UAW backs Chrysler-Fiat

Gettelfinger and Nardelli agree that alliance will make automaker more viable.

Christine Tierney / The Detroit News

Chrysler LLC's top executive and the head of the United Auto Workers both advocated the benefits of a partnership between the Auburn Hills carmaker and Italy's Fiat SpA Thursday, saying it would preserve American jobs and generate huge savings.

"We are clearly viable on a stand-alone basis, but our viability would be significantly enhanced with a Fiat alliance," Chrysler Chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli said on a video posted on the company's blog.

Fiat and Chrysler are discussing sharing at least four vehicle platforms, two engines and two transmissions, he said. "When you think about what it'd cost us to develop that, it's clearly in the range of $8 billion to $10 billion."

Chrysler said an alliance between the two companies would preserve or create 5,000 jobs and help the U.S. automaker repay the government loans faster.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, in a radio interview with WJR-AM (760), said he was "very, very solidly supporting the Fiat alliance with Chrysler."

Gettelfinger said he believed that Chrysler could survive on its own. But, he said, "if you want to look at the long term, the best thing that could happen here is if we had the alliance with Fiat and Chrysler."

His remarks and Nardelli's came a day after the White House auto task force met for a second time with Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne in Washington.

At Wednesday's meeting, key task force members Steven Rattner and Ronald Bloom sought more detail on Fiat's potential contribution to Chrysler.

Chrysler and Fiat have stressed that an alliance would not only generate up to $10 billion in savings, but would allow Chrysler to quickly produce a larger variety of smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles. "We would leapfrog four to five to six years of development," Nardelli said.

According to sources in Washington, the task force has been impressed by Marchionne's presentations and by his turnaround of Fiat a few years ago.

Six years ago, Fiat was in a predicament similar to Chrysler's today. The Turin-based automaker was widely viewed as the weakest European automaker, with many industry experts predicting it would not survive.

Chrysler borrowed $4 billion from the U.S. government in January to stay afloat and is seeking $5 billion in additional loans.

Under the terms of the government loans, it submitted viability plans last month demonstrating its ability to survive both on its own and as an alliance partner with Fiat. It is expected to submit a report by the end of March showing the progress it has achieved. By then, Fiat has said that it expects to have completed its due diligence examination of Chrysler.

You can reach Christine Tierney at ctierney@detnews.com.