Rumors have been flying that the Chrysler Group may be up for sale. Apparently it all started when DaimlerChrysler's chief financial officer Bodo Uebber, when discussing the huge $1.5-billion third-quarter losses at the company, refused (on two occasions) to rule out the possibility of selling off the Chrysler Group. In an ironic twist, his statements actually raised DaimlerChrysler’s stock to its highest price in almost five years.

Now Daimler-Chrysler’s (D-C’s) German executives are saying the American Chrysler Group is not up for sale. But even if it was, would they really tell us?

Things are not merry in Chrysler’s Auburn Hills, Michigan headquarters. Some industry analysts now think that with GM and Ford doing poorly, Chrysler can’t be sold for a decent price at this time. Chrysler Group's CEO Tom LaSorda has been under pressure to stem the financial losses, which recently included an inventory of more than 100,000 unsold vehicles. The United Auto Workers (UAW) refused to agree to concessions, because company executives had received significant bonuses earlier this year. These bonuses have boosted tensions between D-C executives in Germany and the United States, an animosity that never fully cooled since the merger of the two companies in 1998.

It was only about a year and a half ago that Chrysler's profits helped save Mercedes-Benz when it was in financial trouble. It’s funny how short corporate memories are. Do you think Germany’s D-C should do more to help stabilize the American Chrysler Group?