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Whom is DC buying next?
Optimized for 800x600 screen resolution .................Updated December 15th 1999

Reports from Reuters, Hamburger Abendblatt, Auto Bild and CNNfn (twice).
 

Newsagency Reuters reports on December 13th 1999

DaimlerChrysler, Fiat said eyeing Daewoo

FRANKFURT, Dec 13 (Reuters) - European car manufacturers DaimlerChrysler and Fiat SpA have expressed an interest in ailing South Korean auto maker Daewoo Motor, the German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Monday.
It said DaimlerChrysler, which already has a 3 percent stake in Daewoo commercial vehicle unit Ssangyong Motor, had asked Daewoo Motor's main creditor, the Korea Development Bank, for detailed information about the group.
DaimlerChrysler declined to comment on the report, which a spokesman called speculative. Fiat also declined comment.
On Monday, the Korea Development Bank said an international auction of Daewoo Motor could be held if talks with General Motors, scheduled to take place on Tuesday or Wednesday, were unsuccessful.
''What's at stake is how much money General Motors is ready to pay and whether the U.S. firm is interested in part of Daewoo Motor's plants at home and abroad or all of them,'' a KDB official said from Seoul.
Handelsblatt said that in addition to GM, ''Ford Motor, DaimlerChrysler and Fiat... have signalled interest in a possible takeover of Daewoo Motor Co.''
It said DaimlerChrysler had requested a meeting with representatives of Daewoo's creditors and talks were taking place, although it remained to be seen whether the German group was really interested in a takeover, the paper said, citing a spokesman for the Korea Development Bank.
Daewoo Motor, part of the disintegrating Daewoo Group, has liabilities totalling 18.6 trillion won ($16.4 billion) against 12.9 trillion won of assets.
A selloff plan would require the approval of its foreign creditors, owed an estimated $1.8 billion.
Analysts said some creditors would favour a deal with GM because it had a previous partnership with Daewoo that lasted 15 years until October 1992.
In August, after nearly two years of talks, GM and Daewoo Motor signed a memorandum of understanding on a strategic alliance but failed to reach a final agreement.
''The Europeans are obviously intrigued by Korea but whether they're brave enough to do it is another issue,'' said Salomon Smith Barney analyst John Lawson.
He said it was not surprising that DaimlerChrysler and Fiat might be asking for information. ''You have to look at what's on offer and what opportunities it might bring,'' he said. ''You'd expect Volkswagen to run a rule over them as well.''
Officials at Renault declined to comment on whether they might have an interest in Daewoo, while Volkswagen and Peugeot officials were not immediately available for comment.
Daewoo Motor is the world's 15th largest vehicle group and produced 950,000 units in 1998.
06:35 12-13-99 Reuters Limited
Special thanks to Danny from Florida for sending me this report!
Remark by MBEP webmaster:
DaimlerChrysler already has a small percentage stake in Korean carmaker SsangYong which recently was bought by Daewoo.
For a page about the SsangYong Chairman 600 which is based upon the platform of the 1985-1995 middle-class Mercedes series W124 and has a 3.2-litre six cylinder MB engine click here

Daimler eyeing Fiat, Honda?
Analysts discount German reports that carmaker looking elsewhere than Peugeot

NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. auto analysts discounted reports from Europe Wednesday that DaimlerChrysler AG may be looking to Italy's Fiat or Japan's Honda Motor Co. instead of its long-anticipated link with PSA Peugeot.
Daimler officials told analysts at Deutsche Bank as recently as last week that they still are focused on Peugeot and they have no interest in a purchase of Fiat, said Rod Lache, analyst at Deutsche Bank's U.S. investment bank, Deutsche Bank Alex Brown.
"They've been telling us explicitly that they haven't decided on what their small car strategy is going to be," said Lache. "But they said their discussions with Fiat have not been on the basis of a merger, and that PSA is still their preferred partner."
Daimler has made no secret of its desire to expand in the small car market through acquisitions or alliances after its own products in the sector met with muted customer demand.
German press reports this week said Fiat would supply Daimler with a range of components for a new version of the Smart car, with the German-American company taking a stake in Fiat.
Fiat described the reports as "baseless." DaimlerChrysler refused to comment.
"We never comment on any rumors or speculation. Nothing has changed on this position," said DaimlerChrysler spokesman Juergen Wittmann.
Meanwhile, the German business weekly Wirtschafts-Woche reported that DaimlerChrysler co-chairman Juergen Schrempp would prefer to buy Honda, rather than either Fiat or Peugeot. It said the company might even use the Honda motorcycle engine in its diminutive Smart car, and that talks could begin early next year.
But analysts said that there is no reason to believe that Honda would change its long-held stance that it wants to stay independent.
"Financially, their product line is reasonably successful," said David Garrity, analyst at Dresdner, Kleinwort & Benson in New York. "There would be no kind of distress sale as there was with Nissan and Renault. Honda can pick something in their own time and place."
While Honda is looking for a way to enter the European market, DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes dealers are not an effective way to do so, both Garrity and Lache said. Garrity said that German press accounts of these kinds of business deals are notoriously unreliable.
"This is very much rumor mongering," he said. Analysts in Europe suggested that the German firm would be weakened by a deal as it struggles to integrate the Daimler and Chrysler organizations.
"DaimlerChrysler has bitten off more than it can chew. The worst thing it can do now is to take another bite," said Peter Schmidt of consultant Automotive Industry Data.
Daimler had been negotiating with Peugeot to share components for a new small car based on the French company's 206 model. However, Peugeot, which is an exchange-listed company but controlled by a family trust, has balked at selling a stake to Daimler.
While sales of Daimler's small A-Class car have picked up after a disappointing start, its Smart car has continued to be dogged by problems and slow sales.
Fiat has struggled with falling market share and is keen to develop another revenue stream. Schmidt said a deal with Fiat also could founder on the issue of control. Fiat's owners are unlikely to cede control of the company, while Daimler may want a majority stake to push restructuring at the troubled Italian automaker.
While Fiat's share of the small car market has slid under pressure from rivals Volkswagen (FVOW) and Ford (F), its engineering skills are well regarded.
"Fiat has a lot going for it in terms of design, technology and efficiency," said Schmidt.
Shares of DaimlerChrysler closed Wednesday at 70-15/16, down 9/16, on the New York Stock Exchange. In trading in Germany shares fell 1 percent in morning trading after having climbed more than 2 percent Tuesday when reports of a Fiat link first appeared. Fiat shares opened 2 percent higher but slipped back to trade flat. Peugeot stock was 1 percent weaker.
By midday Thursday in Tokyo, Shares in Honda Motor Co. had jumped nearly 6 percent on the amid speculation.
-- from staff and wire reports
Many thanks to Danny from Hollywood, FLA for pointing to the articles of CNNfm.com!

Daimler small-car talks
Carmaker has no comment on collaboration with Peugeot, Fiat

LONDON (CNNfn) - DaimlerChrysler is holding talks with both Peugeot of France and Fiat of Italy on collaboration in developing a small car that could lead to the German-American automaker taking a stake in any eventual partner, according to a report Monday.
The Stuttgart-based company has held extensive talks with both manufacturers and a decision on the choice of partner could come before Daimler's board meets in early December, according to a report in the German business daily Handelsblatt.
Daimler favors a cross-shareholding as part of the agreement, as it would give the company more control over any venture. Any simple collaboration, involving the exchange of components, has less appeal as it would only make the group dependent on its partner.
There is a very real possibility that Daimler will end up with " a significant stake" in either Peugeot or Fiat, the newspaper reported, citing a source on Daimler's board.
A spokesman for DaimlerChrysler refused comment on the report to CNNfn.com. "This is pure speculation and we never comment on speculation," he said.
DaimlerChrysler is under pressure to cut the average gas consumption of its product line, a part of a commitment by all German carmakers ((to)) cut consumption by 2008.
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Many thanks to Danny from Hollywood, FLA for pointing to the articles of CNNfm.com!

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