Goodbye Chrysler. It was nice doing business with you.

Today, CNN Money reports that Italian auto manufacturer Fiat, which bought ailing Chrysler this year, believes that the situation at Chrysler is "more dire than first thought". The bringer of gloom was Mr. Sergio Marchionne, Fiat's CEO.

"We were surprised by how little had been done in the past 24 months."

Industry insiders, such as Todd Turner of Car Concepts Automotive Research found Mr. Marchionne's comment surprising. "I'm a little surprised that he was surprised."

Let's lay it out.

In 1998, Chrysler Corporation was the new U.S. automotive manufacturing prodigy which had joined with Daimler-Benz. Chrysler had an impressive stable of trucks, Jeeps and minivans. Innovative designs like the PT Cruiser, the Chrysler 300c and the 3rd generation Dodge Ram trucks were selling and keeping their customers happy.

But the merger turned into something of a bad marriage. The disciplined and formal German business structure meshed badly with Chrysler's more innovative and somewhat random business approach. Additionally, the movement of technology from Daimler to Chrysler was very slow in getting implemented. An example: The innovative Chrysler Crossfire was designed upon the 1998-2003 mechanicals (chassis, drivetrain and suspension) of the Mercedes-Benz SLK230K. This decision was reportedly made by Stuttgart because the Benz car was being dramatically redesigned for 2004.

For some reason which I do not understand the quality of Chrysler products plummeted drastically during this same period. Cars that looked innovative and interesting on the outside were found to have bland or just plain odd interiors. And customers caught on as more and more Chrysler products found their way quickly into repair shops. A simple comparison of first year vs. subsequent year sales for same models show an average 60% drop in sales.

Innovation disappeared on mechanicals. The Chrysler 300, the Dodge Charger, the Dodge Magnum and yes, even the new Dodge Challenger are all based on the same chassis and suspension systems.

Why these decisions were made will be for the history writers to chronicle, but my guess will be that to keep the stockholders happy Chrysler was forced to trim manufacturing costs such as research and development while trying (vainly) to leave the auto union and retirees pensions alone.

In my lifetime, I have owned vehicles from Chrysler than any other maker. These include the 1993 Dodge Dynasty, 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup, 2001 Dodge Ram 3500 dually pickup and finally a 2006 Chrysler Crossfire (vroom! vroom!).

As Shakespeare so eloquently put it, "All good things must come to an end."