Posts Tagged ‘Chrysler’s’
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Chrysler’s $7.6 billion I.O.U. paid off
Posted on May 25th, 2011 by admin
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Chrysler is set to write the U.S. government a hefty check.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Chrysler has paid back $ 7.6 billion worth of high-interest bailout loans to the U.S. and Canadian governments, the automaker said Tuesday.
The payback included the $ 5.9 billion the carmaker owed in loans to U.S. taxpayers and the $ 1.7 billion owed to the Canadians, Chrysler said.
“The original loans were repaid in full, more than six years ahead of schedule, along with the payment of accrued interest and additional consideration,” said Chrysler, in a statement.
This doesn’t mean that Chrysler is debt free. In fact, the automaker took out additional loans last week to help pay off older debt. But the company said it could save $ 300 million in annual interest payments through refinancing.
Under its current debt structure, Chrysler is paying between 7% and 14% interest on U.S. loans and as high as 20% interest on some of its Canadian loans.
In February, Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Chrysler and Fiat, the Italian automaker that owns a controlling stake in Chrysler, said his company needs to repay “shyster loans” to the governme …CNN
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Chrysler’s massive makeover
Posted on May 19th, 2011 by admin
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Since emerging from bankruptcy things have been intense at Chrysler, designer Ralph Gilles says, but it’s been worth it.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Chrysler Group’s sales are finally improving as customers start to notice a product lineup that’s miles ahead of what it had been just months ago.
Since its partnership with Fiat began two years ago, Chrysler designers and engineers have been tasked with seriously revamping nearly every Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler model to fix all the things that had been keeping people from buying Chrysler products for years.
In other words, they’re fixing just about everything.
“If we’re going to do any kind of surgery on these vehicles, we might as well do everything,” said Ralph Gilles, Chrysler Group’s lead designer, reflecting on the philosophy that drove the work.
That philosophy is working.
Sit in a Dodge Journey, Jeep Compass or Chrysler Town & Country and you’ll find a vastly different interior from last year’s model. Gone are the crude, hastily slapped together interiors drivers had come to expect. The new interiors look and feel pretty nice now.
Drive one of the new cars and you’ll notice big differences, too. The revamped products have better ride quality, smoother engines and transmissions, plus a greater feeling of control.
In particular, the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs — both all-new vehicles that spent years, not mont …CNN
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10 ways Chrysler’s kicking butt
Posted on May 14th, 2011 by admin
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Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat and Chrysler
FORTUNE — The Detroit Three have been outperforming expectations so far this year, but none more than Chrysler. Left for dead by the side of the road two years ago and nearly liquidated in bankruptcy, it is staging a Phoenix-like recovery despite having the skimpiest of resources.
Masterminding its revival has been CEO Sergio Marchionne, who has displayed an instinctive understanding of the American psyche as well as the Chrysler customer, making deft improvements in a struggling product line while displaying a knack for connecting with his audience. Instantly recognizable with his disheveled hair and his baggy sweater, he already ranks with such memorable and charismatic Chrysler executives as Lee Iacocca, Bob Lutz, and Dieter Zetsche.
Herewith, 10 surprising reasons to love Chrysler.
1. Chrysler posted a net profit of $ 116 million in the first quarter — its first since emerging from bankruptcy in 2009. The government’s decision to keep Chrysler alive and hand over control to Fiat is looking smarter than ever. Fiat has increased its ownership of Chrysler to 30%, and is closing in on its goal of a 51% stake, which could happen as early as this summer.
2. Stronger than expected sales may require Chrysler to add production shifts to three assembly plants and hire more than 3,000 workers, according to a report in Automotive News this week. That number is …CNN
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Chrysler’s CEO could get stock worth $2.9M
Posted on February 26th, 2011 by admin
DETROIT — Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne will get stock valued at almost $ 2.9 million if the company repays the money it still owes the U.S. government, according to disclosure forms the company filed on Friday.
Marchionne, who also is CEO if Italy’s Fiat SpA, will get 361,446 shares for his service as a director on the Chrysler Group LLC board.
He’ll get the shares after Chrysler repays to the government, or on June 10, 2012, whichever is later, according to the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As of Dec. 31, the shares were valued by the company at $ 7.95 each.
Chrysler nearly ran out of cash and needed a $ 12.5 billion U.S. government bailout to make it through a 2009 filing for bankruptcy protection. The company still owes the government $ 5.8 billion.
Chrysler’s eight other directors, including Chairman Robert Kidder, will get the same number of shares as Marchionne, in three annual increments that started in June of 2010 and run through June of 2012.
The value of the shares is likely to be much higher than $ 7.95 each when the company sells stock to the public, perhaps as early as the fourth quarter of this year. The filing said Chrysler has 1 million shares outstanding, so at $ 7.95, the company’s total market value would be only $ 7.95 million. By comparison, General Motors Co. shares closed Friday at $ 33.25, giving the company a market value of $ 49.88 billion.
Chrys ……… Read more from MSNBC
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