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(Tue 20 Jan 09) Fiat, Chrysler and Chrysler owners Cerberus Capital Management have signed a non-binding document which is likely to see the two manufacturers forming a global strategic alliance.
What Chrysler would get out of the deal is the ability to use Fiat platforms, powertrains and components for its own cars (with a likely improvement in fuel economy and CO2 emissions), along with access to Fiat's management services to help with the submission of a viability plan to the US Treasury. Each manufacturer would also have access to the other's worldwide distribution networks. In return, Fiat would receive a 35% equity interest in Chrysler. The proposed alliance "does not contemplate" that Fiat would have to invest any of its own money into Chrysler, either now or in the foreseeable future. Both companies have been involved in similar arrangements within the last few years. Fiat was closely tied with GM until quite recently, and GM spent a lot of money buying its way out of that deal, while Chrysler was part of the now-defunct DaimlerChrysler organisation until Mercedes-Benz decided that enough was enough. The irony - a pleasing one for the Italians - is that Fiat was close to collapse at the time it went into partnership with one American manufacturer, and now looks like it could be the saviour of another. Chrysler Gallery |
