DETROIT — Chrysler LLC is seeking to shed some of its non-automotive businesses as part of its contract talks with the United Auto Workers, a company official familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday.
At issue is the future of Chrysler Transport, which trucks parts and supplies to the automaker's plants, and a Mopar parts packaging and warehouse in Center Line. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are ongoing.
Chrysler said in a restructuring plan announced in February that it was exploring the sale of support operations, including transportation services. The Mopar unit makes parts for Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles. The company already announced it is closing a Mopar warehouse in Cleveland by the end of this year.
Chrysler spokeswoman Michelle Tinson said she couldn't comment on negotiations with the UAW.
Details of plans for Chrysler's non-automotive businesses were reported earlier Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.
Chrysler is in the midst of a restructuring after losing $618-million (U.S.) in 2006. The auto maker became a private company on Aug. 3 when DaimlerChrysler AG transferred an 80.1 per cent stake in Chrysler to the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP.
DaimlerChrysler was scheduled to release Chrysler's quarterly earnings for the final time Wednesday. Chrysler second-quarter earnings will be listed under discontinued operations, DaimlerChrysler spokesman Han Tjan said. Chrysler won't be required to report quarterly earnings after Wednesday.
DaimlerChrysler retains a 19.9 per cent share in Chrysler, so it will continue to report some Chrysler earnings starting with its third-quarter results in October. But the German auto maker plans to list Chrysler's earnings in a miscellaneous category and won't separate them from other holdings, such as its 22.5-per cent share in the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast second-quarter earnings of $1.74 per share and full-year earnings of $5.31 per share for DaimlerChrysler. The automaker's Mercedes Car Group already has reported a pretax profit of $1.65-billion in the second quarter, or nearly double the unit's performance in the same quarter a year ago.
DaimlerChrysler's shareholders are scheduled to drop Chrysler from the company's name at a meeting in Berlin on Oct. 4.
