Today DaimlerChrysler announced officially that it would end sales of the Plymouth brand in Canada, effective April 1st. It was a brief statement made on an internal employee TV system, however I'd expect it precedes a press release.

Actually, the way it was announced really typifies my fears regarding this takeover. One of the more innovative things about the old Chrysler was that we were one of the first auto companies to have satellite news hook-ups at every facility (And thus video-conferencing). There was an employee "news" show on an internal network called CEN (Chrysler Employee Network). This was a great service because it kept everyone abreast on industry news, and it reported the good, bad, and ugly within the company, not just propaganda.

However, with the coming of Daimler, CEN has disappeared. Now we see occasional news blips, but only if they're positive. Of course, if four vice-presidents left DCX for Ford & GM, (within 3 months) I doubt if I'd be bragging about it either.

The replacement for CEN is called DCTV. It mostly runs video of old Mercedes cars competing in open-wheel race events (complete with snooty British announcer accent). Other fare includes pre-made videos showing our glorious Truck, Bus, Train and Plane operations overseas. (They're all money losers).

No more reviews of competitors vehicles, no more industry news, no feeds from other facilities showing improvements to be implemented elsewhere. That was CEN.

In fact, just a few months ago we were subjected to a near constant video extolling the virtues of the Mercedes "Smart" mini-car. This was to be the future of city transport. However, they have not mentioned that just yesterday production schedules were cut for the 2nd time, reflecting the cars disastrous sales in Europe. They were cut from 140,000 to 100,000 and finally to 80,000 projected sales. Of course at these sales numbers, one has to wonder what the "break-even" point was.

I had to learn this info from a trade magazine.