It's official: The U.S. Treasury has completed the sale of its stake in Chrysler Group LLC to Fiat SpA.
In early June, the Italian automaker Fiat agreed to acquire the U.S. Treasury's stake in Chrysler for $560 million, ending the Obama administration's involvement with the Auburn Hills automaker.
The deal finally passed all regulatory hurdles and the transaction was completed early today, a person briefed on the matter said. An official announcement is expected later today.
The White House and Chrysler didn't immediately comment. The move finally gives the Italian automaker a 52 percent majority stake in Chrysler.
The U.S. exit ends a 30-month involvement of two administrations in saving the company from collapse, beginning with the Bush administration's decision to bail out Chrysler with $4 billion in December 2008.
Can we still call them an American car company?
In other good car news, Chevrolet is reporting a new global sales record for the first half of 2011, and is giving big credit to the very popular Cruze, which is on pace to sell 1 million units by the end of 2012.
Chevrolet’s centennial year is shaping up to be the best in the company’s history.
General Motors Co. recently reported 2.35 million Chevrolet vehicles sold worldwide in the first six months of 2011, the best half-year performance in the brand’s 100-year history.
Record first-half sales in many countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, South Africa, and Turkey, helped the brand “drive the Motor City” to the record numbers, according to GM.
US sales "were up 16 percent following nine consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases." The article also notes this is coming almost two years to the day that GM exited bankruptcy.
Thank you President Obama. And Democrats would do well to tout this success as loud as they possibly can. Jobs, jobs, jobs were saved and created, and that's what the country needs to hear.