If the idea of a General Motors acquisition of Chrysler isn't enough to sate the Street's rumor mill, media outlets are speculating on other bidders. The Times of London quickly broke from the pack of GM-Chrysler cheerleaders, and went out on a limb to suggest Korean auto giant Hyundai is interested in Chrysler. The wording of the Times story suggests that Hyundai is interested in select parts of Chrysler — especially its dealer network — and would be amenable to joining a group of bidders in order to secure those parts. However, the Times story's sourcing is even thinner than the sourcing in the Automotive News story that started the GM-Chrysler rumor. Like the Automotive News story, which stems from news about a possible SUV joint venture, the Times may be basing its speculation on the simple fact that Chrysler and Hyundai have an engine joint venture. Of course, if journalists examined every auto maker joint venture, then they could suggest just about any car maker combination like GM-Ford; Honda-GM; Toyota-Nissan; Peugeot-Mitsubishi; and so on. —Matthew Wurtzel
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Hyundai and the Chrysler Group are the least trusted mass-market automakers, according to a new poll by Strategic Vision, Inc., an auto consulting company here.
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