Fiat to take 35% of Chrysler. So who will buy or merger Ford and GM?

Fiat and Chrysler to form global alliance


MILAN (Reuters) – Italy's Fiat will take a 35 percent stake in U.S. car maker Chrysler LLC -- valued at zero by its part-owner -- in a deal aimed at helping the pair survive the worst crisis to hit their industry in decades.

Fiat is not paying cash for the stake but in return will share products and platforms for small cars with Chrysler, which has already grasped billions of dollars from the U.S. government to avoid bankruptcy. It will also share its green technologies.

Chrysler, which makes gas-guzzling Jeep and Dodge, is 80.1 percent owned by Cerberus Capital Management, which paid $7.2 billion for that stake in 2007. The rest is held by German car maker Daimler, which considers the 19.9 percent holding to have no value.

Fiat, worth about $7.5 billion, has said it needs a partner to make it big enough to survive. Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said in a joint statement the deal was designed to help Fiat boost its volumes. It will also help Fiat return to the U.S. market where it has long been absent.

Chrysler is the No. 3 U.S. car maker by sales. In a letter to employees, Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli said the deal would "significantly enhance the long-term viability" of the company.





http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090120/bs_nm/us_chrysler_fiat_8

Uff da! From Mercedes Benz to Fiat. What a comedown.

Fiats blow...big time.

In the '80 a slightly disguised Volkswagen - the Horizon - saved them.

the best cars on the planet, and Fiat's reputation here in the US is pretty dismal, due to their marketing of junk cars in the 60s and 70s. I've owned a couple and they seemed to have a lifespan limited to about 60,000 miles, after which they were broken more than they ran.

Fiat quit marketing in the US...largely because nobody would buy their junk any longer.

...for no cash, just technology-sharing?

Sounds like we gave Fiat one hell of a paycheck.

articles with titles like "Fiat 500: Best Small car in the World?" Sharp looking car

and fiat doesn't have much of a foothold in the u.s.- it could be a very good thing for both of them.