The power of the Internet has lured Detroit's biggest rivals into joining forces.
Although General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Daimler Chrysler AG remain unswerving rivals, their lawyers say they have found an opening in federal anti-trust rules that allows the manufacturers to create an independent electronic market for the $240 billion in parts and raw materials they buy every year.
The automakers are banding to create an Internet supermarket where they can buy auto parts from suppliers throughout the world. The new venture has not been christened yet. No headquarters location has been identified for the new company, which is expected to employ about 500 people and eventually sell its stock to the public.
The business would open shop this year. On the network, each automaker could post orders separately and then receive electronic bids from suppliers throughout the world in a process similar to an auction. Suppliers in turn could buy raw material on the network, also through an auction process.
Ford and GM intend to set up the independent on-line business and immediately bring in Daimler Chrysler and eventually Toyota Motor Co. and other international automakers. Each time a company uses the computer network it would pay a fee to the network's creator. These fees could reach $5 billion as estimated by analysts.
