Chrysler to File for Bankruptcy Following Collapse of Negotiations; President Obama to address the nation

April 30, 2009 at 9:45 am

(Source: Washington Post)

Chrysler, one of the three pillars of the American auto industry, will file for bankruptcy today after last-minute negotiations between the government and the automaker’s creditors broke down last night, an Obama administration official said.

 U.S. officials had offered Chrysler’s secured lenders $2.25 billion in cash if they would agree to writedown the $6.9 in secured debt that the company owed. But a small group of hedge funds refused the 11th-hour deal, forcing an imminent bankruptcy.

An administration official this morning expressed disappointment, saying the holdouts had failed to “do the right thing,” but that “their failure to act in either their own economic interest or the national interest does not diminish the accomplishments made by Chrysler, Fiat and its stakeholders, nor will it impede the new opportunity Chrysler now has to restructure and emerge stronger going forward.”

President Obama is scheduled to address the issue at noon today at the White House.

As talks broke down late last night, it became near certainty that the Obama administration would send Chrysler into bankruptcy under a plan that would replace chief executive Robert L. Nardelli and pump billions of dollars more into the effort, all in hopes that the company could emerge from court proceedings as a re-energized competitor in the global economy.

The U.S. government’s attempt to save the automaker amounts to another extraordinary intervention in the economy and a landmark event in the history of the American auto industry.

Under the administration’s detailed plan for a “surgical bankruptcy,” ownership of Chrysler would be dramatically reorganized, the leadership of Italian automaker Fiat would take over company management and the U.S. and Canadian governments would contribute more than $10 billion in additional funding.

Negotiations between the government and the company’s stakeholders — Chrysler’s lenders, the union and proposed merger partner Fiat — went well into the night, as dealmakers rushed to meet President Obama’s April 30 deadline.

Last night, the United Auto Workers union overwhelmingly ratified the administration proposal to give its retiree health fund the 55 percent equity stake in Chrysler. In exchange, the health fund must give up its claim to much of the $10 billion that Chrysler owes it. Eighty-two percent of production workers and 80 percent of skilled-trades workers voted for the agreement.

While four of Chrysler’s major creditors — J.P. Morgan ChaseCitigroupGoldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — have agreed to the Treasury’s plan, other lenders, mainly hedge funds, had held out. The holdouts included Oppenheimer Funds, Perella Weinberg Partners and Stairway Capital, two sources said. The last two have funds that invest in “distressed” companies. It is not known what companies ultimately failed to reach agreement with the government.

The hedge funds likely think they could get a better return in a bankruptcy filing or in a sale of Chrysler’s assets, said Sheldon Stone, a turnaround expert at Amherst Partners. The government offer made yesterday would represent a recovery of about 32 cents on the dollar. A recent Standard & Poor’s analysis said the lenders could recover 30 to 50 cents on the dollar.

Chrysler enters the Electric Vehicle fray with sizzling hot Dodge Circuit

April 16, 2009 at 4:36 pm

(Source: AutoBlogGreen, CNNMoney)

Dodge Circuit, a two-seat roadster, could be Chrysler’s first step into electric cars, provided the company survives.

A battery-powered 268-horsepower two-seat sports car is in line to become Chrysler LLC’s first electric car, provided the carmaker lives to see another day.   

To survive, help is needed from Italy’s Fiat but, as negotiations with the Italian automaker bog down and the two week deadline to hammer out a partnership approaches, the company’s future – as well as its aspirations for an electric hot rod – are increasingly in doubt.

Chrysler’s first electric car, set to be introduced late next year around the same time as General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt, will be a sports car with a zero-to-60 time of under five seconds and a top speed of 120 miles hour.

It looks like the Dodge Circuit EV may have won the “who wants to be the first electric Chrysler concept to go into production” contest. Although they still haven’t officially made an announcement, Chrysler’s viability plan did list an “EV Roadster” as part of their 2010 product line. Based on the lightweight Lotus Europa and using drivetrain parts pilfered from UQM, the concept drew some fairly positive responses when it took on the newDodge Challenger in an impromptu drag race and later, when it got its crosshair makeover. Its 150 to 200 mile range is significantly higher than many other electric vehicles in the works and should add to its appeal.

“To be able to meet a 2010 timeline, you have to be pretty far along in development, and right now we are,” said Lou Rhodes, head of Chrysler’s electric car program, in a recent CNNMoney.com interview.

The Circuit is similar to the Tesla Roadster, a $109,000 sports car produced by a small California company. Pricing for the Circuit has not been announced but will likely undercut the Tesla.