(Source: Dow Jones via Wall Street Journal & LeftLane News.com, WTOP)

Italy’s Fiat is the new owner of most of Chrysler’s assets, closing a deal Wednesday that saves the troubled U.S. automaker from liquidation and places a new company in the hands of Fiat’s CEO.  The deal creates a leaner company known as Chrysler Group LLC, which is not in bankruptcy protection and is free of billions in debt, 789 underperforming dealerships and burdensome labor costs that hobbled the old Chrysler LLC.   The future of Chrysler Group LLC began to take shape Wednesday as its new leadership announced sweeping management and organizational changes.

The announcements came as Chrysler merged its assets with Fiat SpA (FIATY), following a six-week bankruptcy process for the U.S. auto maker. The last hurdle to the sale of Chrysler assets to Fiat was cleared late Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected creditors’ objections to the deal.

The completion of the Chrysler deal bolsters President Barack Obama’s administration, which guided Chrysler through bankruptcy and hopes that a concurrent restructuring at General Motors Corp. (GM), which filed for Chapter 11 on June 1, will also be completed quickly.

Chrysler confirmed that its new Chief Executive is Sergio Marchionne, who also serves as Fiat’s CEO. Marchionne replaces Robert Nardelli, who served as Chrysler’s chief for the past 20 months. As reported, Robert Kidder, the lead independent director at Morgan Stanley, will become chairman of Chrysler’s new board of directors. Current Vice Chairman Jim Press will be appointed deputy CEO and special advisor, the company said.

Marchionne said in a letter to Chrysler employees that the company will be more focused and nimble, benefiting significantly from its global alliance with the Italian auto maker.   The new Chrysler Group LLC noted that it would soon reopen Chrysler factories that were idled during the bankruptcy process, costing the automaker $100 million per day.

Under the old Chrysler, the automaker’s three brands – Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep – were all vertically integrated. However, Fiat has now separate all parts of Chrysler—including its Mopar parts division – with executives heading up each division. The new setup largely mirrors Fiat’s management style with its Fiat, Alfa Romeoand Lancia brands.

“The new company moves forward with significant strategic advantages, including a healthy balance sheet, a competitive cost structure, a leaner and more efficient dealer network, sound supplier agreements and significantly improved product quality and operational efficiency,” he said in the letter.

Chrysler, the smallest of the three U.S. auto makers, sought emergency government aid and was forced to file for bankruptcy in recent months owing to a steep decline in sales that drained the company’s cash. Chrysler enters this new chapter of its storied history at a time when the outlook for the auto industry remains bleak, amid continued economic weakness and tight credit conditions. Jim Press – Chrysler’s former co-president – might have been questioning his decision to move from Toyota to Chrysler in 2007 in recent weeks, but the automotive exec’s career is safe as Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has named Press the deputy CEO of the reborn Chrysler.

Michael Manley, Michale Accavitti and Peter Fong, all of whom were previously with Chrysler, will run Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler, respectively. Pietro Gorlier, who joins Chrysler from Fiat, will head Mopar.

(Source:  AP via Yahoo)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for Chrysler LLC’s sale to Fiat, turning down a last-ditch appeal by opponents that included consumer groups and three Indiana pension plans.

The court rejected a plea to block the sale of most of Chrysler’s assets to the Italian automaker. Chrysler, Fiat and the Obama administration had warned that the high court’s intervention could have scuttled the sale.

A federal appeals court in New York had earlier approved the sale, but gave opponents until Monday afternoon to try to get the Supreme Court to intervene.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ordered a temporary delay just before a 4 p.m. deadline on Monday. A little more than 24 hours later, the court freed the automakers to complete their deal.

The opponents include a trio of Indiana pension plans, consumer groups and individuals with product-related lawsuits.

The court issued a brief, unsigned opinion explaining its action. To obtain a delay, or stay, someone must show that at least four of the nine justices find that the issue raised is serious enough to warrant hearing a full appeal and that a majority of the court will conclude the lower court decision was wrong.

“The applicants have not carried that burden,” the court said.

Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock expressed disappointment with the decision and said options seem limited for opponents of the sale. “Obviously the supreme court of the land is the supreme court of the land,” Mourdock said. “The United States government has, I continue to believe, acted egregiously by taking away the traditional rights held by secured creditors.”

(Source: Washington Post)

“Police could not reasonably have believed either that Gant could have accessed his car at the time of the search or that evidence of the offense for which he was arrested might have been found therein,” Stevens wrote.

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., writing for the four dissenters, said the court’s insistence that its precedents had been misinterpreted was simply a cover for getting rid of a decision with which it disagreed.