The latest news on Chrysler

This morning I heard on a business news show (radio) that Chrysler
will probably go out of business.
Another company will buy their Jeep and Mini-Van line.

But then I also read in Car and Driver that Chrysler will quit making
the PT Cruiser in mid-2008.

I believe they quit making ONLY the PT convertible.

 

A lot of people are saying a lot of things about Chrysler. Since
Cerebus is privately held they stopped reporting ANY financials
publically after they bought the last bit of Chrysler from Damlier.
Thus, nobody knows if Chrysler is even in the red at all - they could
be wildly profitable for all we know.

Ted

 

That's not what they're saying publicly, in trying to get a loan from
Congress. Further, you can look at Daimler's annual report and see
what Chrysler's profits or losses were in the previous year, as
Daimler still owns 19.9% and as a public company, reports this data.

 

That's the story for sure.
A few days ago Chrysler said they would very soon run out of cash.
Yet a few months ago GM wanted to take over Chrysler to get at a
reported $11B cash in hand.
Only the Cerberus bean counters know.

One thing we do know, car sales for all manufacturers have crashed this
fall.

 

No, you can extrapolate this data - Daimler and Cerebus disagree
on how profitable Chrysler is - which is understandable since Cerebus
has been trying to buy that last 19% since September.

Ted

 

Uh-uh. Daimler has been trying to sell it, but Ceberus won't buy it.

"German automaker Daimler said yesterday that the sale of its
remaining stake in Chrysler has been complicated by the "exaggerated
demands" of Cerberus Capital Management.

The price tags Cerberus put on Daimlers' 19.9 percent stake in
Chrysler "exceed the value of Cerberus' investment in Chrysler," an
80.1 percent stake purchased for $7.2 billion last year, Daimler said
in a statement yesterday."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/26/AR2008112604133.html

"Cerberus had been looking to acquire the remainder of Chrysler from
Daimler in order to simplify a potential sale of Chrysler, people
familiar with the talks have said."

http://www.reuters.com/article/americasDealsNews/idUSTRE4AP1UE20081126

 

That doesn't exactly track with "Cerberus has been looking to ACQUIRE
the remainder of Chrysler FROM DAIMLER...." which you state below.

Not that any of this is crystal clear even with the best explanations...
but it does look like Cerberus wants to buy. Just not at the price
Daimler wants to sell... yet Daimler accuses Cerberus of over-valuing
the company.

WTF?!?!?

 

I'ts kind of like watching 2 naked women both in bathrobes
who ran out of their houses in the morning to get the morning
paper and upon discovering only 1 paper was delivered, are
now both plaing tug-of-war with it, while at the same time trying
to keep the bathrobes from falling off.

Ted

 

Which would be highly interesting... except that they both look more
like Roseanne Barr than Jennifer Aniston.... x^p