Chrysler Faces Cash Crunch

Struggling automaker looks to sell assets to raise cash in a hurry
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 21, 2007 10:09 AM CST
Chrysler Faces Cash Crunch
Chrysler Sebring automobiles wait for transport from the Sterling Heights Assembly facility in Sterling Heights, Mich., Thursday, Nov. 1, 2007. Chrysler LLC said Thursday it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs, or up to 15 percent of its workforce, as part of an effort to slash costs and match slowing demand...   (Associated Press)

With an auto industry novice as CEO, a product line trailing the rest of the industry, and an inadequate cost-cutting strategy, Chrysler is scrambling to sell assets to climb out of a deep financial hole. Four months after Cerberus Capital Management took the automaker private, the Wall Street Journal finds turnaround plans stalled by a cash crunch.

The acquisition may become the first case study of how deals made in a boom economy can go bust when slowdowns hit. CEO Robert Nardelli, the former Home Depot chief, told employees recently the company is headed for a $1.6 billion loss this year, adding that only the $10 billion Cerebus invested is keeping Chrysler from bankruptcy. (More Chrysler stories.)

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