Italy’s Fiat is the new owner of the bulk of Chrysler’s assets, closing a deal today that saves the troubled U.S. automaker from liquidation and places a new company in the hands of Fiat’s CEO. The deal clears the way for a new, leaner Chrysler Group LLC to emerge from bankruptcy protection minus billions in debt, 789 underperforming dealerships and burdensome labor costs that nearly sank the storied automaker.
Bob Israel, head of the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association, says Chrysler’s rapid exit from bankruptcy is a good thing. “The quicker the whole automobile industry gets off of the front page and out of the news media every morning, the quicker we’ll have a recovery of interest in sales,” Israel says. “There’s no question for Chrysler and for anyone: Being out of bankruptcy, as far as sales are concerned, is better than being in it.”
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne immediately was named CEO of the new company, which said in a statement that it would soon reopen Chrysler factories that were idled during the bankruptcy process, costing the automaker $100 million per day. The new company will focus on smaller vehicles, areas in which Chrysler was weak. “Work is already under way on developing new environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient, high-quality vehicles that we intend to become Chrysler’s hallmark going forward,” the new company said in a statement.
