This week Jim Press, Chrysler LLC President, sought to reassure both employees and shareholders that the company is moving in the right direction and that talk of potential mergers is a positive. "Our strategy is working," he said. "Maybe that's why lots of people are sniffing around the Chrysler vault lately. We're going to be here."

At the same time, however, Chrysler announced on Thursday, October 23, that it would close its Newark, Delaware assembly plant and eliminate a shift at the facility in Toledo, Ohio at the end of December. The Newark plant builds the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen, while the Toldeo location handles the Dodge Nitro and Jeep Liberty.

Concurrently, Cerberus Capital Management, which owns the majority share of Chrysler, confirmed that 76 million euros worth of Daimler AG's third quarter loss was directly attributable to its 19.9 percent remaining share of Chrysler. Daimler, for its part, has lowered its projections for full-year revenue and profits and calls the current industry situation "very challenging."

Although most analysts are lukewarm on the proposed merger of General Motors and Chrysler, they do agree that GM will benefit from access to Chrysler's cash stores and that the merger may be Chrysler's best chance of long-term survival. If nothing else, such a merger would boost flagging consumer confidence, a major factor in the current economic crisis.