONG AND BUY IT FOR A SONG. AT LEAST THEY WOULD BE AMERICAN AGAIN.

Chrysler has to realize what happened to Land Rover after BMW tookover, ransacked & stole all tecnological/traditional automotive secrets of the great British 4x4 maker and later thrown out to sea to be later acquired by Ford. I hope this scenario will be an eye-opener for Chrysler in protecting American interests especially in their present position with Daimler.
European firms regardless of industry are very reluctant in sharing their resources with the rest of the world , more notably German organizations. However, they are extremely keen on reaping all possible benefits for their homeground and leaving the foreign firm in the dumps as evident with Land Rover. Are there any Mercedes-shared platform on any non-German automobiles? Practically none except may be for the dinosaur hardware of the Volkswagen beetle assembled in Mexico , Brazil and other developing economies.

Chrysler and other American organizations should envision their continued prosperity in the world economy by practicing fair & equal sharing/transfer of technology as best possible. We should be wise to share when it is beneficial and close our doors when imminent threat sets upon us. I hope Chrysler does the right thing by resisting any dodgy maneuvers on the part of Daimler. Americans shouldn't bow to any crap laid down by any party especially conservative and arrogant Germans/europeans. After all, we have the most powerful discretion in the world & thank God we don't abuse it like most societies in other parts.


Long live the JEEP, an American art ; a World icon!!!!!!!!!

I own a 95 wrangler and was looking to buy a cherokee this next year...but I can imagine the people on the assembly lines doing a worse and worse job with each vehicle that goes by...time to broaden my new vehicle search.

Way to go Eaton, Nice Merger. It looks to me the beginning of the end of Chrysler. following in the way of Pacard, Studebaker, AMC, etc, in the years to come we might see one or two models from Chrysler, a compromised Cherokee and a spin off that as New Wrangler that wont even look like a Jeep or trail like a Jeep. I hope they put a bullit through the Heart of Jeep the way any good soldier would to a wounded fathful horse. Good bye Jeep. I Believe the Bronco is on its way back in 2003.

I find it very difficult to understand Daimler's reasoning for doing these things. "What is it that they want out of Chrysler Corp. anyway?" They seem to be slashing new projects and have precious little to show for their troubles. Is the money really worth the possible liquidation of Chrysler as an entity?

I have been a General Motors fan for a long time (even though it sometimes seems that they could poor crap out of their boots if the instructions were written on the sole). Lately, however, I had been impressed ny the fresh "new" stuff coming out of Chrysler: re-modeled Dodge Ram trucks, Neon, V-10 Viper, and now the PT Cruiser. Chrysler couldn't have been managed THAT poorly could it. Now it seems that Daimler is pushing all of that aside in favour of dollars and more productivity. Is it me that doesn't understand Daimler, or is it that Daimler doesn't understand Chrysler?

No worries, us Americans are alwayz wiser. We'll allow some german to sit in top office so we could snatch some technical goodies & hey presto', u got JEEP sitting on those european's ass for a long time. Power to America.