Kirk is back

Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. on Thursday made a $4.5 billion cash offer for DaimlerChrysler AG's troubled U.S.-based Chrysler unit.

Kerkorian type of investor is very good, to clean the mess! No doubt, Chrysler will benefit from this approach. And, for us, we think Chrysler value is bigger than 4.5 billion dollars.

This is another ingredient to the rearrangement of the auto industry in America.

In another planet, we read this: Alan Mulally, who succeeded Bill Ford last year as chief executive of Ford Motor Co., received compensation valued at $39.1 million in his four months on the job in 2006, including an $18.5 million bonus related to his signing and awards he gave up when he left his previous employer Boeing Co., according to a regulatory filing Thursday.

This is not good for Ford. To earn 39.1 minus 18.5 million dollars in four months says that the Ford Board did not make its appropriate job!

Privaty Equity, again

The pace of activity around a possible sale of DaimlerChrysler AG'S Chrysler Group is accelerating, after several potential buyers met with management before presenting preliminary offers by the end of the month, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The news are not new. Daimler - Chrysler have decided to put Chrysler on sale. The news are the list of potential buyers: The interested private-equity firms include Cerberus Capital Management LLC and a group led by Blackstone Group and Centerbridge Partners LP.

Auto industry: too much capacity and players

The auto industry is like a volcano, exploding large amounts of mud. The reason for this explosion is simple: too many players in auto industry, in US.

Probably, US is becoming the "world arena" for automakers: GM (with brands like Chevrolet, Saab, Daewoo or Opel), Ford (with Ford, Mazda, Land Rover or Jaguar), Daimler-Chrysler (with Mercedes, Dodge or Smart), Toyota (with Toyota, Lexus), Honda, Hyunday, Nissan, VW (VW, Audi, or Rools-Royce), etc.

DaimlerChrysler today said fourth-quarter net income fell 40 percent to 577 million euros ($757 million) from 966 million euros. Revenue dropped 1.9 percent to 40.7 billion euros. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected net income of 726 million euros in the quarter.

No matter Zetsche will argue, Daimler will regain its previous name, Daimler-Benz.

No news

To read this: Toyota said to overtake Ford in January 2007; it is like to say this: in 2007, USA will not leave Iraq.

And Ford will be third in cars, in USA. Because, globally, Ford is now third.

The picture for America's automakers are not good, even in USA:

• GM enjoyed 28% market share in 2001. Today they have 24%.
• Ford had 21% in 2001. Today they have 15%.
• Daimler-Chrysler came from near 15% market share to a 13% level, now.

Probably, Asians do it better!

Detroit: a chaos

Ford is in turmoil. GM is trying to survive. Daimler-Chrysler is in trouble, too:

• DaimlerChrysler AG could lay off up to 4,000 at Freightliner, its North American truck operations next year, Andreas Renschler, a member of the automaker's board of management who heads its truck operations.

Is it a reason to think that Henry Ford, Alfred P. Sloan and Lee Iacoca, did not have any successors?

Detroit: a chaos?

Read this: "Joe Eberhardt becomes the latest departure from the U.S. division of DaimlerChrysler".

Another victim of the chaotic situation of Detroit. GM is trying to survive. Ford is in deep hole. Chrysler is a black hole. What the Germans of Daimler - Chrysler will do about this?

• a year of lower sales at the automaker, which has seen a decline of more than 7 percent so far in 2006.
• Chrysler is also trying to recover from a $1.5 billion loss in the third quarter.
• Chrysler also has about 50,000 vehicles in its "sales bank" - previously undisclosed parking lots full of vehicles unassigned to any dealers.
• Gary Dilts, who reported to Eberhardt as senior vice president of U.S. sales, and Raymond Fisher, former vice president of sales, service and parts, announced their retirements in June. Marketing executives Jeff Bell and Julie Roehm also resigned earlier this year.

The Asia, especially the Japanese and Koreans guys are the winners, for now!

Ford: turmoil on the mirror?

Ford Motor Company is struggling everyday. Great-Grandson of Henry Ford is out. Sales are down. Image is down. Reliability is down. Energy problem is not solved. Visteon still is a problem.

But, Ford is not the only looser. GM is scratching and Daimler - Chrysler is down-up-down.

But, Wilbur Ross, the billionaire, is trying to get the whole picture: 1) But auto sales remained relatively strong at around 17 million units. 2) half of the 50 largest suppliers in North America lost money in 2005. 3) very few earned more than 3 percent on revenues.

It is time to look for a bargain stock like Ford, with a market value of less than 14 billion. This is a small amount for a big auto. We do not even think of a Ford failure....