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 * = =  Reign of FIAT  = ||
 * < In these tough economic times, the auto industry seems to be one of the hardest hit excluding the banks. General Motors in particular has seen some tough declines in auto sales and has subsequently began cutting certain auto manufacturers, including Hummer, Pontiac, Chrysler, and Opel very soon. However, this nadir for the American auto industry is seemingly the zenith for a particular Italian auto manufacturer, //Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torrino//, or FIAT as most people know it as. The main focus of this wiki being the latest merger between FIAT and Chrysler, I hope to explore the differences between mainstream and citizen media coverage in the U.S. and abroad concerning this deal. ||
 * = =The New York Times = ||
 * < ==**//Alliance With Fiat Gives Chrysler Another Partner and Lifeline// ** ==
 * < ==**//Alliance With Fiat Gives Chrysler Another Partner and Lifeline// ** ==

By [|BILL VLASIC] and NICK BUNKLEYPublished: January 20, 2009

DETROIT — [|Chrysler] has flirted with bankruptcy at several points in its 84-year history, only to come back from the brink with new management, a new owner, a hot new product or a financial lifeline from the government. It won yet another lease on life on Tuesday, with its deal to join forces with [|Fiat]. The Italian car company will get a 35 percent ownership stake in Chrysler and an opportunity to bring its Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands back to the United States through Chrysler’s dealership network. In exchange, Fiat will bring Chrysler what it needs to be a viable player in the evolving United States market, with its fuel-efficient engine technology and the engineering that goes into its [|small cars]. One reason Chrysler has struggled over the last year is its mix of vehicles, which tends heavily to sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and minivans. “They are going to bring to the table what we don’t have and would cost billions to develop,” said Anthony Viviano, a Chrysler dealer in suburban Detroit. To be sure, Chrysler has made promises before about the synergies to be gained from joining forces with a European partner. In 1998, the chief executive of Daimler-Benz, Jürgen Schrempp, christened that company’s combination with Chrysler as a “marriage made in heaven.” But it ended in a messy divorce in 2007 because the German company’s luxury-car lineup had little in common with Chrysler’s portfolio of vehicles. Chrysler has also been a financial sinkhole since it was acquired two years ago by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. Despite cutting tens of thousands of jobs and enough production capacity to build 1.2 million vehicles a year, Chrysler has been burning through more than $1 billion in cash a month because of its rapidly deteriorating sales, which plummeted 30 percent last year. Chrysler suspended investment in most new products while it looked for a partner. Before striking a deal with Fiat, it held discussions about joining the Nissan-Renault alliance and merging with [|General Motors]. “Chrysler’s been looking at multiple solutions, and been quite erratic,” said Erich Merkle, an independent auto analyst. “But given the times that we’re confronted with, there’s a lot of creative thinking going on right now.” Finding a strategic partner is considered critical to Chrysler’s ability to deliver a long-term business plan required as a condition of its federal loan. “The timing is significant because it demonstrates to the U.S. government that Chrysler is serious about restructuring itself into a viable company,” said a report by the research firm IHS Global Insight. In their joint announcement, Chrysler and Fiat said the nonbinding agreement helps both companies do what they could not achieve on their own. Fiat, however, is not likely to pour any cash into Chrysler, according to the statement. “It creates the potential for a powerful, new global competitor, offering Chrysler a number of strategic benefits,” said the Chrysler chairman, [|Robert L. Nardelli]. Chrysler can cut costs further by sharing purchasing, engineering and manufacturing functions with Fiat, and broaden its sales in international markets through Fiat’s distribution network. The company can also fill huge holes in its product lineup by using Fiat’s small and midsize cars to develop Chrysler models with their own distinctive sheet metal. “We won’t see anything in the next 12 to 18 months, but after that I expect there to be two or three Fiat platforms which Chrysler can bring over here,” said Michael Robinet, an analyst with the firm CSM Worldwide. Mr. Robinet said the Fiat 500 minicar is a prime candidate for Chrysler to adapt for its own use. Fiat already shares the platform for the 500 model with the [|Ford] Ka in Europe, and is working with [|BMW] on a platform for the next Mini. “Fiat has a long history of working with other automakers, and they have quietly established themselves as one of the best small-car builders in the world,” Mr. Robinet said. For Fiat, joining with Chrysler represents a big step to re-entering the United States market that it left in 1983. (The company has continued to market its Ferrari and Maserati models in the United States.) The Fiat brand suffered from a reputation for poor quality among American consumers. Fiat models still score below average in J. D. Power customer-satisfaction surveys in some European markets. But Fiat has gone through a major streamlining in recent years, including selling off nonautomotive operations, and its award-winning 500 minicar is changing the image of the brand. Neither Chrysler nor Fiat made their executives available for interviews on Tuesday, so few details were available on how quickly the two companies will begin working together. The alliance is expected to be completed by April, although questions remain about what will happen to [|Daimler]’s 19.9 percent stake in Chrysler. Daimler had been in talks with Cerberus about selling its stock, which the German automaker has said had zero value. Cerberus, which owns 80.1 percent of Chrysler, has revealed little about its longer-term plans for the automaker after the Fiat deal closes. A Cerberus spokesman, Peter Duda, said Tuesday that the firm supports the alliance and “believes it is in the best interests of Chrysler’s stakeholders.” Analysts expect Fiat to be closely involved in Chrysler’s restructuring plans, to be submitted for review to the federal government by Feb. 17. “This is not going to be a hands-off relationship,” Mr. Robinet said. Under the alliance deal, Fiat will get seats on Chrysler’s board and possibly have executives assigned to its management, according to people with knowledge of the agreement. Fiat will also be able to increase its stake beyond 35 percent if the alliance achieves certain performance benchmarks, the people said. Together, Chrysler and Fiat make more than four million vehicles a year. Analysts said the companies will probably build some models together in Chrysler plants in North America. In the short term, Chrysler still needs additional financing from the government to stay in business. During interviews at the recent [|Detroit auto show], Mr. Nardelli said Chrysler was counting on an additional $3 billion in loans to get through the year. ||  The meetings occurred behind closed doors, there are no transcripts, and we'll never know exactly what transpired, but through the art of simple deduction we can logically piece together a likely scenario of Fiat and Chrysler's discussions. (It helps if you imagine Fiat being played by Marcello Mastroianni, and Chrysler being played by Ned Beatty.)
 * = =The Huffington Post = ||
 * < ==//When Fiat Met Chrysler// ==

