No one knows yet what Cerberus is going to do with Chrysler. However, the possibilities probably include quite a few things that wouldn’t be normally expected in the car business — such as GMAC and Chrysler Financial working closely together.
Cerberus hasn’t made any mention of such, yet — that comes from GM CEO Rick Wagoner in his first public comments since Cerberus was announced as the winning Chrysler bidder. Cerberus bought 51% of GMAC last year, and now runs Chrysler Financial. Wagoner’s comments, however, were very open and non-committal — specifically, he said “I think it’s possible you could see opportunities for Cerberus-owned Chrysler Financial and Cerberus-owned GMAC to seek out opportunities to work together.” GM isn’t looking for such a tie-up, it is simply open to “potential synergies” should such cooperation be shown to be in everyone’s interests. He did appear sure that such a proposal — for working together — would be coming in time. If Cerberus did combine the two, it would rule the auto loan market, taking the number one spot from Ford Motor Credit.
[Source: Automotive News, sub req’d]