Edward Niedermeyer  writes:  Fiat Chrysler would normally be prey for a larger competitor. But its audacious chief executive officer, Sergio Marchionne, has seen a flash of weakness in the eye of one of the great whales, and seems intent on attempting to reverse the natural order by forcing a takeover of General Motors. What once seemed to be Marchionne’s search for a love match has revealed itself to be far more about fear than attraction. With his advances to just about every automaker in the industry going unanswered, Marchionne has settled on the target that shows the most managerial weakness.

Though General Motors is far bigger and more profitable than Fiat Chrysler, its plodding leadership has revealed a lack of strategic creativity and tendency to buckle to shareholder pressure. Forget the industrial logic that Marchionne says makes a GM-FCA tie-up inevitable; he is pursuing the much larger firm because he thinks he can get away with it. This weakness starts at the top: After her initial laudatory tour of the press as the industry’s first female CEO, GM’s Mary Barra has shrunk from the public eye as GM’s massive quality and safety crisis has overtaken its image. Unable to defuse concerns about a GM culture that she has never been outside of, and battered by opportunistic investors seeking to raid GM’s giant post-bailout cash pile, Barra’s media appearances have been markedly controlled by her PR people. Sensing weakness, Marchionne has asked repeatedly to meet with Barra about a merger, yet her handlers have refused to let the two CEOs into the same room.

Through sheer audacity, Marchionne the squid may yet bag his whale, yet the struggle is likely send both firms sinking to the depths, teeth and tentacles wrapped in a deadly embrace.