US and Canadian Governments Sell Final Chrysler Stake to Fiat

Fiats have been made on North American soil, Chrysler launched a bunch of new cars and now, the Italian carmaker has managed to secure the last shares that the US government owned in American auto giant Chrysler. According to a statement made by the US Treasury Department yesterday, the remaining 98,000 shares exchanged hands for the sum of $560 million.

The Italian carmaker acquired a 1.5 percent in Chrysler Group LLC from Canada for $125 million, and a 6 percent stake from the United States Department of the Treasury for a price of $500 million. Fiat now owns 53.5 percent of the American automotive giant.

“With today's closing, the US government has exited its investment in Chrysler at least six years earlier than expected. This is a major accomplishment and further evidence of the success of the Administration’s actions to assist the US auto industry, which helped save a million jobs during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” the US Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad said in an official statement.

Taxpayers in the US have contributed some $12.5 billion to the salvation of the stricken automaker back in 2009. The money came form the Automotive Industry Financing Program, but only about $11.2 billion have been recovered. That’s a heft $1.3 billion missing, yet saving jobs and keeping the industry going was one of the Obama administration’s priorities.

“Treasury is unlikely to fully recover the difference of $1.3 billion owed by Old Chrysler,” said a statement from the U.S. Treasury. “Treasury has the right to recover proceeds from the disposition of the liquidation trust associated with the bankruptcy of Old Chrysler but does not expect a material recovery from those assets.”