Motor Vehicles and Parts News
- No plans now for any overseas buys: SAIC
Date: 2-Mar-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
SAIC Motor Corp. said Wednesday it had no plans now for any overseas acquisitions, in response to a Hong Kong newspaper report that China's biggest carmaker had begun talks with DaimlerChrysler AG about potentially buying its troubled Chrysler unit.
'We have no plans for acquisitions at the moment,'SAIC spokeswoman Zhu Xianjun said.
DaimlerChrysler chief executive Dieter Zetsche last week surprised investors by saying all options were on the table for Chrysler, which lost US$1.48 billion last year and is cutting 13,000 jobs under a plan to restore profitability.
The possible sale of the money-losing Chrysler Group has fueled market speculation on possible bidders, including China's FAW, which is Volkswagen AG's China partner, and Chery Automobile.
An FAW spokesman said he had no knowledge of any such move by his company while Chery, which has formed a production alliance with Chrysler, flatly ruled out the possibility of taking over its partner.
Many domestic automakers are eager to emulate the success of Toyota Motor Corp. and other Japanese and South Korean automakers on the global scene and have been pursuing overseas deals.
But a Detroit giant such as Chrysler would be too big for a Chinese automaker, while political obstacles would be particularly difficult to surmount, analysts said.
'It would be a risky move for any bidder, given the difficulties to turn Chrysler around,'said Chen Qiaoning, an industry analyst with Tianxiang Consulting.
Germany's Volkswagen AG, Italy's Fiat SpA, affiliates Renault SA of France and Nissan Motor Co. of Japan, and South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. have said they were not interested in buying Chrysler.
The Financial Times reported Monday, however, that DaimlerChrysler was considering taking a minority stake in General Motors Corp. as payment for Chrysler if the two were to strike a deal.
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