Three Christmases ago, Chrysler looked beaten. Always the feeblest of America's Big Three auto makers, Chrysler's ownership by Cerberus had been non-productive, and at the end of 2008 the company was caught badly with a lagging product line and in the midst of the biggest downdraft in U.S. auto sales in a half-century.

But within a few months, Fiat would come to Chrysler's rescue and accept the automaker's carcass from the U.S. government in a taxpayer bailout.

Now, Chrysler is returning the favor in a fashion. While Fiat's European operations are being dragged down by intense small-car competition in that market and, of course, the seeming collapse of the eurozone, as well as the fiscal troubles of Italy per se, Chrysler is experiencing an all-American renaissance that is helping keep its new owner from sinking too far.Continue reading...

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Bank of America is no longer America's largest bank.

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Italy's Fiat SpA industrial group is getting out of the car-making business, announcing today its board's decision to spin off its automotive manufacturing division. Fiat chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo will step down from that role, but remain as the chairman of its luxury unit, Ferrari.

Fiat's luxury Maserati and Ferrari units are run separately from its automotive unit, which includes the Fiat brand, Lancia and Alfa Romeo.

The surprise spin-off news, as reported by Reuters, the New York Times and others, comes a day ahead of Fiat's two-year strategy plan, to be presented tomorrow to shareholders and the press at its headquarters in Turin.Continue reading...