I agree with your comments about Chrysler floating Benz and Fiat (in spite of massive mismanagement in the case of Daimler) but Chrysler definitely did not buy Daimler. It was purported to be a merger of equals but ended up looking more like a hostile takeover by Daimler. If it had not been that way, the 2000s would not have been Mopar's 'lost decade'. If you look at what ChryCo did from the early 80s bailout back to profitability and trend-setting, to their meteoric rise in the 90s and the kind of cars they had in the pipeline before the 98 takeover, it's tragic to think about all the possibilities we missed out on because of the Daimler takeover. They have a lot of great stuff right now but we still aren't seeing stuff as bold as what was being put forth in concepts in the pre-Daimler 90's.
But, as you say, if mopar can subsidize some budget supercar Alfa Romeos in the US market, that's a decent consolation prize.
