Nardelli cites progress in road to restructuring

Posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 7:10 AM EDT.

Dear Employees,

With one day to go before our government-imposed April 30 deadline, we continue to make headway in our efforts to meet all requirements to conclude our alliance with Fiat and qualify for the additional government funds we have requested. Here are some recent updates:

• The U.S. Treasury Department confirmed that it reached a preliminary agreement with our largest secured creditors to cancel the $6.9 billion owed by the company in exchange for $2 billion in cash. If approved, it would clear a significant hurdle on our continuing journey toward long-term success, but the proposed agreement still needs to be approved by all of the secured lenders.
• The UAW leadership unanimously approved a tentative new labor agreement with the company and has sent the agreement on to local union members who will vote today on its ratification. This is another important part of our effort to restructure our costs and attain viability.
• It is clear that our restructuring and cost reduction activities are delivering results across our business. Through the first quarter of this year, our costs are sharply lower compared to both the first quarter of 2008 as well as the fourth quarter of 2008.
• In these difficult conditions our dealers are doing a terrific job, and continue to move product at retail, where on a month-to-day basis our volume level is on par with the overall trend in the US market. This is great news considering all the negative news in our industry and continued economic weakness

We also are continuing partnership talks with Fiat and hope to finalize a definitive agreement that will provide us many strategic advantages and help ensure long-term success. I’m encouraged by this progress and I want you to know I deeply appreciate the sacrifices made by so many constituents to help us reach the restructuring targets established by the government.

Despite the economic downturn, the significant restructuring and the continuous outside speculation about our company’s fate, you have steadfastly moved our business forward. Thank you for your hard work, which is helping us lay the foundation for a new and promising future for Chrysler.

Bob

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 7:10 AM EDT and is filed under Company. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comments are currently closed.