Straightline

The good news is that the Chrysler-Cerberus is now official, as papers to that effect were signed by all parties on Friday. The new company's name is Chrysler LLC, and Monday they are going to reveal an updated version of the old Pentastar logo.

There's a lot of excitement here as most everyone close to the situation thinks this will be a great opportunity for all involved. Key to success here is that they have to move fast, and don't screw anything up, as there's no room (or time) for mistakes. As to the "moving fast part," that's already happening. Expect big changes—quickly.

Full story here.

The bad news is that Ford just announced a huge recall of 3.6M vehicles bringing the total recall to 10.4M vehicles (OUCH!). It affects a wide range of vehicles built between 1991 and 2004. The recall is related to the cruise control switch which apparently is somewhat fire-prone. Models involved are Fords, Lincolns and Mercurys; cars, trucks and SUVs.

This is the largest recall for a single vehicle problem in U.S. history It's a tremendous setback for Ford, as they are struggling to turn this company around. This is the last thing they needed.

Full story here.