The one deal proposed so far that would guarantee that Chrysler would live another day, part acquisition by Renault- Nissan , appears to have been met with little interest from Chrysler LLC’s current owner, Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus is leaning heavily towards selling the entire automaker to General Motors, a move that would almost ensure the demise of the Chrysler name, as well as thousands of jobs.
The latest rumors out of Detroit say that Carlos Ghosn’s offer yesterday to acquire 20 percent of Chrysler LLC was met with a cool reception at Cerberus. Ghosn will either need to step up his offer or realize that his goal of a three-continent alliance is out of the question for another day.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Nissan , which would have put up the cash for Chrysler as Renault is in debt, was the only company seeking a minority stake in the beleaguered Detroit automaker.
Naturally, Chrysler dealers are nervous about a deal with GM. Sources close to the situation say that GM’s goal is to gain access to Chrysler 11.7 billion in cash and that the Chrysler and possibly the Dodge brands would be discontinued. Inevitably, Chrysler and Dodge dealers would be out of business with no product to sell and no support.
Chrysler’s President, Jim Press, held a phone conference with dealers to attempt to soothe them, but without knowing exactly what will happen to Chrysler, his words were limited. The confident and generally good-natured Press, who was recently recruited from Toyota for his expertise, did downplay rumors of the sale.
“There’s not a lot of reason to talk about mergers and things like that because it’s all speculation. We’ve been doing fine,” he said late yesterday at a Society of Automotive Engineers conference held, ironically, on GM’s turf at Detroit’s Renaissance Center. GM owns the building complex and keeps its headquarters there, though there are other major tenants.
“We only came here for the dinner. That’s the only reason we’re in this building,” Press joked to the Detroit News. “And we really can’t say anything else about the fact that we’re here.”
