I don't see this as good news for the Chrysler brand, at least in the short run. I really think the Mercedes connection added a lot of quality to the brand. I never would have thought about a Chrysler product 10 years ago. When I saw the PT Cruiser I knew I had to have one but I was really skeptical because I hadn't had an American car for a while and it was made in Mexico...we had a VW Jetta that was made in Mexico and it was junk. My mom also had a K-Car wagon that drove like a bucket of bolts, the paint literally pealed off it. My fears were all but dashed after the first week with the PT. I have now driven 3 Daimler Chrysler products over the past 7 years and KOW I have only had two small problems and that says a lot to me about the quality of this product. I know some of you have had issues, I feel for those of you that have had problems. For the most part its been few and far between.
The new owners will no doubt come in and strip the company down and fine tune Chrysler. My guess is this will not be the best thing if you work for Chrysler or Dodge. In the short run I think the quality will suffer,moral has to be affected, who knows what the end result will be. Lets hope one of the things they do fix is a very bad dealer/service problem. You shouldn't have to be lucky to find a good Chrysler shop, it should be the norm not the acceptation. I've been lucky, I know Jason not so lucky at the same dealership I use.
I don't know if our cars will be worth more or less down the road I do know I am proud and more than happy to own a Daimler Chrysler product. Of all the cars that I've owned foreign and domestic, the PT Ltd, The GT Cruiser and now my Crossfire, there's no question these are three of the finest cars of the lot and the Crossfire is my favorite.
Just my 2 cents worth.

Pat