Fiat: Ciao, ciao, thank you for meeting. This is very fun.

Chrysler: Where have you been? We've been sitting here waiting for hours.

Fiat: Really? How nice. You are very hospitable.

Chrysler: Well, as you know, we've been instructed to make a deal with Fiat by the White House. If we don't make a deal with your company, they will put us out of business.

Fiat: Interesting, interesting, yes. Do you mind if I smoke?

Chrysler: Well, here in the States, we actually don't smoke in the office.

Fiat: Yes, I see, you have a light?

Chrysler: I do, but...

Fiat: You will light my cigarette, yes? (Long awkward silence. A cigarette is lit.)

Fiat: Thank you, thank you. Now tell me, how did your company get in this terrible predicament?

Chrysler: Well first we were independent, then Mercedes owned us and --

Fiat: (interrupting) I see, I see, so you are like those American girls who come over every summer, yes? First you get in bed with the Germans and now you will be in bed with the Italians. Ha, this is funny, no?

Chrysler: Well, to be honest, we don't find it very funny.

Fiat: You no see what I mean. Your president says you must make a deal with us, correct or not correct?

Chrysler: Correct.

Fiat: And I think I make a very funny joke. You are like one of those American girls, right? Funny, right? (Long awkward silence. A forced chuckle.)

Fiat: Yes, see! You agree! Very funny! Okay, now let us go over our business, yes?

Chrysler: Sure, let's discuss the deal.

Fiat: Okay, My English is not so good so I make it very simple. Chrysler belongs to Fiat now. You are our company. To buy it we give you no money, no cash, no dollars, no euros, nothing. In exchange, now we run the whole thing. You get nothing, we get everything, capice?

Chrysler: Well now, that's not much of a deal.

Fiat: Let us review this one-a more time. okay? Your president say you have to make a deal with Fiat, yes? Or everybody loses their job, right? So, how does your Howie Mandel say it? Deal or no deal? (Long, long awkward silence. A sigh is heard.)

