Chrysler: The Town Bike?

[Dragon]

http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servle...y/Business/home

MILAN — Fiat SpA is talking with Chrysler LLC to form a strategic partnership that could lead to the Italian car maker taking a stake in its U.S. peer, an industry publication said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Fiat could give Chrysler access to platforms, engines and transmissions to help the U.S. car maker overcome its problems, Automotive News Europe said on Monday.

Fiat was not immediately available for comment.

Fiat chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne told an industry publication in December that Fiat needed a partner to survive the crisis.

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Apart from Ferrari and Maserati, Fiat does not sell cars in the United States.

Before the crisis hit the car industry, Fiat had been looking for ways to enter the United States and had talked to U.S. auto makers about the possibility of using some of their production lines.

Owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, Chrysler saw its sales fall 30 per cent in 2008.

It shut down all its plants for a month at the start of the year to shore up cash and cut inventories of unsold vehicles.

After getting a $1.5-billion (U.S.) loan from the U.S. Treasury, its finance arm is offering zero per cent financing for the purchase of a range of Chrysler vehicles.

[Intrepidation]

1.) More unnamed sources, look how accurate those have beens o far.

2.) So what? Chrysler would have access to small car platforms and powertrains, allowing it to quickly develop a competitive small car or cars, for far less than doing it on its own.

[Dragon]

1.) More unnamed sources, look how accurate those have beens o far.

guess they are +1 on the accuracy scale

http://www.cheersandgears.com/index.php?showtopic=27812

[G. David Felt]

We still have to many brands in this global depression. Time for the weak to go, Chrysler needs to become history just like SAAB needs to go.

Reality, I could see Fiat taking over and using this to have a quick build up of Fiat dealerships and get a Fiat Large truck line for minimal cost.

Edited January 20, 2009 by dfelt

[Robert Hall]

Sounds like Fiat has taken a 35% stake in Chrysler, according to Reuters this AM.

Reuters Article

Edited January 20, 2009 by moltar

[Sixty8panther]

[Robert Hall]

I'm all for it if it means Chrysler can survive, and the US can eventually get some Fiat and Alfa models (they have a lot of interesting cars in Europe).

[SoCalCTS]

Toyota, Honda, and Nissan need to go. there are too many brands!

I hope Fiat and Chrysler merge. They both need a partner desperately.

[Intrepidation]

We still have to many brands in this global depression. Time for the weak to go, Chrysler needs to become history just like SAAB needs to go.

Reality, I could see Fiat taking over and using this to have a quick build up of Fiat dealerships and get a Fiat Large truck line for minimal cost.

Oh screw off.

[Robert Hall]

There can never be too many brands, IMHO....I'd rather have a diversity of choices as a consumer than everything be a Toyota.

[MyerShift]

Please. Of all "brands" that need to go, Pontiac, HUMMER, Saturn, and SAAB are far more irrelevant these days than Chrysler Corporation.

I just hope that since Chrysler is small enough, they can't force Chrysler into any sort of "put clause" or whatever it was that screwed over GM!