Could Mulally make a GM-Ford deal fly?

If analysts thought the Alcatel-Lucent merger was a bad idea, then the reports from Automotive News that senior executives at General Motors and Ford Motor reportedly held talks in August would send Wall Street analysts into a tizzy. However, the world's largest automaker and the world's third-largest currently are not holding formal talks and the paper said it is not clear whether the earlier negotiations were simply about an alliance concerning parts and research or an actual merger. While the idea seems absurd, similarly harebrained deals have occurred. Aside from the Alcatel-Lucent merger, which is nearing completion, airplane giant Boeing Co. bought rival McDonnell-Douglas in 1997. Interestingly, Ford's new CEO Alan Mulally was a senior vice president at the time, and shortly after the merger closed was named president of commercial airplanes where he oversaw the integration of the two product lines. In other words, should a merger be in the cards, then there is an executive already present who knows how to make hard decisions surrounding what to keep and what to cut. —Matthew Wurtzel

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See related story about Ford restructuring from The New York Times
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