Chrysler says no brand sales, "not going under"

By Poornima Gupta and Soyoung Kim

DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC said on Wednesday it would not sell off brands like Jeep or any U.S. assembly plants, but hoped to sell equipment used to make the once-popular PT Cruiser as it works to shore up its cash position after a $4 billion government bailout.

Chrysler Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda said he could not say whether Chrysler's owner, private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, was shopping the automaker to potential buyers at a time when auto sales are tumbling.

"Those things are all dealt with at the Cerberus level, and at this point in time I just can't speak to that," he said.

"This company is going to be around," he added. "We are not going under."

LaSorda, speaking to reporters, was responding to a Reuters report on Tuesday citing people with knowledge of the talks as saying Chrysler had discussed selling assets to Renault-Nissan and Canadian auto parts maker Magna International.

Three people with direct knowledge of the discussions said on Wednesday that contacts had continued in recent weeks between representatives of Cerberus and Renault-Nissan.

While they were not authorized to publicly discuss the talks, one said the matter appeared to have become more sensitive because of the U.S. government aid for Chrysler and the foreign status of its potential partners.

Chrysler confirmed that it would look to sell the tooling to make the PT Cruiser after the model is phased out this summer, as Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Analysts have questioned whether Chrysler, which burned through $9 billion in the second half of last year to end 2008 with $2 billion cash, can survive without a merger partner.

Chrysler faces both mounting pressure and new scrutiny from government officials who need to approve any asset sale of more than $100 million, they said.

"I'm sure there are a lot of things on the table and no decisions have been made," said independent analyst Erich Merkle. "What is clear is that something has to be done."

RELUCTANT GHOSN

LaSorda said Chrysler had not had talks with Renault SA, which owns a 44 percent interest in Nissan.

Renault also denied any such talks had taken place.

Cerberus, which operates Chrysler as one of the companies in its portfolio of over 30 firms, had no comment on Wednesday. Nissan Motor Co Ltd also had no comment.