Reports: GM-Chrysler Merger Near, GM Would Run

Reuters is reporting that the merger between struggling auto giants GM and Chrysler is nearing a deal and the combined auto company would be run by GM chief executive Rick Wagoner.

GM, which is running low on cash, and Chrysler, which has been hemorrhaging sales, have been in talks in recent weeks, talks that have heated up in the past few days. The tie-up between two of the former Big Three automakers would create a Big Two -- GM/Chrysler and Ford, which has seen its own stock drop recently.

Aside from radically reshaping an American auto culture that has been largely unchanged for 100 years, a GM-Chrysler merger could cost mean 25,000 to 30,000 job cuts, a Michigan-based analyst speculated today.

Here's a sum-up of the state of Detroit that we posted last week.

-- Frank Ahrens