After his lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler and his ill-fated idea of a tie-up between GM and Renault-Nissan in 2006, then his attempt to buy Chrysler from Daimler (which involved a huge amount of employee ownership; he lost to Cerberus, and quite probably was never seriously considered), “Captain Kirk” Kerkorian bought a stake of 5% of Ford, after seeing that Ford had begun a turnaround.

Will “Captain Kerk” do a call to another automaker for a tie-up with Ford? If that theory is true, before thinking then it could be Ghosn of Renault-Nissan. It could also be one then Ford have currently a joint-venture currently like Peugeot-Citroen for the diesel engines and Fiat (the next-gen European Ford Ka will use the Fiat 500 platform) or a new player like Tata, who they sold Jaguar and Land Rover to them (and besides, Tata might rename themselves Ford since in the French-Canadian slang, “tata” means idiot.”)

Do you think then Kirk’s arrival at Ford is good news?

“Chrysler-Renault-Nissan” (CRN or will it be Chrysler-Nissan-Renault/CNR?) may have been started with the recent talks which resulted in a joint-venture between Chrysler, Nissan, and by extension, Renault. First with the Versa sold as a Chrysler model in South America and then, the next-generation Titan (if they still call the Titan) will use the Dodge Ram chassis and drivetrains while Chrysler will receive from Nissan a small-car platform then some expect then it could span the Hornet. Some (including me, I must confess) begin to think then it could be the 1st step of a bigger plans hence the name I mentioned earlier in the beginning of the text. Unless “Captain Kirk” Kerkorian reserves another surprise with its recent move of acquiring 5% of Ford.

However, until something unexpected arrives from nowhere, we leave the idea of CRN/CNR as a pipe dream for a moment. For the small car, the Hornet could use the Nissan B-platform which includes the Nissan Cube, the Versa known in overseas markets as the Tiida, Renault Clio, etc…there the Renault Logan (sold as Dacia in some markets and as Nissan Aprio in Mexico) which could be the new “Dodge Rambler.” I also thought of reviving the Dart nameplate but I don’t think purists might like the idea althought then the Dart nameplate was once used in Mexico for a K-car variant.

Could we begin to imagine some other possibilities like a Dodge Demon based on a future small Nissan RWD platform or a Nissan Frontier built on the Dakota chassis. (Don’t worry, I won’t imagine some swap of engines like using the Hemi instead of the Twin-turbo V6 under the hood of the GT-R or using the Twin-Turbo V6 of the GT-R for a very limited edition of the Challenger.)

I guess we have to stay tuned for further developments at the “same Mopar-time, same Mopar-channel.”

I’ve been out sick for nearly a week - an ordinary case of the flu hits you harder when you’re recovering from other treatments - but I’ve managed, for the first time in two or three days, to sit at the computer long enough to catch up on some e-mail. Nearly lost amidst the various implications that I need to adjust my body in various ways was an article by Jim Sponseller, which looked at some of the lesser remembered history of Detroit and brought up some extra reasons why Americans may want to think twice about buying imported vehicles. I think it’s worth a look.

…you probably can’t see any difference unless you write for the weblog.

As a reminder, anyone can send in material to be posted on Allpar’s weblog, subject to editorial review. We invite your postings.

The weblogs essentially replace our prior system of guest editorials which could become outdated a bit too quickly (to wit, our collections of anti-Daimler-takeover and keep-Plymouth-going editorials, not to mention requests to Chrysler to better publicize the Neon’s track wins.)

Anyway, just thought you should know we’re staying up to date.

The acquisition of Chrysler by Cerberus offers a golden opportunity for the resurrection of Plymouth. But in order for the resurrection to succeed, it is important to understand the reason for the division’s death. Plymouth ceased to exist as a genuinely distinct entity many years before Daimler-Chrysler made its death official. Plymouths had become nothing more than Dodges wearing different badges and a few minor, essentially cosmetic differences. Anyone who wanted a Plymouth could get essentially exactly the same vehicle by buying a Dodge instead.

Contrast that with the situation my parents saw when they bought the car I grew up with in 1968. Back then, a person could go to a Dodge dealer and to a Plymouth dealer and see two clearly different (albeit closely related) lines of cars. The Plymouth Belvedere my parents bought had different sheet metal from a Dodge Coronet, was very slightly shorter and less spacious, and cost a little less. The existence of both Dodge and Plymouth gave customers a real, meaningful additional variety of choices.

If Cerberus wants to revive Plymouth, and I very much hope they do, they need to do far more than just put Plymouth badges on Dodges. They need to take advantage of Chrysler˙s advanced, flexible manufacturing technology to make Plymouths different from Dodges in much the same way that new-generation Chryslers and Dodges are different from each other, and that the Jeep Patriot, Jeep Compass, and Dodge Caliber are different from each other. Then Plymouth can genuinely add something to Chrysler˙s offerings instead of just giving customers a chance to buy the same thing with a different nameplate and grille. People can go into a Chrysler-Plymouth dealer, look at the Chryslers and at the Plymouths, and see genuinely different cars.

Further, Plymouth could go back to offering a full line of cars, from small to full sized, without creating a problem that the Plymouths and Chryslers appear almost identical. The Plymouths wouldn˙t just be a cheaper trim line of essentially the same cars as the Chryslers. They would be distinct cars, with different styling and personalities.

So what could a resurrected Plymouth offer? There are two basic directions that Plymouth could go and offer something clearly distinctive.

One direction would be to offer styling that is more conventional and less aggressive than what Dodge generally offers. Dodge would be the division that pushes the styling envelope in order to pursue customers who want a car that looks different, while Plymouth would appeal to customers who are less fond of Dodge’s aggressive styling and are unwilling or unable to pay the cost of a Chrysler. Granted, that image is not necessarily what die-hard fans of the old Plymouth muscle cars would really prefer. But it would be a good way to use a resurrected Plymouth brand to reach customers who are choosing to buy from other automakers instead of buying Dodges.

Another possibility would be to take advantage of Plymouth˙s death and resurrection as an opportunity to offer an entire line of cars with a unique styling flavor all their own. For example, Plymouth could offer a line of cars that mix “retro” elements into their styling, not necessarily to the same degree as the PT Cruiser, but enough to make Plymouths clearly distinctive. If such a strategy would succeed, it could bring in large numbers of customers who would not have bought a Dodge or a Chrysler. And no one could possibly claim that the Chryslers and Plymouths in a Chrysler-Plymouth showroom are essentially just different trim levels of the same car.

Either of these approaches would do far more than just bring back the Plymouth name. It would give Plymouth a clear reason for its existence, making Plymouths distinctive cars again instead of just Dodges wearing different nameplates.

Bringing back Plymouth as a clearly distinct line of cars is almost certainly the best chance Cerberus has of expanding Chrysler˙s market share. Chrysler would get the best of both worlds: an established brand with some loyal customers and a long history behind it, coupled with an opportunity to offer customers a wider variety of choices than they do now. If the strategy is executed properly, the death and resurrection of Plymouth could ultimately make the Plymouth brand much stronger than it was at the time of its demise.