Have a twitter account? Wanna talk about cars? It’s Wednesday – so that means it is time for a car chat! Just log in and follow us, then RT @automopedia or #carchat to discuss topics such as “Your favorite all time Pontiac/GM rides.” See you there!

Chrysler and General Motors – at first, it seemed like a match made in heaven. But recently it become apparent that GM wants to completely take over Chrysler, and even cut much of Chrysler’s and Dodge’s product line. Things could get ugly, as all mergers do. One positive outcome will be the rebranding and combination of car models. So, if you have your fantasy car maker league, who would you merge? We have a few top draft picks we’d like to share with you.

Mazda & Renault

Both Mazda Motor Co. and French car maker Renault are known for their eccentric design concepts and long lasting vehicles. Mazda has been at the forefront of unique looks with their Nagare or “flow” concept since back in 2005. Earlier this month they introduced their small city car Kiyora (originally dubbed MAZDA1) at Paris Motor Show 2008 – this little trouble maker wowed those in attendance and showed that a pretty car could be both functional and fuel efficient.

Renault also stunned passerby’s in Paris with their ZE concept. ZE’s acid-green windows help provide insulation, saving energy that might be used for adjusting the climate. The vehicles exterior uses a pocket of air to maintain a constant temperature.

If these two powerhouse foreign automobile companies were to merge they would probably corner the European and Japanese markets instantly. Their designs would become legendary and sales wold skyrocket – until they were accused of being a monopoly by all the other lesser-selling car manufacturers.

HUMMER & Mini Cooper

HUMMER has seen sales drop for years, thanks to boring deigns and a troubling gas price spike. Mini, on the other hand, has seen a steady sales trend from British busines people to hipsters alike. HUMMER’s H3 is more SUV size and less bread delivery truck. Mini recently launched their Mini Clubman revamp, which is still only the size of your average 2-door coupe.

If these two car companies merged – they’d probably produce a normal size automobile. This regular sedan would have obtuse, almost grotesque fenders, but would have comfort and dash design that would…well…probably just confuse the average HUMMER driver. Of course, HUMMER is on the GM chopping block, and Mini may just have the chutzpah to pick them up and give their exact opposite a try – even though it would most likely equal Mini-suicide.

Kia & BMW

Kia’s still a new brand in the grand scheme of things, and though their sales and vehicles are pretty basic, Kia sales seem steady for a flourishing car company. BMW, on the other hand, is one of the most well known car makers in the world. Maybe, if BMW was brave enough to take fragile, tiny Kia under their wing (and out of GM arms) it could be transformed into the world’s greatest automotive company in the history of human kind! BMW-Kia would rise up and crush all other automakers with luxurious, economic and eco friendly rides which will impress everyone from high school students to businessmen.

Ok…things are getting a little out of hand, but with GM and Chrysler coming closer and closer to being one American automotive giant we could see a trend of buy outs, mergers and partnerships that will lead way to forming a whole new car selling battle.

When two corporations decide to become one – someone has to lose their head – and it’s usually the assembly line worker. With General Motors and Chrysler, the nation’s Number 1 & Number 3 auto maker going back and forth about mergers, UAW (United Auto Workers) reps are none too pleased…in fact, they absolutely oppose any such merger of two automotive giants.

The UAW is highly concerned that any merger would be a huge threat to the jobs of thousands of automotive workers on both sides, throughout the United States and Canada. One UAW representative called the potential merger “an absolute catastrophe.”

Rumor and speculation of such a partnership has been billowing out of Detroit (and all over automotive blogs) since last Friday. According to both sides, each company is seeking outside financial prospects. As for now, it seems any such talks are on hold, presumably because of the world financial crisis. Sure, it has absolutely nothing to do with the story leaking out.

Industry analysts predict severe job cuts, especially if redundant models (pickups or mid size sedans) that were produced on separate Canada or US assembly lines were to be slashed. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said “I personally would not want to see anything that would result in a consolidation that would mean the elimination of additional jobs, but we’ve not had any official discussions at all with any of the companies.”

Canadian Auto Workers President Ken Lewenza said this week; “You’d have to be worried, if a merger did take place, about the consolidation of product lines, we would be very much concerned about the job security of our members. On the surface, it’s not something we would support.”

GM is not in any position to buy out Chrysler, or so it seems. The company is losing $1 Billion dollars almost every time Bob Lutz appears on TV. A merger would only increase GM’s problems and that Chrysler has nothing that GM needs. We will have to wait and see, once stocks stop hemorrhaging, if any such automotive merger will go through.

Update -October 16th 2008 – General Motors reported that one plan they had while in talks with Chrysler/Cerberus was to absorb the company, phase out similar models and eventually demolish the Chrysler and Dodge tags all together. GM would keep Jeep and Chrysler’s minivan line (because let’s be honest, how many Uplanders do you see going around?) – GM would gain Chrysler’s $11 billion in cash and remove a competitor who accounts for 1.5 million units per year.

————

Over this past weekend news leaked that General Motors was in talks with Chrysler parent company Cerberus Capital Management LP about a possible merger. And if the merger won’t happen, GM may just go ahead and buy Chrysler all out.

Talks of a merger unofficially began last month, but Chrysler officials deny any such buy outs are open for discussion. Citing a rebuttal from Cerberus, Chrysler is not in the practice of making their potential business matters public. They claim to be exploring many “global partners” in light of hard financial times, both in the stock market and throughout the automotive industry.

One theory claims that if not for the recent financial-apocalypse this supposed merger might have gone through. Parent company Cerberus would have ended up owning a major chunk of the combined ChrysGM-hybrid, but now would not be sole proprietor.

Negotiations between the 100 year old General Motors and the 83 year old Chrysler may restart if the stock market can bring itself back up. Needless to say a team-up between these automotive giants would be one of the largest in the industry.

With the possible combination of CDJ and all GM makes, would we one day drive past our local Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac-Cadillac-GMC-HUMMER dealership? All those car sales persons are going to have to learn a lot more about makes and models. Can we call the new company ChrysGMuickPontiHUMCHevillacDodgJeep?