[toksenveste]

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On Tuesday, Chrysler and Italy's Fiat confirmed they had reached an agreement on an alliance that would give Fiat a 35% stake in the American company. Fiat would not put any cash into Chrysler but would provide technology and vehicles that Chrysler could build and sell in the U.S.
But the deal becomes binding only if Chrysler gets $3 billion more in financial help from Washington, said the people familiar with the terms of the agreement...While having Fiat as a partner helps Chrysler offer a longer-term vision, it does little to ease its current cash crunch.

All its plants have been shut temporarily since before Christmas, and dealers have been scaling back orders as sales declined steeply in the last few months.

As a result, Chrysler is barely generating any revenue and will likely need more government loans to keep going beyond the first quarter, people familiar with Chrysler's operations said...Chrysler could face tough questions about why taxpayers should put more money into the company when neither its majority owner, Cerberus, nor its new partner, Fiat, are doing the same.

Giving more loans to Chrysler is "somewhat troubling for all of us as U.S. taxpayers, but for Chrysler itself, it may be the best outcome," Sen Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) said Tuesday in a phone interview. He said he is concerned that by investing more money in Chrysler, the government is enabling Cerberus, which is privately held, to be in a better position to offload its stake in the troubled auto maker...Cerberus acquired Chrysler in August 2007, and began talks to extend Chrysler's reach beyond North America.
Chrysler-Fiat Deal Needs U.S. Loans - WSJ.com