A business analyst for London’s Bernstein Research has issued a report in which he expresses considerable doubt about the future of Chrysler and his belief that the company probably cannot survive as it is currently structured.

According to Automotive News, the report congratulates CEO Sergio Marchionne for cutting costs and restoring some measure of profitability to the beleagured car maker but doesn’t see enough product development or enough “synergy” between Fiat and Chrysler to effect a complete turnaround. It also cites Chrysler’s weak product line-up as a significant impediment and finds Marchionne’s sales and market share projections unrealistically optimistic.

What would it take for the company to survive? The analyst believes that Marchionne’s best shot would be to strip the company down to just Ram trucks and Jeep and devote the remaining resources to production of Fiat products. That would mean, of course, that the Dodge and Chrysler brands would be gone and even if it meant the survival of the company as a whole, the loss of those marques would be a blow.

--M.D.

If you’re going to succeed as one of the U.S. market’s smaller car makers it helps to be scrappy and innovative. Think Subaru with its standard all-wheel-drive and boxer engines. Think Volkswagen and its German engineering and cheeky advertising. Think Mazda and its . . . diesel engines??

The Detroit News tells us that the company that brought us Zoom Zoom is planning on bringing us a mid-size diesel sedan in 2012. The move is obviously aimed at helping the company meet increasingly stringent fuel economy standards here and by using diesel technology it will be able to do that without the high cost of hybrid drive trains.

Mazda engineers have reworked diesel compression ratios to meet emission standards without the use of complicated downstream treatment systems. A Mazda spokesperson also maintains that this technology gives their diesel performance advantages over their only U.S. competitor, Volkswagen.

Will Americans buy it? Most automakers don’t think diesel passenger cars would sell in sufficient numbers here. There is increasing interest in oil burners, however, with BMW and Audi both bringing modern diesels to this market. Volkswagen, of course, has successfully been selling low-cost diesels cars here for years. By not following the crowd, Mazda has managed to carve out its own unique market niche. I’m betting that it can make this work.

--M.D.

During a fifteen month period from July 2008 through September 2009, Americans junked more cars than they bought and analysts suggest that this may be a good sign for new car sales. According to Automotive News, which cites data from R.L. Polk, nearly 15 million cars and light-duty trucks were sent to scrap yards during that period, while consumers bought only 13.6 million new vehicles to replace them.

Last year’s “Cash For Clunkers” program no doubt contributed to this phenomenon since qualifying trade-ins were sent straight to the crusher rather than making at least one more pass through the ownership cycle. Another trend noted in the report is that Americans are hanging onto their cars longer than in the past, due in part to uncertainties about the economy and in part to more reliable cars with longer useful life spans.

Meanwhile, the U.S. population continues to grow as does the pool of drivers, all of which points to strong pent up demand which should be good for future car sales.

--M.D.

Analysts have sliced and diced the data from March auto sales and the top 20 list looks much as it did before.

The Ford F-150 remains safely ensconced in the number one position, where it has stayed for . . . well, for as long as anyone can remember. Ford delivered over 42,000 of them in March and just over 103,000 units so far this year. The Toyota Camry is a distant second with just over 36,000 sold and the Chevrolet Silverado pick-up takes third place honors with just under 30,000 sold.

Toyota placed four other models in the top 20, with the Corolla in fourth place, the RAV4 in sixth, and the Highlander and Prius in 19th and 20th places respectively. Ford had three other models in the top 20, the Fusion at number 8, the Focus at 10th and the Escape coming in 11th.

Chevrolet also holds three more top 20 positions: the Malibu at 14th, the Impala at 15th and the Equinox rising to 18th, posting nearly a 200% increase in sales.

Chrysler’s only model to make the top 20 list is the Ram pick-up in 13th place. Interestingly, and perhaps worrisome, the Ram was the only top 20 vehicle to post a sales decline from March of 2009. In fact, the Ram’s year-to-date sales are down over 18%. This despite the fact that the Ram has received good reviews from nearly every quarter and may be Chrysler’s most segment-competitive vehicle.

--M.D.

March car sales figures are in and overall the market grew 24% versus March of 2009, continuing a growth pattern that began in December.

Ford, Toyota and Nissan posted some of the largest gains, up 40%, 41% and 43%, respectively but Subaru was the biggest winner among main-stream car makers with a 46% increase, though at just under 24,000 units the company remains a minor player. Volkswagen saw its sales rise by 39% to nearly 31,000.

With a noticeable gap in the data, the next tier of car makers lies in the 20% range with Honda gaining 23%, GM up 21% and Hyundai and Daimler up 19%. Mitsubishi trailed these slightly with an increase of 18%.

Only two major companies saw sales decline in March. Chrysler continues to struggle in the marketplace and saw its sale fall 8% from the dismal figures of March 2009 while Suzuki was slammed with a breathtaking 72% decline, a worse showing than even Saturn which is out of business.

Analysts attribute the strong showing to an incentives war that has Toyota offering unprecedented deals to help shake its recall woes and other major car makers, notably Detroit, following suit. Still, if you don’t have cars that customers want, incentives, no matter how generous, won’t do much good. Just ask Chrysler and Suzuki.

--M.D.