Chrysler: Deal.

Fiat: Bene, bene. See, easy. Relax. No problem. We are through with all this business talk for the day. That wasn't so bad, was it? Now show me your daughters.

~Toby Barlow || media type="custom" key="3859127" [|CNN Video Link]== == ||  By:  Mike Allen and Eamon Javers April 30, 2009 08:52 AM EST || The automaker Chrysler plans to avoid going out of business by declaring a short bankruptcy and joining in a merger with Italian automaker Fiat, the White House said Thursday.
 * = =<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">CNN Video = ||
 * = ==<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">//Fiat, Chrysler's Future// ==
 * = <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> [[image:http://images.politico.com/global/v3/homelogo.gif width="134" height="45" link="http://www.politico.com"]] ||
 * ==<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">//**Chrysler declaring 'short' bankruptcy**// ==
 * ==<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">//**Chrysler declaring 'short' bankruptcy**// ==

“Today after consulting with my auto task force, I can report that the necessary steps have been taken to give one of America’s most storied automakers a new lease on life,” President Barack Obama said at the White House. Obama [|also took aim at] “a small group of speculators” among Chrysler’s bond-holders that he said stood in the way of a final deal and forced the issue into bankruptcy court. "In particular, a group of investment firms and hedge funds decided to hold out for the prospect of an unjustified, taxpayer-funded bailouts...They were hoping everybody else would have to make sacrifices and they would have to make none. I do not stand with that.”

One new element of the plan is that it will include Canadian government money, Obama said. Ottawa will provide $1 out of every $3 in financing for the deal, as measured in Canadian currency, the officials said.

The “short” bankruptcy will be on a timetable of as little as a month or two, officials said.

“Ultimately, this is much better for Chrysler and for the people of Detroit,” a senior administration official said. “This will hopefully get them on a better footing than they’ve been on in a long time.”

In a background conference call with reporters in advance of the president’s remarks today, senior administration officials laid out the contours of the deal to create what they called “New Chrysler.”

The government said it “worked hard” to keep Chrysler out of bankruptcy, but that some of the Chrysler bond holders refused to agree to administration offers to settle the company’s future out of court. Everything about the company will operate normally during the bankruptcy, including the manufacture and sale of new cars, but Chrysler will be forced to reduce the number of dealers around the country. Otherwise, there are no plans for layoffs or plant closings as a result of the bankruptcy.

Another new feature of the deal is that the government will be involved in selecting several members of a reconstituted board of directors for the Detroit automaker. The administration official said executives selected for the board seats will be “people of independent stature.”

The officials were unable to say how long the government would own a stake in Chrysler and control the board seats. “The government has a major investment in this company and it is overseeing its investment,” the official said. “The government’s goal is not to be a lender or an equity holder for any longer than is necessary.”

President Barack Obama will address the Chrysler situation in remarks at noon at the White House. As late as Wednesday’s 8 p.m. nationally televised [|press conference], President Obama seemed to hold out hope that bankruptcy would not be necessary. “You asked about Chrysler bankruptcy,” the president told a reporter. “It's not yet clear that they're going to have to use it.”

At the same time, Obama also said, “I am actually very hopeful, more hopeful than I was 30 days ago, that we can see a resolution that maintains a viable Chrysler auto company out there.” “Even if they ended up having to go through some sort of bankruptcy, it would be a very quick type of bankruptcy and they could continue operating and emerge on the other side in a much stronger position,” Obama said last night.

Obama has taken a tough stand on the fate of two of America’s biggest three automakers, Chrysler and General Motors, after the government provided billions in bailout loans. Last month, he gave Chrysler 30 days to come up with deal to save the company, or he would cut off any further government assistance. He said the company’s clearest clear hope of salvation was a merger with Italian automaker Fiat, which is still in the works even with the bankruptcy.

One senior administration official Thursday outlined all the White House has done to keep Chrysler afloat, even in the face of resistance by some bondholders to the deal offered by the Treasury Department:

“After a month of tireless negotiations, the Administration went into yesterday afternoon with the full support of Chrysler's key stakeholders, including the UAW and the largest creditors. That support remains.

