Chrysler’s plans detailed

Writing for the Associated Press, Tom Krisher interviewed Frank Klegon regarding Chrysler’s twin business plans, one including Fiat and the other standing alone. He wrote that two teams were independently working on the plans. In either case, Chrysler plans to provide equity to bondholders to get concessions from them, and is talking with the UAW on labor costs. The company is currently trying to get dealers to order 78,000 vehicles in February, and is still short by 10,000 vehicles with a deadline looming.

Klegon noted that while Chrysler is interested in Fiat’s small cars and powertrains, Fiat itself is interested in Chrysler’s trucks, emissions controls, and the Phoenix V6.

One interesting part of the article concerned the deal with Nissan to build a car (usually thought to be the Hornet) on the Cube architecture. This is still ongoing, according to Klegon, despite the obvious duplication with the Fiats, but he said there was no signed contract with Nissan. Even with the Fiat deal, the Hornet could continue.