General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and the United Auto Workers union are pouring millions of dollars into a lobbying campaign for a taxpayer bailout.
These are strange and horrible times for Detroit, even by the standards we've become accustomed to, as the Detroit Three (formerly Big Three) automakers continue to waste away. In the latest twist, General Motors, one of the Three, had been saying privately that Detroit would collapse unless Washington gave it billions to help it buy Chrysler, the smallest of the Three. But then GM put the deal, supposedly so vital to the future of Detroit, on hold. If you look at the numbers, you can see why.
A merger between U.S. automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler is likely on hold until after next week's presidential election, as the U.S. Treasury Department said it will not provide the automakers with aid, the Detroit Free Press reported Friday.
General Motors says it needs billions in federal aid on the heels of a government bank bailout. But the cash may be only half the battle
If General Motors Corp. acquires Chrysler LLC, it will cost 25,000 to 35,000 jobs at the automakers, according to a Michigan consulting firm
Are General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler LLC too big to fail? Or just too powerful?
General Motors and Chrysler both find themselves in too much trouble not to look at a deal. But those same troubles could make a combination too difficult to pull off.
A person briefed on discussions about selling Chrysler LLC says the automaker could be sold in pieces to other companies
Merger talks between ailing automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC. are reportedly picking up amid increased interest from lenders eager to close a deal.
As speculation flies about a possible link-up or sale of Chrysler, analysts are wondering which makes more sense: an all-American marriage or a foreign suitor.
General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and the United Auto Workers union are pouring millions of dollars into a lobbying campaign for a taxpayer bailout.
These are strange and horrible times for Detroit, even by the standards we've become accustomed to, as the Detroit Three (formerly Big Three) automakers continue to waste away. In the latest twist, General Motors, one of the Three, had been saying privately that Detroit would collapse unless Washington gave it billions to help it buy Chrysler, the smallest of the Three. But then GM put the deal, supposedly so vital to the future of Detroit, on hold. If you look at the numbers, you can see why.
A merger between U.S. automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler is likely on hold until after next week's presidential election, as the U.S. Treasury Department said it will not provide the automakers with aid, the Detroit Free Press reported Friday.
General Motors says it needs billions in federal aid on the heels of a government bank bailout. But the cash may be only half the battle
If General Motors Corp. acquires Chrysler LLC, it will cost 25,000 to 35,000 jobs at the automakers, according to a Michigan consulting firm
Are General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler LLC too big to fail? Or just too powerful?
General Motors and Chrysler both find themselves in too much trouble not to look at a deal. But those same troubles could make a combination too difficult to pull off.
A person briefed on discussions about selling Chrysler LLC says the automaker could be sold in pieces to other companies
Merger talks between ailing automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC. are reportedly picking up amid increased interest from lenders eager to close a deal.
As speculation flies about a possible link-up or sale of Chrysler, analysts are wondering which makes more sense: an all-American marriage or a foreign suitor.
General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have held preliminary talks about a merger or an acquisition of Chrysler by GM
Plunging auto sales, high gas prices and election year politics could help convince Congress to approve a $50 billion loan package to embattled U.S. automakers that Detroit's Big Three claim is key to their future success.
Chrysler LLC Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda said Wednesday his company will invest $1.8 billion to expand a Detroit assembly plant and retool it to make a new car-based sport utility vehicle
It's been a bumpy road for Detroit's Big Three automakers for the past few years. But it may get worse.
After running Chrysler LLC for a year, Cerberus Capital Management LP must be wondering if its mascot, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of hell, is protecting it from the underworld or leading it into the flames
Just when motorists were starting to adjust to exorbitant gas prices, they face the prospect of much higher costs, fewer choices and a dearth of financing options if they want to lease their next car
Chrysler LLC has told dealers that the automaker's financial arm plans to get out of the auto leasing business before the end of the year
A 75% stake in the famed Chrysler Building once owned by a German fund has been sold to an Abu Dhabi group, Prudential Financial, Inc. confirmed Wednesday.
The whispers that began in January were confirmed Monday: Nissan and Chrysler have agreed to make cars for each other, in a move that will be crucial to each company's success. And that has spurred speculation about even closer cooperation in the future.
What timing! Cerberus Capital Management agreed last May to buy 80% of Chrysler from its German parent, then known as DaimlerChrysler. But by the time the deal closed in early August, global credit markets had convulsed and the U.S. economy was slowing down.
As most economic indicators continue to flash yellow - and occasionally red - a vigorous debate is unfolding about how far auto sales will fall this year.
Chrysler wants to be "the best little car company in America," the automaker's president recently said. But in order to do that, it's setting its sights beyond the United States.
