There are times when I seriously wonder if the end really is near. The annoucement that Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. are considering a merger bolstered that belief. Although nobody at the company is “officially” talking, the fact that it’s even swirling around out there is a shock to the system.

There are times when I seriously wonder if the end really is near. The annoucement that Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. are considering a merger bolstered that belief. Although nobody at the company is “officially” talking, the fact that it’s even swirling around out there is a shock to the system.

These two companies have been historic rivals on nearly every level for more than a century: Mustang vs. Camaro, F-150 vs. Silverado, Cadillac vs. Lincoln. The thought that these previously fierce rivals could be built on the same chassis is saddening. If competition improves the breed, what could we look forward to by the domestic auto industry essentially being a monopoly? Is foreign competition fierce enough to have them continue to improve their game? Perhaps, but with domestic competition removed, what’s to say the new company won’t devolve into the same fleet-heavy, generic, mediocre morass that they’ve been trying to get out of in the first place?

But in the greater scheme of things, I guess I’d prefer a GM/Ford merger than Toyota/Ford, Nissan/Ford, or even Hyundai/Ford. I do believe it’s important that the U.S. retain an industrial base, although the trend looks to be outsourcing the labor component increasingly to Asia or Mexico.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a company in distress becomes a takeover target. Even in nature, a wounded animal attracts predators. I was just holding out a possibly naive hope that Detroit’s two big boys could turn things around on their own, and not only come out swinging against the world but against each other.

- Edward A. Sanchez