Fiat Closes Chrysler Deal; New Management Team Named

By Poornima Gupta and Gilles Castonguay, Reuters

DETROIT/MILAN (Reuters) - Fiat SpA closed its acquisition of Chrysler's strongest assets on Wednesday, a key step in the Italian carmaker's ambitious plan to create a global player to ride out the worldwide auto sales downturn.

The Fiat and Chrysler announced deal revives the 84-year old U.S. automaker that had been down to its last dollars before government intervention in late 2008 and completes an Obama administration-directed fast-track reorganization for Chrysler.

Other parts of Chrysler will remain in bankruptcy to be sold or closed.

Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne became CEO of the new Chrysler Group LLC on Wednesday. The automaker's former CEO, Bob Nardelli, will return to Cerberus Capital, the former majority owner of Chrysler, as an adviser.

Read the rest here.

See more stories tagged with: economic crisis , auto industry , chrysler , Fiat