Nissan wins IMO.

Nissan could use a helping hand with their engines, as reliability goes.

Depends on what engine you are talking about:

http://car-reviews.automobile.com/news/ ... -year/389/

The 3.5 and 4.0 gasser V6's are fantastic engines that produce great power with decent fuel economy, fairly light weight, and have demonstrated great longevity. The old 3.0 cast iron V6 they replaced was downright bombproof (though terrible fuel economy). That said, I understand some of their diesels have issues.

Hard to say who is the winner at this point. It seems to me that Nissan is buying a lame horse in terms of pickups... the general consensus has been that the Titan is a great vehicle with good performance and few problems, but expensive as hell and horrendously bad fuel economy. I know many here are Chrysler fans, but they are likely to be getting a decent truck with great engines, crappy transmissions, and chintzy interior components, plus lousy fuel economy. All at a time when big pickup sales (outside of fleets) are dropping faster than Britney Spears record sales.

On the other hand, Chrysler has no decent, fuel efficient small car option right now, and their car design teams seems incapable of designing attractive vehicles that people might actually want to own. But they are also stuck with a reputation based on Dodge Shadows and LeBarrons that continues to be hard to shake (face it, when it comes to cars, Chrysler is the Hyundai of the Big 3). Japanese built Nissan's should give them a big leg up on fuel economy and build quality, but they are going to have to keep the price down. As GM/Pontiac learned with the "Vibe" twin of Toyota's Matrix, most people these days would rather drive a Toyota (right or wrong) than an identical GM product. Toyotas are now middle class status symbols.

Were I Chrysler, though, I'd be wanting a piece of Nissan's Altima action, particularly the Altima hybrid or a hybrid version of the Nissan Rogue.

Depends on what engine you are talking about:

http://car-reviews.automobile.com/news/ ... -year/389/

The 3.5 and 4.0 gasser V6's are fantastic engines that produce great power with decent fuel economy, fairly light weight, and have demonstrated great longevity. The old 3.0 cast iron V6 they replaced was downright bombproof (though terrible fuel economy). That said, I understand some of their diesels have issues.

Hard to say who is the winner at this point. It seems to me that Nissan is buying a lame horse in terms of pickups... the general consensus has been that the Titan is a great vehicle with good performance and few problems, but expensive as hell and horrendously bad fuel economy. I know many here are Chrysler fans, but they are likely to be getting a decent truck with great engines, crappy transmissions, and chintzy interior components, plus lousy fuel economy. All at a time when big pickup sales (outside of fleets) are dropping faster than Britney Spears record sales.

On the other hand, Chrysler has no decent, fuel efficient small car option right now, and their car design teams seems incapable of designing attractive vehicles that people might actually want to own. But they are also stuck with a reputation based on Dodge Shadows and LeBarrons that continues to be hard to shake (face it, when it comes to cars, Chrysler is the Hyundai of the Big 3). Japanese built Nissan's should give them a big leg up on fuel economy and build quality, but they are going to have to keep the price down. As GM/Pontiac learned with the "Vibe" twin of Toyota's Matrix, most people these days would rather drive a Toyota (right or wrong) than an identical GM product. Toyotas are now middle class status symbols.

Were I Chrysler, though, I'd be wanting a piece of Nissan's Altima action, particularly the Altima hybrid or a hybrid version of the Nissan Rogue.

I think they already have, at least in the US. I can't think of a current Chrysler model sold in the US that is based on a Mitsubishi (though there is a Mitsu pickup that is actually a Dakota).