Chrysler bleeding, cash loss slows, says Fiat’s Marchionne

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: Chrysler Group LLC has stemmed the pace at which it uses cash after emerging from bankruptcy June 10 as a slimmer company, chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne said.

“We are still burning cash, but it’s slowed down by far,” Marchionne, also CEO of Italian automaker Fiat SpA, said in an interview in New York on Tuesday. “The question is how quickly we can stop the bleeding. That is priority No 1.”

Chrysler, which reorganised around what it considered its best assets and $6 billion in fresh financing from the US and Canadian governments, went through $9.6 billion in cash in 2008. Marchionne, who declined to say how quickly the US carmaker is consuming cash, said he isn’t seeking another partner in Europe or Asia, even after Fiat lost out to Magna International Inc in a bid for General Motors Corp’s Opel division in Germany.

Marchionne, 57, is focusing on fixing Chrysler after two previous owners failed. He’s cutting inventory and adding new platforms and engine technology to redefine the product portfolio. Turin, Italy-based Fiat bought 20% of the new Chrysler formed from the bankruptcy. Combined, they’re the world’s sixth-largest auto manufacturer, with annual sales of 4.5 million vehicles.

The CEO, who is pushing consolidation in the car industry because he expects only six global players to thrive in the long run, said he wants to disclose Chrysler’s financial information even though the automaker, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, near Detroit, isn’t listed on any stock market.

“It would be very useful for the public, and the people who have funded us, including the taxpayers, to know how we’re doing,” he said. Marchionne said he’s working with the US Treasury to decide what information Chrysler might report and when to release it. By the end of the month, Marchionne wants to decide how the partnership will manage its Dodge and Alfa Romeo brands, which he sees as American and European counterparts.

“The level of competition between these two brands is tremendous because they are both going after the same customer,” Marchionne said. “Dodge is the American muscle car, while Alfa Romeo is the European muscle car. How we dovetail these two brands is very important.”