Hyundai to Buy Out Chrysler
From the Washington Post:
Hyundai Motor Co., the world’s sixth-largest automaker, on Monday denied a British newspaper report that it is interested in acquiring Chrysler, the U.S. unit of German automaker DaimlerChrysler AG.
"We are not considering to buy Chrysler because our hands are full," Hyundai spokesman Jake Jang said, responding to a report in The Times that the South Korean automaker was among companies interested in bidding for the Chrysler Group.
The Times reported on its Web site that Hyundai was thought to be interested in joining possible bidders for the U.S. automaker, without citing specific sources. The paper said that Hyundai was believed to be interested in gaining access to Chrysler’s network of dealerships in the U.S.
Could you imagine 50 years ago if somebody said a South Korean company would be buying out a major US auto maker? They would be laughed out of the building, so just the fact that Hyundai is contemplating buying a US auto maker is pretty amazing and another sign of how far Korea has come.Â
Well, first the WaPo has once again shown it's Euro-centric attitude by saying that Chrysler is the U.S. unit of the German DaimlerChrysler AG. I believe that Chrysler bought out the shares in Daimler (the parent company of Mercedes Benz) not the opposite, a few years back. I guess the WaPo missed that.
Another suspicious comment is that Hyundai was considering buying out Chrysler. Hyundai may be a multi-national corporation but as it's representative stated in the article "their hands are full." This may have been a bold plan by Hyundai but I don't think it will go anywhere.