The reason the Crossfire failed was simply a matter of price.....plain and simple. Chrysler hasn't been considered a player in the $40k - $50k range ever, much less for a 2 seater. When you look at the types of cars in this price point at the time they were sold there was a lot of established competition. For just a little more you could have a BMW, Mercedes, Audi, etc. All are established premium brands. Looking at the cars in the Crossfire's class like the S2000, Miata, 350Z, and later the Solstice / Sky, the Crossfire way way overpriced. People simply weren't ready to pay damn near $50k for a Chrysler that was basically viewed as a third car / weekend toy.

One of the biggest problems with the MB / Chrysler merger was the timeline that they used. There was not a specific date that they were fully merged, it was a multi-tiered merger. When you look back at how it happened, MB took control over Chrysler's financials before they took over the rest of the company. In effect, MB used Chrysler's cash reserves to buy Chrysler. This alienated everyone on the Chrysler side right from the get go.

As far as Fiat is concerned.....the merger is going much better. Cerberus was a terrible owner, much like when AMF owned Harley Davidson. At least Fiat knows about running a automobile business, not just investing.

BTW.... here in Detroit I have already seen Fiat 500's running around....... they look like little deathtraps to me.