At a breakfast in New York last week, Jim Press, vice chairman and president of Chrysler LLC made the startling announcement that every single new Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep is being engineered so that it can be adapted for a gas-electric hybrid powertrain. That's a huge change for technologically challenged Chrysler, which currently markets only two gas-electric hybrid vehicles - both of them equipped with technology developed by General Motors.
Everyone figured changes were coming when Cerberus bought Chrysler and put former GE executive Bob Nardelli in charge last August. But no one could have guessed how many - and how fast.
Chrysler LLC unveiled plans Friday to trim its product line and reduce the number of dealerships in its network.
A temporary truce has been declared in the war between Chrysler and one of its suppliers, but the shockwaves continue to ripple through the auto business. Industry watchers are divided on who the real winner was.
Chrysler LLC said Friday it's launching a new ad campaign that includes lower prices on 12 of its vehicles.
The most-talked about subject at the Detroit auto show has nothing to do with new cars, alternative fuels, or China's plans for the U.S. auto market. It is Chrysler, now under private ownership, and its outside-the-industry CEO Bob Nardelli.
Not too long ago, uttering the phrase "diesel engine" was enough to elicit a wince from car buyers whose memories of previous-generation diesels often consisted of knocking engine noise, that distinctly-diesel fragrance, and plumes of blue smoke curling from the tailpipe.
It was only five months ago that Cerberus Capital Management bought 80% of Chrysler from Germany's Daimler but already the vultures are circling. Stock market pundit Jim Cramer has become the latest to forecast disaster for the struggling automaker. In the January 7 issue of New York magazine, Cramer riffed on Chrysler's weakened condition and the skills of its CEO, Bob Nardelli of Home Depot, declaring: "Call the Chrysler failure [in 2008] a lock."
Deep Throat told Woodward and Bernstein to "follow the money" if they wanted to understand the Watergate break-in. If you followed the money in the auto industry in 2007 you got some clues about where the industry is headed. And the future doesn't look anything like the past.
Chrysler Corp., the troubled automaker bought by private equity just four months ago, is scrambling to sell assets amid indications of huge losses, as access to cash becomes increasingly scarce, according to a published report Friday.
One of the biggest challenges U.S. automakers face is how to realign their aging brands and oversupply of dealers for the realities of the 21st century.
Demand for the sale of $4 billion in loans tied to Cerberus Capital's purchase of Chrysler has been weak and will likely be postponed, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
There was a time when buying certain cars from Chrysler, General Motors or Ford was a risky proposition. Poorly engineered vehicles were sloppily thrown together by arrogant UAW members.
Wall Street investment banks are planning to launch an offering of up to $10 billion in loans for Chrysler LLC's automotive business on Wednesday, according to a report published in the Wall Street Journal.
It wasn't just jobs that Chrysler LLC cut on Thursday. The automaker knocked out some cars as well.
Chrysler LLC, fresh off winning millions in cost savings in a deal with the United Auto Workers, is set to cut deeper into its white-collar work force, according to a published report.
General Motors and Chrysler LLC got most of what they wanted from the United Auto Workers, even if it took two blink-of-the-eye strikes to get it.
Chrysler recently instituted a "lifetime" - yes, your lifetime - powertrain warranty for its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles. If you're shopping for a car and comparing warranty coverage, "lifetime" sounds tough to beat.
A strike at Chrysler by the United Auto Workers union ended less than seven hours after it began Wednesday, as the union announced late in the afternoon that it had reached a tentative agreement with the nation's No. 4 automaker.
United Auto Worker's union President Ron Gettelfinger announced today that the UAW has reached a tentative agreement with Chrysler LLC.
More than 32,000 members of the United Auto Workers union struck Chrysler LLC on Wednesday, after marathon labor talks between the union and the money-losing automaker failed to avert the industry's second strike in two weeks.
The United Auto Workers union has new contracts with General Motors and Chrysler, and now it will move on to struggling Ford
Chrysler, which is in the process of trying to win cut cost in the marathon talks now taking place with the United Auto Workers union, will be looking to cut about 1,500 jobs out of its non-union staff as well.
When the United Auto Workers gave Chrysler LLC a 72-hour deadline on Sunday, it set the clock ticking on what promise to be difficult negotiations but it did not spark an imminent strike threat, experts said.
There is reluctance on the part of both union and management negotiators at Ford Motor and Chrysler to have those company's labor deals with the United Auto Workers union follow the pattern set by General Motors, according to a published report.
The car manufacturer synonymous with the U.S market is looking far further afield
Chrysler confirmed Friday that it was recalling nearly 300,000 vehicles because of an error in the braking system.
Chrysler has created a new division of the company aimed at creating electric-drive vehicles and related advanced-propulsion technologies.
