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CHRYSLER CONSIDERS GETTING BACK INTO BIG RIGS

One of the more intriguing tidbits that dribbled out of Chrysler's grueling 8-hour press conference on Wednesday is that the company is considering getting back into the heavy truck business. They're not talking about heavy duty pick-ups, they're talking about 18-wheelers.

Up until the early 1970's Dodge sold heavy trucks, including semi-tractors. In fact, Dodge trucks were famous the world over. But like GM and Ford, the Chrysler Corporation decided to get out of that business at a time when the commercial truck sector was under pressure.

When times are good heavy trucks generate a significant amount of profits. Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Renault, Toyota (Hino), Nissan and Mitsubishi (Fuso) are still in the business. But it takes a lot of capital investment to get into and stay in the highly cyclical heavy truck segment, which is why the American car companies abandoned that market years ago.

In this case, the idea to get Chrysler back into the heavy truck market is Fiat's, not Chrysler's. And that is precisely why this could actually happen.

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John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit" and daily web video "Autoline Daily". Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers.
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Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.