UPDATE 1AUTOSHOWChrysler says has cash eyes asset sales
(Adds details, background, byline)
By Kevin Krolicki
DETROIT, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC ended 2007 with
more cash on hand than its new private owner Cerberus Capital
Management projected, but the automaker is looking to sell real
estate and other assets to boost liquidity, Chief Executive
Officer Bob Nardelli said on Sunday.
“We have cash. You would always like to have more as in
life. But we have cash. We’ve got liquidity,” Nardelli said.
Nardelli said he was unsure whether the U.S. economy was
facing an outright recession this year, but said it was clear
that consumer spending had slowed.
“We certainly have seen a slowdown in the consumer
overall,” Nardelli told reporters on the sidelines of the
Detroit auto show. “I wouldn’t want to generalize, but there
are signs that we are under some stress.”
Cerberus took over an 80.1-percent stake in Chrysler from
former parent Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) in a $7.4-billion deal that
closed in August and immediately moved to install Nardelli at
the helm of the troubled automaker.
Since then, like its larger Detroit-based rivals General
Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Chrysler has had to
contend with a slowing U.S. economy, tighter credit markets and
the need to push faster into fuel-saving technologies.
Chrysler sales dropped 3 percent in 2007, in line with the
decline in the overall U.S. market for cars and light trucks. Continued…