The world's automakers will try to win customers over with more environmentally friendly cars at the Frankfurt Auto Show this week as they tout new vehicles with hybrid propulsion and more advanced, cleaner engines.
Chrysler's new Chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli said Friday he plans to keep the automaker's three brands but could cut some products as he leads the company through a restructuring.
Chrysler lured its second high-profile executive in as many days, appointing SAIC Motor's Phil Murtaugh as chief executive of its Asian operations Friday.
Chrysler pulled off a major coup Thursday, hiring away the highly-regarded Jim Press, Toyota's top North American executive, to run its sales and marketing operations
Today's stunning announcement that Chrysler has hired Toyota's top American executive, Jim Press, as president and vice chairman, is a huge coup for the newly-private automaker. Press had elevated Toyota in the U.S. from being just another Japanese automaker to a powerful contender for industry leadership with General Motors. Arguably, Press is the most successful American auto executive since World War II.
James Press, the former head of Toyota's North American operations, has been hired by Chrysler. He will share the titles of vice chairman and president with former Chrysler chief executive Tom LaSorda.
Chrysler is considering divesting divisions, which employ a combined 1,300 union workers, and is negotiating the plan with the United Auto Workers, according to a news report Tuesday.
Chrysler Group's Vice Chairman and President Tom LaSorda said on Tuesday that the automaker could review its restructuring plan because of weak sales or economic uncertainty.
Chrysler LLC named Deborah Wahl Meyer its chief marketing officer on Wednesday. Her appointment is effective August 28.
The carmaker's new owners hope he can, but he'll have to convince financial skeptics as well as a balky union
Chrysler's new private owners say they have picked former Home Depot boss Bob Nardelli to head the No. 3 U.S. automaker in its effort to return to financial health
For a firm adamant about staying low-key, Cerberus has a knack for making attention-getting moves, most recently by maneuvering Bob Nardelli into the top spot at Chrysler. But the much-criticized hire is consistent with the strategy that has made the relatively new Manhattan investment firm a serious rival to Wall Street's buyout kings.
Robert Nardelli, who was named to head Chrysler LLCMonday by its new owner Cerberus Capital Management, declined to detail his compensation package, but said it would be tied to the automaker's progress in its turnaround.
For weeks, Chrysler watchers have been wondering what, exactly, Cerberus would be bringing to its new acquisition. What did the sharp pencil guys in New York know about the auto business that Chrysler's own seasoned American executives - not to mention the Germans at Daimler - didn't?
As the deal to sell Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management finally came to a close on Friday, there was one rather salient fact that slipped under the radar. Robert Nardelli was appointed Chrysler's chairman and chief executive officer upon the deal's completion.
They're already taking the "Daimler" off the DaimlerChrysler signs at headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. It's happening at the big Fenton, Mo., plants where the company makes pickup trucks and minivans, and at other plants across North America. The new corporate stationery is ready. Chrysler dealers nationwide are sending out invitations, filling balloons with helium, and ordering chicken wings for the parties they're going to throw. The occasion: Chrysler is becoming American again, being bought from its German parent by Cerberus Capital Management, a buyout firm that it's safe to say most of Chrysler's employees, dealers, and customers had never heard of until the agreement was announced a few months ago.
A historic deal that places Chrysler Group in the hands of private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP was expected to close Friday
Chrysler Group returned to U.S. ownership Friday, just as the troubled automaker and its U.S. rivals are facing make-or-break labor negotiations and American car buyers are increasingly turning away from domestic makers.
Wolfgang Bernhard, who served as chief operating officer of the Chrysler Group before moving over to Volkswagen, will be returning to Chrysler as its chairman after it is sold by DaimlerChrysler, according to published reports.
Stocks managed to finish higher in tough session Wednesday on some positive earnings news, while investors shrugged off credit and housing market jitters.
In talks important to both Wall Street and Detroit, attempts by Chrysler to tap debt markets for $20 billion needed to finance a private equity buyout of the troubled automaker have run into trouble because of soft investor demand.
Private equity firms have become the titans of Wall Street but the industry that built its reputation on nimble deal making is being put to the test.
Chrysler Group apologized on Thursday for an advertisement that showed a dog being electrocuted beside its new Dodge Nitro sports utility vehicle.
Chrysler Group Chief Executive Tom LaSorda said Friday that the closing of a $7.4 billion deal to for the acquisition of a majority interest in the automaker from German parent DaimlerChrysler AG is "very, very close."
The first made-in-China Chrysler cars, built by local partner Chery Automobile Co., could reach the United States or Europe within 30 months, as ambitious Chinese rivals race to penetrate the world's big auto markets.
Chrysler Group is set to give final approval to a deal that would have a Chinese automaker build small cars for it to sell in the United States and Western Europe, according to a newspaper report Tuesday.
