When the rings were finally exchanged in November of 1998, Jürgen Schrempp, the chairman of the board for the brand new company DaimlerChrysler, gushed about the marriage as a "match made in heaven." On Valentine's Day this year, the two now look as though they might be eyeing divorce court.

The most immediate result of the relationship troubles is a massive cut of 13,000 jobs over the next three years at Chrysler in the United States. With more and more US car buyers turning to smaller and more efficient models from Japan, the US automaker has had difficulty turning a profit in recent years; Chrysler lost €1.1 billion in 2006 (about $1.4 billion). The company on Wednesday said it hoped the slimming down of the workforce would return Chrysler to profitability by 2008.

"We believe that this represents a solid plan to return to profitability and lay the groundwork for a solid future," Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda told reporters in Auburn Hills, Michigan on Wednesday.

As if to highlight the different directions the two automakers are taking, Mercedes in Germany on Wednesday announced that its 132,000 workers would each receive a €2,000 bonus as a result of 2006 profits that were higher than in the previous year. The bonus is twice as high as the one following 2005.

But the Chrysler troubles may soon lead to even more drastic measures. For years, DaimlerChrysler management has said that divorce was not an option for the mega-firm. But on Wednesday, current company boss Dieter Zetsche said that all options were being looked at and that a sale of the US automaker could not be ruled out.

Indeed, according to Germany's manager magazin on Wednesday, Zetsche may already be negotiating with General Motors over a possible sale. Citing company insiders, the Web magazine said that Zetsche had begun talks with Rick Wagoner, chairman of the board at General Motors. Zetsche on Wednesday declined to comment on his company's plans for the future.

"I cannot and will not go into any further detail about the announcement we made today," he said at the Michigan press conference.

Dreams of world dominance

A split between the two would represent the end of the 1998 dream of creating an automaker that spanned the globe. Schrempp had even planned to add a Japanese car maker to the mix to create the world's biggest vehicle manufacturing company. But Chrysler's difficulties began soon after the fusion and the company lost €5.3 billion in 2001 -- since then, the American car maker's performance has been less than impressive.

Making the marriage even more difficult was the simple fact that the two companies produced entirely different cars. Mercedes thrives on a luxury brand image and a reputation for high quality, but Chrysler focuses on volume -- and as such has more competition. Its cars have to be cheaper than the competition to have a chance. Hardly a good foundation for a life-long partnership.

The stock market too has long been skeptical of the union. Since 1999, the stock price has plummeted, with DaimlerChrysler losing some €40 billion in value during that time. Schrempp's departure in 2005 resulted in an impressive 10 percent up-tick, but it didn't last. Indeed, some 60 shareholders sued the company, saying management had profited by delaying the announcement of Schrempp's resignation, but a German court on Thursday ruled that DaimlerChrysler had not acted illegally.

DaimlerChrysler shares on Wednesday jumped up 5 percent on the news of the Chrysler restructuring and the potential divorce of the two companies. Meanwhile, in the US, Chrysler workers were busy trying to figure out exactly what the layoffs would mean for their futures. The plan calls for the closure of the assembly plant in Newark, Delaware, and on Wednesday, the mood in the city was somber. Some are talking of a "Valentine's Day Massacre."

"The Germans are to blame for everything," said one caller on the talk-radio station WDEL. "The Germans have ruined everything."

In Detroit at Chrysler headquarters, the mood wasn't much better. "It's pretty solemn in there right now," Chrysler engineer Joe Kubina told the Detroit News. "I don't know what to think. I'm still confused by it all."