The automotive analysts at CSM Worldwide are predicting what many of us have known all along: Chrysler can't survive in its current form, despite the Feds' bailout bucks, and that the Detroit Trio will be performing as a duet in the very near future.
The firm cites its report that estimates a reduction in Motown's market share in 2009 as consumers continue to purchase fewer vehicles overall. With the three domestic automakers battling it out for the hearts, minds and high-interest loans of consumers, something's got to give, and Chrysler isn't in a position to weather the economic storm.
CSM's vice president of global vehicle forecasts, Michael Robinet, maintains that Chrysler should be gradually phased out in order to "go away in a controlled, staged process," going on to say that Chrysler, "doesn't really have the scale, in most vehicle lines, required to survive in this market."
The idea would be to avoid bankruptcy at all costs by selling off Chrysler's most viable assets (Jeep and ummm...) to a number of different buyers, essentially parting-out the automaker, something that Chrysler's private equity owner, Cerberus, has vowed never to do.
CSM's vehicle forecast for 2014 already factors in the elimination of Chrysler's production capacity and products, although the rebirth of the "Detroit 2" is likely to happen much sooner.
