Auto Industry, Fiat | featured news

Robert Nardelli, Chrysler's departing chairman and chief executive, said he expects the sale of the bulk of Chrysler's assets to a group headed by Italy's Fiat Group SpA to close Friday, assuming the judge overseeing the automaker's bankruptcy protection case approves the deal.

The Italian carmaker that just took over Chrysler is in talks to buy GM's European operations.

Union concessions moves the deal between the U.S. and Italian automakers closer to reality.

The Obama administration remains focused on bringing Chrysler and Fiat into a working partnership, a U.S. official said on Thursday, dismissing a news report that the U.S. car-maker faced imminent bankruptcy.

The moves come less than an hour after Obama tells the two carmakers to take another stab at redesigning their companies, a requisite for receiving more federal funds.

Less than an hour after President Obama said a major overhaul was needed to save the auto industry, Chrysler announced that it had formed the framework of an alliance with Fiat, while at General Motors Corp., new leaders took charge after the chairman was forced to step down

The struggling American auto maker Chrysler, owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, signed an agreement with Fiat on Tuesday that would give the Italian car maker a 35% stake in the company.