“The remaining creditors were provided a final opportunity to approve an increased offer of $2.25 billion. They were given a deadline of 6 pm Wednesday.

“While the Administration was willing to give the holdout creditors a final opportunity to do the right thing, the agreement of all other key stakeholders ensured that no hedge fund could have a veto over Chrysler's future success.

“Their failure to act in either their own economic interest or the national interest does not diminish the accomplishments made by Chrysler, Fiat and its stakeholders nor will it impede the new opportunity Chrysler now has to restructure and emerge stronger going forward.”

Meanwhile, the clock is still ticking for General Motors, which was granted a 60 day timeframe to restructure by government officials. Under one plan under consideration by GM, the federal government would become a 51 percent stakeholder in the company.

But GM’s bondholders made a competing offer Thursday morning – which would leave them holding 51 percent of the restructured company.

“Our proposed restructuring is quite simple. We will save the American taxpayer $10 billion in cash that would have been spent under the government’s proposed plan,” said Eric Siegert, a financial adviser to the bondholders.

General Motors has until June 1 to finalize a restructuring plan.

Obama on Wednesday night also pushed back against Republican charges that he’s getting too involved in running some of America’s biggest companies.

“You know, I don't want to run auto companies, I don't want to run banks. I've got two wars I've got to run already. I've got more than enough to do,” Obama said. “So the sooner we can get out of that business, the better off we're going to be.” || <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> || <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Garamond","serif";"> Through my research into mainstream and citizen media coverage of the FIAT/Chrysler auto deal, I have tried to uncover 4 distinct representations, some good, some bad, in both mainstream and citizen media. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Garamond","serif";"> My first mainstream article comes from the New York Times and is of course well written. However, I feel that it is rather lacking on the facts of the deal, the apparent main focus of the article. The only useful fact I was able to procure about the deal from this lengthy article is that FIAT made a deal with Chrysler to now control about 35% of the company and to be able to sell their cars through Chrysler dealerships. There is also much extraneous information dealing with Chrysler’s Deimler-Benz history and FIAT’s world class tiny cars. Personally, I was surprised at the lack of information on the deal itself and would expect some better digging from the country’s most respected newspaper organization. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Garamond","serif";"> My first citizen media article comes from the Huffington Post and is quite possibly the epitome of an invented story. Basically, the reporter decided that since no information was released concerning the contents of the deal immediately, and in the essence of getting a quick report out to his info-thirsty readers, he decided to completely fabricate a satirical and humorous conversation. By the end of the article, the reader is no more informed on the subject than if he had just caught up on ten minutes of extra sleep instead of reading this worthless trash. However, for the sake of entertainment, this does serve a role, but it’s not news. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Garamond","serif";"> My second mainstream article is a television broadcast that comes from CNN. It does have useful information concerning the auto deal and also offers a conversation/debate between the TV anchor and the radio anchor which allows for a larger audience to be reached. This article also employs the use of visual aids to grab the viewer’s attention. However, I find it hard to believe that the film team could only get 3 videoclips that they keep playing in the background, including a flybuy shot of Chrysler headquarters, a Chrysler sign at a dealership, and a lot of unsold cars. I counted these segments coming up at least 4 times each, the flyby appears about six times. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Garamond","serif";"> My final citizen media article comes from Politico. Personally, this is my favorite article. It is of sufficient length to provide some meaty information and interpretation. It covers the entire subject as opposed to narrowing the article down to one snippit of information (like the NYT does). And for the most part, all of the information is supported with carefully placed quotations and facts. It differs from other citizen media sources in that it is not entirely fabricated and does not contain stupid bitesized articles. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Garamond","serif";"> In the end, the mainstream sources have the advantage of original reporting, and the citizen media sources have the advantage of current and quick news. However the downfall of one is the strength of the other. The NYT cannot simply report on speculation which hinders them in the speed of their news reporting. However, the Huffington Post can simply report any word on the street and somebody will read it because it is current. Personally, I find Politico to be a quality news source correctly balancing speed and content. =<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> =
 * © 2009 Capitol News Company, LLC ||
 * = =<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Comparative Analysis =
 * = <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: center; display: block;"> ||