Chrysler to file bankruptcy? No, but…..
“We've got cash; we haven't filed anything,'' Chrysler spokesman Dave Elshoff said in an interview today. “It's absolutely nothing we're considering.''
Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in London, said rumors of a Chrysler bankruptcy filing prompted auto stocks in Europe to “slip quickly'' today.
Auto stocks in Europe fell “quickly'' on talk Chrysler may file for bankruptcy, said Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in London. Prices on Chrysler's loans plunged, corporate loan default risk escalated, U.S. Treasuries rose and stock-index futures declined.
U.S. sales at Chrysler and larger competitors General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have tumbled this year as record gasoline prices force consumers away from profitable large pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Chrysler and GM may face a cash crunch next year, Fitch Ratings said yesterday.
Cerberus Capital Management LLC took control of Chrysler in August when it bought 80.1 percent of the Auburn Hills, Michigan- based automaker from Daimler AG. Chrysler no longer releases financial information.
The company has said it plans to stop selling four of 25 models. Chrysler also is cutting 12,100 jobs in addition to the 13,000 that had been targeted before the Cerberus purchase. Chrysler fell to fifth place in U.S. sales last month, a spot it held only twice before. Bloomberg
[Editor's Note: They are not filing for bankruptcy now but it's probably just a matter of time, at which time they will pull the plug on their entire NASCAR program.]