This is from the marketwatch.com

"But, this is the perplexing thing. If private equity firms and a Canadian car parts company think they can fix Chrysler, and may even be willing to take on a huge liability for the privilege, what is wrong with the people who run Daimler? DCX management could certainly claim to be in the top tier of auto executives in the world. Daimler has the financial resources to attempt a fix at its US arm, and, it has fixed it once before.

The answer is probably that Chrysler has almost no sales outside the US, and Daimler thinks this is essential to its overall future. Overseas sales have certainly been critical to GM's (GM) and Ford's (F) abilities to remain viable, and they are at the heart of Toyota's (TM) strategy to keep growing.

Ninety percent of Chrysler's cars are sold in North America. It sold only 207,000 cars overseas last year. Fifty-five percent of GM's sales were outside the US.

Daimler's Mercedes unit is an international brand. Chrysler is not. Going forward, DCX is not willing to have that many eggs in one market basket.

Douglas A. McIntyre"

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Jason Priest
1999 E430
1995 E420 - retired
1986 420SEL - retired