http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100517/...sler_repayment

 

They should of let Chrysler fail. If people are not buying something its because they do not want it. That 4 billion should of went to feed children or something we need.

 

Interesting... that's not how I read it earlier on marketwatch. I didn't see where this was a final pmt. When they go public in the future, in addition to posting profits, they could still repay their debts to the taxpayer. Time will tell.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Treasury Department said Monday that it has received a $1.9 billion repayment from Chrysler Holding to settle a loan extended to the company's financial-services business.
The loan was made back in January 2009 for $4 billion but went into default when Chrysler filed for bankruptcy a few months later. Of the $14.3 billion in loans to Chrysler, the Treasury said it has received $3.9 billion in payments so far.
"This repayment, while less than face value, is significantly more than the Treasury expected to recover on this loan, and is greater than an independent valuation of the loan ..." the Treasury said in a statement.
Total TARP repayments from all industries that have received emergency federal funding now stand at $189 billion, according to the Treasury.
Chrysler said in April that it expects to post an operating profit of between zero and $200 million and revenue of between $40 billion and $45 billion.
Last week, CEO Sergio Marchionne said a public offering remains a primary focus and its launch could come much sooner than many expect.

 

Except that it is feeding children... children of Chrysler employees and their many suppliers - incl Cummins.
And how do you help GM and not help Chrysler?

Besides, Chrysler holds seniority in bailouts!

 

Simple.. for the same reasons they didn't help my old company when it was on the ropes. Sometimes it's just not frelling worth the expenditure.

There is such a thing as realizing what a bad bet is... and Chrysler, after Daimler was done with it, was one of those. They can't make product that people want. They just... can't. Haven't been able to since the takeo...uh, merger with Daimler. Their emergence from under that shipwreck doesn't fix overnight... and they're STILL not out from it.

GM has been badly managed since... ever. And they can't build cars people want either, or they'd be outta debt now.

I would say that I'll never understand why the government didn't say "well... that's nice, but we're not interested. Good luck." But that'd be a lie, because I do: control. You get a government backed automaker, the people have to take interest in it... or pay too much in taxes to support it. So you get guaranteed sales that way, right?

Yeah.. not so much it turns out.

Then, the government gives ya rebates for clunkers (and who paid for those rebates, btw?)... and people spent that on Toyotas and such. Nice. Well, the dealerships made some money, that's always good, thems are Americans working at 'em.

Since Ford said "well... that's nice, but we're not interested," it screwed up the whole idea. If Ford had taken part in that bailout money instead of fixing itself, you'd have one very big company consolidated from the wreckage of the three after the government got done....

Or so I'm thinking. I'm probably daft though.

/And yes, that spans both Presidencies, thanks for noticing.

 

I'm gonna run my own company into the ground and then hold my breath while I wait for the Feds to bail me out too.

 

I understand the arguments and frustration. But with the economy on the brink from the housing implosion, and then the Banking/Wall Street implosion, having GM and Chrysler fail at the same time... and all the related companies (which are several) truly would have decimated the economy. Like 30% UE. That's the reason - not guaranteed sales.

I don't think we realize just how many jobs are tied to the auto industry. GOOD paying jobs. About the last serious manufacturing the US does.

And its not over yet... I've read other articles where they think TARP will be paid back - with interest - except for Fannie & Freddie. I don't know anything about Fiat's CEO, but don't count Ed Whitacre out for a second. (You Texans should be familiar with him.)

Tell that to the 1.3 million+ PT Cruiser owners. The beginning of the retro wave (5 years before the S197). America's VW! LOL Not to mention the jillion of mini-vans. The Chally. The Police Chargers. The Ram truck with the Cummins. I know many a Ford guy that held their nose and switched for that Cummins (the older 5.9L that is). And Fords Power stroke was too problematic.

If I had the dough, I'd have an SRT8 Chally next to Bullitt for sure! (Plus a Raptor!)

My Chrylser window sticker says 40% is US/Canada parts content, Mexico 53%. (Doesn't mention what my new partner Fiat gets.) So Chrysler has supported US jobs, Canadian jobs, and maybe those Mexican jobs will keep them... in Mexico - instead of doing the illegal immi thing.

 

That was then. You speak of a very much past past. The last two years is the most relevant... in other words, "what have you done for me lately." If you like, you could use the dominance of Lee Iacocca's era in Chrysler as the proof of Chrysler's awesomeness today... which clearly isn't the case.

If the people wanted the cars, the car makers would be out of debt, and quite possibly not be in debt in the first place. QED. I stand by my statement on that.

In the other matter, yes, indeed plenty of parts/assembly, etc. Understanding there are plenty of jobs related. And there was a bunch of other problems. I still said at the time, "let them crash... at least, please let there be no more Chrysler so the other two can make it." You cut your losses and improve with that, not keep both losses. One on that scale could be considered manageable to a certain extent, but two? Hmph.

Whitacre... um, ok. I'll believe it when I see it. AT&T nee SBC has one thing that GM doesn't: Gigantic built in automatic money. SBC/AT&T owns a LOT of rights of ways for phone/data and rents them to everyone... and had the iPhone to boot.

Any reference to ExxonMobile of course has us V8 Mustang owners, for one group But he doesn't really run that show. Still, plenty built in money for that one too.

GM doesn't have those luxuries. So while I'm not writing him off, he doesn't have something at his hands he had at the other two.5, and that's going to be tough. The killing of brands is a good move though... although I'm not sure that Pontiac was the right one, but that's just me. I'm sure it doesn't really matter if it was Pontiac or Buick, one of them hadda go.

 

Haven't you been reading/seeing what they offer the last two years? Yes they need more in the pipeline - and will with Fiat - but the 08 Chally, Charger, new Ram/Cummins (Truck of the Year) & Jeep were not part of Iacocca's realm. And about 40k PT's each year the last few years although the '10 is the final (which they said about the '09 too). Daimler drained em and those Germans didn't do crapola for all their 'expertise'. (So much for 'German engineering'.) And Cerberus was just after their assets/pension funds to milk. I'm surprised there's even a shell left. At least Marchionne is a car guy so we'll see what the future line up holds. Jeeps and Ram trucks may be a big seller in Europe so maybe export jobs too....

http://www.insideline.com/dodge/chal...g-bullitt.html
Its waaay more complex than that and you know it. UAW contracts, deferred pension/med benefits for retirees and current employees, foreign competition (can you say government subsidies?), housing implosion, bank implosion, unemployment, foreclosures, tightened lending, broke consumers..... all at the hands of $4 gas from greedy ragheads whose straw broke the camels back....

He has savvy working with Federal & State Agencies after all those mergers/takeovers. Right guy at the right time. I'm sure Mulally is attentively watching Whitacre. I don't like GM at all but I'm watchin' that jockey.

 

True, but Chrysler's products in segments that really matter are a joke. Small cars (Caliber), mid-size cars (Avenger), crossovers (Journey) ... are one of the worsts in their classes.
Instead of spending ton of money on a new Ram, when pickup trucks are on a huge decline in sales, they should've spend money to replace Caliber and Avenger.

Plus, PT Cruiser is a old news (haven't been updated in 11 years), minivans are being killed by crossovers and pickup trucks are on a big decline. So basically, even Chrysler's products that were keeping company alive in the past 10 years are pretty much dying now.

 

+1, People just don't realize how important the US car industry is to the US or why alot of people figure they exsist in some sort of vacuum that would have no real effect on the economy