General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have held preliminary talks about a merger or an acquisition of Chrysler by GM, according to published reports. The Wall Street Journal, citing people it described as familiar with the discussions, reported that Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that owns 80.1 percent of Chrysler and 51 percent of GMAC Financial Services, proposed trading Chrysler’s automotive operations to GM. The Journal said Cerberus would receive GM’s remaining 49 percent stake in GMAC. The New York Times, also citing people familiar with the talks, reported that the automakers were discussing a merger. The Times did not mention GMAC, a traditional auto lender hit hard by the housing market downturn. The talks have stalled because of the recent turmoil in the financial markets, according to the Journal. Its sources said negotiations could resume if markets stabilize because both GM and Cerberus want to quickly divest the assets under discussion.(Associated Press/Yahoo)(10-11-2008) UPDATE: General Motors Corp. approached Ford Motor Co. in recent months about a possible merger but Ford called off the talks after the Dearborn, Mich. auto maker concluded it should continue to go it alone, according to a person directly familiar with the talks. GM and Ford already have a joint venture involving six-speed transmissions and have talked about expanding that partnership to include powertrains, according to sources familiar with the discussions.(Wall Street Journal), no idea how these deals will or would effect their NASCAR involvment.(10-12-2008)