U.S. buyout firm Cerberus Capital Management won approval from the European Commission on Tuesday to buy U.S. carmaker Chrysler from DaimlerChrysler.
Chrysler is set to announce a deal for China's Chery Motor Co. to build small cars for it to sell in the United States and western Europe, despite growing concern at home about the safety of Chinese-made goods.
Chrysler Group said Tuesday it would recall 80,894 Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Nitro models from 2007 to eliminate the potential for a brief interruption of electrical power to the instrument cluster and the engine.
If turned-off consumers, teed-off union workers and fired-up competitors don't kill off what's left of the U.S. auto industry, then proposed new fuel economy standards may finish the job.
Chrysler Group on Thursday said it would roll out new hybrid vehicles, streamline its cars and trucks and introduce more diesel engines in a bid to improve the fuel economy of its product line-up.
As the restructuring of the auto industry continues at a breakneck pace, fabled car brands are going on sale like so many grapefruits in a grocery store.
The business world was agog. A bold initiative involving Chrysler had just been announced that was going to reshape the automotive landscape. Global expansion was in the wind. A new business model was being created that would make General Motors and Ford look obsolete. Smart businessmen with loads of capital were taking a fresh look at the auto business and bringing ideas to the table about cutting costs and becoming more competitive. A new day had arrived.
The most surprising part of the Chrysler sales announcement Monday was the vote of support for the sale of the automaker to Cerberus Capital Management voiced by by Ron Gettelfinger, the president of the United Auto Workers union.
Tech stocks slipped Monday afternoon, dragging down the Nasdaq composite and forcing the Dow industrials to give back bigger gains, as investors retreated after the recent rally.
Blue chips rose and techs dipped Monday as investors welcomed the majority sale of Chrysler to a private equity firm, but showed reluctance after the recent rally and ahead of a slew of big economic reports due later this week.
Give DaimlerChrysler and Cerberus credit for moving quickly to work out a deal for Chrysler. Auto companies are complicated beasts and letting Chrysler dangle in the wind was in nobody's best interest.
Blue chips rose Monday morning as investors welcomed the majority sale of Chrysler to a private equity firm and other deals news, but the tech sector declined, losing momentum after the recent rally.
Deals keep coming at a fast and furious pace, and - particularly in light of the Chrysler deal announced Monday - it looks like nothing will put the brakes on the current wave of takeovers anytime soon.
Stocks gained Monday morning as investors welcomed the majority sale of Chrysler to a private equity firm and other deals news.
You don't see any on the streets of Manhattan, but almost everywhere else, the homely pickup truck is America's common carrier. GM, Ford and Chrysler sell more pickups than do they anything else, more than two million a year in good times. In addition to high volume, pickups also produce high profits because they are relatively isolated from foreign competition.
DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group said Tuesday it will launch a new incentive program to help get more cars off showroom floors in May. Chrysler, which has been known for aggressive incentive spending during the past year, will launch a program called "Maximize Your Miles."
Lee Iacocca, author of "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?"
Your third book, due out this month, is about the state of American leadership. How is Detroit doing on that score?
Exactly one week ago, Kirk Kerkorian was the flavor of the day. The maverick raider, who'd been on the fringes of the auto industry for a decade, had come from out of nowhere to make a bid of $4.5 billion for Chrysler. Given his record of stirring things up, everyone expected big things from Kerkorian despite his advanced age (he turns 90 in June). But that was last week.
A top DaimlerChrysler official is expected to meet this week with would-be buyers of the Chrysler group - although not with announced bidder Tracinda Corp., the investment company of Kirk Kerkorian, according to a report published online.
Many private equity firms like to brag that the operating expertise they bring to their acquisitions can restore a company's health. But if the expected Blackstone bid for DaimlerChrysler's ailing U.S. auto unit is successful, the company seems likely to make a trip to the chop shop.
Few private equity shops walk as softly or carry as big a stick as Cerberus, the most under-the-radar of all buyout kings. There are no multi-million dollar birthday parties for founder Steven Feinberg, the former U.S. Army paratrooper who prefers Budweiser to fine wine. The upper floors of the firm's Park Avenue offices are spartan, unadorned warrens of cubicles where some of the best minds in business pore over deals and run numbers. And without flash or ado, Cerberus has quietly bested bigger rivals for deals, snatching GMAC from KKR and Albertson's from Thomas H. Lee Partners.
The Chrysler rumor mill is spinning again. Ever since its parent, DaimlerChrysler, announced that it would consider all options for Chrysler, the speculation about potential owners who would take over the damaged company has been intense and churning. So far, though, none of the usual suspects looks like the ideal buyer.
Professionally, Don Megge is living on borrowed time. For starters, he works in the auto industry - a field in which plant closings, employee buyouts and layoffs are an everpresent threat.
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