So Chrysler is splitting the Brothers Dodge into two divisions: one for Dodge, which will cover cars, and one for Ram, which will sell trucks.
Hmmm.
So where are the smart horseplayers putting their money? Will the new division give the company a chance to spread out in the U.S., where multi-brand dealers are the norm? It could give dealers who sell brands like Honda, Hyundai, Kia and Suzuki -- which either don't carry work trucks, or don't carry pickup trucks at all -- the opportunity to have a full-size pickup on the lot, without also having to take cars that would compete with the stuff already on the showroom floor.
On the other hand, Chrysler has some real winners -- its Hemi engines, its awesome rear-wheel architecture, its trucks and of course the hard-core Jeeps -- and some that could fade away without too many tears shed, like Sebring and Avenger. Would the smart money hedge its bets on the possibility that a certain Italian automaker is thinking about what it could spin or sell off, and how much easier it would now be? Time will certainly tell.
