Much has been made recently of the problems DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE:DCX) has with its Chrysler unit and the prospect that the unit may be sold.

There has been speculation that it will end up in the hands of private equity firms. Let's hope so. This may be among the best hopes for our struggling domestic auto industry.

First, some have suggested that the deal is too large for PE firms. This is just not the case. Industry experts peg the value of the deal at $60 billion, about equal to Chrysler's annual revenue.

With $2 trillion of total buying power in the hands of PE firms and the $45 billion TXU deal announced late last week, a $60 or $70 billion deal is just around the corner. A deal of this size may take $20 to 30 billion of equity, which is a monster bite for sure. But with firms like Blackstone in control of $20 billion fund and aggressive firms like Cerberus equally sized, a group could (and will) come together to do a deal of that magnitude.

But even better, a PE acquisition of one of the Big Three would FINALLY inject some new thinking and perspective into an industry that seems to have run out of ideas. Never has an industry been in more need of the kind of new, creative and tough thinking that PE firms bring to the table.

Look at what has happened in auto-land recently. Two years ago, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) sold it's Hertz unit for $15 billion to a group of PE firms who immediately took out a billion dollar dividend and have since created another $2 billion of value. Oops, Ford shareholders, really sorry we at Ford couldn't figure out how to do that ourselves!! Hey, what's two or three billion among friends?

Entertainingly, last year, the Big Three stumbled onto something really creative. They decided to let all of their customers buy cars at the same prices that's great! But (this is shocking), in the subsequent quarters they reported huge losses. Well, the last time I looked if you sell something at a low or negative margin you lose money. Needless to say, that is not the PE way of doing things.

The car business is not a bad basic business and we have a strong economy. Toyota Motor Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:TM) has figured out how make money and grow just fine, thank you very much. But the big US firms can't seem to get out of their own way. It's time to rethink the whole business and the model. New ownership is needed. Kerkorian tried to generate change and got shut down. Let's hope that PE firms get their hands on Chrysler because that would transform the entire playing field very rapidly.

It could be just the wake up call Ford and General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) need.