When I opined that somebody rich would buy Jeep, I was not considering the typical "you are failing so I will buy your most profitable line and give you cash" scenario from another car maker. I was thinking somebody RICH, like Zuckerberg, Ellison, Bezos, etc. Maybe someone who owns or owned a Jeep and remembers what they were and how they were used and doesn't really care about soccer moms and mall crawlers. It could be run like Musk runs Tesla, i.e. "who cares if we make any money this month?"
On another note, back in the day we used things called mini-computers or departmental computers. Think IBM AS-400 series. There were an almost immeasurable number of variables, which was why a computer program was developed to allow the sales guy and customer to configure their product correctly. Once configured, a computer specification file was sent to the factory where the computer was built and tested, then shipped to the user. Today, Cisco does the same thing with their complex products. Configuring an automobile or Jeep is child's play by comparison. The dealership could become a service facility, financing company, end-user prep station, and demo location, with all sales going straight to the mothership in the form of a config file that is built and shipped to the dealer for pickup by the end user. The days of the dealership getting 25% markup would go away. The company, like Ford does today, would have sophisticated analysis software to report which mods were selling and which were not, and which market segments were buying which options / configuration. This would allow the company to intelligently modify its product offerings to maximize their sales, minimize unneeded inventory, and max customer satisfaction. It would/should also radically reduce delivery times. This approach has been used in other types of businesses for at least 30 years.
