Tough sell: Chrysler attempted to forge partnerships with at least 14 companies, including Toyota
05/01/2009, 5:39 PMBy Drew Johnson
Chrysler finally inked a strategic alliance with Italy’s Fiat on Thursday, but new documents from the company’s Chapter 11 filing reveal the Auburn Hills automaker has been shopping around for an automotive partner for the last two years.
According to The Detroit News, Chrysler has been in search of a strategic partner since 2007, and even tried to sell off several parts of the company. Chrysler reportedly had talks with a number of the world’s top automaker, but focused on Chinese automakers during the last few weeks.
“Chrysler has attempted in recent weeks to sell product lines and other units to a number of Chinese companies, but these efforts too have been unsuccessful,” Chrysler Co-president and Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda said in an affidavit. Chrysler attempted to sell engines, transmission, entire vehicle lines and even U.S. plants to China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Tempo International Group, Hawtai Automobiles, and Chery Automotive Co., but to no avail.
In addition to the aforementioned Chinese companies, Chrysler also tried to strike strategic alliances with Nissan, General Motors, Volkswagen, Tata Motors, Magna, GAZ, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota. Chrysler made the most headway with Nissan and GM, but was turned down by the others fairly quickly. Honda turned down Chrysler’s offer in just one day.
The documents also revealed Chrysler first began talks with Fiat back in March of 2008. One of the first topics breached was selling the Fiat 500 in the United States. Chrysler and Fiat estimate their tie-up will save the companies $3.7 billion over the next eight years.
