Chrysler closing buttloads of dealerships
Chrysler LLC plans to cut roughly a quarter of its 3,200 U.S. dealerships by early next month. Across the country, dealers with strong ties to their communities learned which ones will be eliminated.
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Chrysler Moves to Eliminate 789 of 3,200 Dealers
Chrysler wants to eliminate 789 of its U.S. 3,200 dealerships, saying in a bankruptcy court filing Thursday that the network is antiquated and has too many stores competing with each other.
Update – Chrysler Bankruptcy
Fiat’s Marchionne Says He Will Become CEO of Chrysler, Aims to Sell First Fiat 500 in U.S. in 2010.
Chrysler lenders look to prevent sale to Fiat
Lawyers for a dissident group of Chrysler LLC lenders worked Monday to block the sale of the automaker’s most valuable assets to Italian automaker Fiat, saying that the government-brokered deal isn’t fair to Chrysler’s secured creditors. – from Journal
U.S. bankruptcy judge approved bidding procedures for the rapid sale of most of Chrysler’s assets, over objections from a group of lenders who called the accelerated timetable an “absurdity.” Judge Arthur Gonzalez, who is overseeing Chrysler’s bankruptcy case in Manhattan, said late on Tuesday, the proposed procedures were “appropriate and necessary” given that there is evidence that “there is an urgent need for the deal to be consummated.” – from MSN
The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Chrysler on Tuesday took a significant step toward allowing the sale of most of the automaker to Fiat, approving the bidding procedures advocated by the company and backed by the Obama administration. – from NYTimes
Chrysler bankruptcy deal revealed
US carmaker Chrysler will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection immediately and has formed an alliance with Fiat, President Obama has said. Chapter 11 protects firms from their creditors, allowing them to rearrange their finances while still trading. The move came after talks had broken down with Chrysler’s lenders late on Wednesday, the White House said. – From BBC
Fiat, Chrysler to get it on
Sources say Fiat will sign a partnership deal with Chrysler. The deal will allow the country’s third largest automaker to beat an April 30th deadline to restructure or face liquidation.
Fiat Threatens to Walk Away From Chrysler
Italian automaker Fiat says it’s prepared to walk away from a deal to take a 20-percent stake in Chrysler.
Hummer, Saturn and PT Cruiser on Chopping Block
GM and Chrysler are proposing axing numerous brands and models in their viability plan set out yesterday. Amongst those on the line will be Hummer, Saturn and the PT Cruiser. Hummer has reportedly drawn interest from Sichuan Auto in China – but it’s just a rumor. The Hummer simply isn’t profitable as a mainstream brand, but the uniqueness of the brand does offer value to a smaller manufacturer. It will probably survive in some form – likely made overseas. Saturn simply doesn’t have anything unique or iconic to keep around, and the PT Cruiser will simply fade away – and be trotted back out some year when the time right.
General Motors will phase out Saturn by the end of the 2012 model year — the end of the current model life cycle — unless someone comes forward to buy the sales channel. Hummer is as good as gone in 2010, unless GM can close a deal to sell the militaristic SUV maker by this March 31. And GM will cap its financial support for Saab with hopes that it will become an independent business entity by January 1, 2010. GM would be happy to sell technology — which means, sharing existing platforms — with new owners of Saturn, Saab and Hummer in the event that someone with money comes forth to buy them, very soon. – From Motor Trend
In the “viability plan” that Chrysler submitted to the Treasury department the carmaker laid out some more changes to its product line-up. Some of those changes had already been announced shortly after Chrysler’s new owners, Cerberus Capital Management, took over in 2007. The new management team quickly announced that the Chrysler Pacifica crossover, Dodge Magnum wagon and PT Cruiser convertible would be dropped. – From CNN
Sichuan Auto Industry Group Co, a tiny automaker in southwest China, has no interest in buying General Motors’ (GM.N) Hummer unit, a senior company executive said on Wednesday, denying media reports. Sichuan Auto was reported to be in talks with GM to buy its sport-utility vehicle subsidiary and could pay up to $500 million for the deal. “It’s a complete rumour. We have never had discussions with GM, nor are we interested in Hummer,” said the Chinese executive who asked not to be identified. – From Reuters
GM’s $30 billion request; lose 47,000 jobs
General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC on Tuesday told the U.S. government it needs even more taxpayer money to survive than originally thought. Meanwhile, the United Auto Workers union said it has reached a tentative agreement with Chrysler, GM and Ford Motor Co. on modifications to existing labor contracts. But discussions were still under way about how the companies would fund union-run trust funds that will take over the companies’ retiree health care obligations starting next year. GM, presenting a dire outlook for the future, said it may need $30 billion in total government financing to weather the economic downturn and would cut 47,000 jobs worldwide and shutter five more U.S. factories in a massive restructuring plan. – From Fox News
Troubled US carmaker Chrysler has asked for another $5bn (£3.5bn) from the US government, saying it plans to axe 3,000 jobs and cut three car models. The moves form part of its restructuring plan submitted to the Treasury Department on Tuesday. Meanwhile General Motors has said it would try to borrow up to $16.6bn more from the government, on top of the $13.4bn it has already received. Its plan includes cutting 47,000 jobs and closing five more US factories. – From BBC News
The price tag for bailing out General Motors and Chrysler jumped by another $14 billion Tuesday, to $39 billion, with the two automakers saying they would need the additional aid from the federal government to remain solvent. In return, the two companies also promised to make further drastic cuts to all parts of their operations, in the hope that they can eventually strike a balance between their bloated cost structures and a dismal market for new car sales. – From NY Times
That’s guts: Fiat to Take 35% Stake in Chrysler
Potter’s not selling, he’s buying! Get it.
