The Chrysler we have known is more of a museum piece than Eaton realized when his board authorized construction of the museum two years ago. It will seem more so when the museum opens next year with Chryslers, Dodges, Plymouths, Jeeps and at least one vehicle from Mercedes-Benz. Chrysler will no longer be this town's perennial underdog, its overachiever, its comeback kid. The next generation Chrysler, folded into a global conglomerate known as DaimlerChrysler AG, should become the world's third-largest automotive company in revenues. From there on out, it's expected by many observers as well as Eaton that the combined company will challenge General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. for world leadership, a notion that was unthinkable a year ago.
Lots can happen in the restructuring of the industry.
But we'll be No. 3 in revenues, and maybe No. 1 in profits right off the bat. And we'll be No. 1 in large trucks. May. Potentially explosive controversies on several issues have largely defused. The fact that the combined company would essentially be headquartered in Germany ruffled some veterans of World War II, and prompted charges of hypocrisy since some Chrysler's marketing efforts were wrapped in the American flag. A few employees have cried foul, too, and established an Internet Web site as a forum for criticism, but the critiques have not amounted to a groundswell of resistance.