The Auto Writer

Talk of Cerberus selling off Chrysler isn’t going away, perhaps suggesting how serious the private equity firm wants to get out of the automotive building business. Cerberus seems content with owning GMAC and would like to gain full control over GM’s financing arm, but GM’s board seems cool to the idea of acquiring Chrysler in exchange for selling off GMAC.

Renault remains a possible bidder for Chrysler, given its desire to reenter the US market and its own relationship with Nissan. Renault and Nissan have huge financial stakes in each other and are both managed by Carlos Ghosn who has been working on putting together a number of platform or model sharing agreements with Chrysler all year.

Nissan has a strong foothold in the US market, while Renault has been on the outside looking in ever since Chrysler bought out Renault’s stake in the American Motors Corporation (AMC) in 1987. Not many people remember Renault since the company exited the market which is a good thing because quality levels during that time were not good.

Taking over Chrysler would allow Renault to transition in some of its own models over a period of time. As certain current Chrysler or Dodge models age out, Renault replacements could take over. Whether badged as a Renault or sporting Dodge/Chrysler tags, Renault could keep costs low by spreading its technological love across the Atlantic. Clearly, there is some value in existing Chrysler LLC products including anything Jeep, the company’s line of minivans, and the Dodge Ram pickup truck.

For its part, Nissan would gain access to some of Chrysler’s production capacity and can still use Chrysler to supply the Titan’s platform thanks to the Dodge Ram. In addition, should Renault desire to maintain either Chrysler or Dodge (or both), they can grab some cars from Nissan while supplying these brands with whatever they want.

Because Chrysler LLC is privately held, we don’t know how much of a drag the automaker is on Cerberus, but we do know that it has to be huge given the automaker’s 25% sales drop year to date.