The Financial Times and ArcelorMittal have teamed up to reward executives this year for “boldness in business”. Yesterday, Fiat’s chief executive Sergio Marchionne laid a particularly strong claim for the top prize by confirming his plans to acquire a 35 per cent stake in Chrysler. Nothing could be bolder and at the same time nothing could be riskier. Chrysler is the smallest of the Big Three US car makers and the one in the direst of straits. Daimler thought it had clinched a deal “made in heaven” when it acquired Chrysler a decade ago and subsequently lived to regret every minute of its American adventure, until it finally ditched the US manufacturer two years ago. – From Financial Times
As General Motors fights for survival, the catalog of its recent woes must include the name Fiat. Not only did a 2000 partnership between the U.S. and Italian carmakers sputter badly — as the two companies struggled to find consumer-friendly models and integrate their production facilities — but also GM was eventually forced into an unprecedented $2 billion “divorce” payout to avoid having to purchase the then debt-plagued Fiat. Now, as both American and European carmakers face plummeting sales and an industry in flux, the storied Turin automaker is set to return to Detroit for a new, though less fixed, marriage. Fiat and Chrysler announced a nonbinding deal Tuesday to create a partnership that will give the Italian automaker a 35% stake in the smallest of the badly strapped American Big Three. The joint announcement stipulated that Fiat’s commitment to its struggling partner would be solely an equity interest and that “the alliance does not contemplate that Fiat would make a cash investment in Chrysler or commit to funding Chrysler in the future. – From Time
Chrysler has flirted with bankruptcy at several points in its 84-year history, only to come back from the brink with new management, a new owner, a hot new product or a financial lifeline from the government. It won yet another lease on life on Tuesday, with its deal to join forces with Fiat. The Italian car company will get a 35 percent ownership stake in Chrysler and an opportunity to bring its Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands back to the United States through Chrysler’s dealership network. In exchange, Fiat will bring Chrysler what it needs to be a viable player in the evolving United States market, with its fuel-efficient engine technology and the engineering that goes into its small cars. – From NY Times
Why Cerberus Won’t Put More Money Into Chrysler?
Good f*cking question…
At the Senate auto-bailout hearings two weeks ago, bailout-celebrity Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, aimed his rhetorical guns at Robert Nardelli, CEO of Chrysler: Couldn’t Cerberus Capital Management, the $27 billion private-equity firm that owns 80% of Chrysler, simply bail out the auto maker itself without government funds? – from WSJ
Bid to Save GM, Chrysler Loans Dies in Senate
No soup for you, Detroit!
Senators voted down a bill to rescue Detroit automakers after a last-ditch attempt to renegotiate the deal died. The Senate voted 52-35 on a shell bill that would have contained language that had the endorsement of the White House and was similar to a version that passed the House of Representatives. The 52 votes in favor of the shell bill were short of 60 needed for passage. – From ABC News
Senate Democrats and the White House failed to find 60 votes to end debate on a $14 billion auto bailout bill and bring it to a vote Thursday night, killing the measure for the year. The 52-35 vote followed the collapse of negotiations between Senate Democrats and Republicans seeking a compromise. – From CNN.com
Bailout Chrysler When Its Parent Company is Flush with Cash? Wait, what?
Why is Cerberus, one of the world’s richest private equity firms, begging for a bailout? Buried on the business page of The New York Times Saturday were the details of Detroit’s biggest snow job yet–literally as well as figuratively. Turns out that Cerberus CEO John Snow, who spent three-and-a-half lackluster, and some might say lap-doggish, years as President Bush’s second Treasury secretary, is leading a who’s who of crony capitalists in a lobbying campaign for a taxpayer bailout to “salvage Cerberus’ investment in Chrysler.” That’s right. Not to save the jobs of Chrysler employees or America’s disappearing manufacturing base, mind you, but to prevent “one of the world’s richest and most secretive private investment companies” from having to take a relatively modest financial hit and use some of its own capital to prop up the smallest of the major automakers. – from Forbes
Auto Execs Arrive in Style
The CEOs of Ford, Chrysler and GM drove to today’s Senate hearing in their companies’ latest hybrid models. Ford’s Rick Wagoner and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler spoke to CBS cameras.