Thursday, August 2, 2007

AUTOS: Chrysler-Cerberus deal may wrap up Friday

Financial headlines

The deal by DaimlerChrysler AG to sell 80.1% of Chrysler Group to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management is expected to wrap up on Friday, several people familiar with the process said.

The timeline is tentative, the people noted, because of the fragility of finalizing the details, which can get hung up on legal technicalities.

A Chrysler spokesman declined to comment. A spokesman for Cerberus would only say that the deal is on schedule to close in the third quarter.

Chrysler officials in Auburn Hills had hoped the deal would close early this week with a celebration at the headquarters on Wednesday.

Teams to build vehicles that get 100 m.p.g.

A competition to design, build and race concept vehicles capable of achieving 100 miles to the gallon has commitments from 31 teams and plans to launch in 2009.

The Automotive X Prize will be overseen by the X Prize Foundation, which has run similar contests for private space vehicles and genetic research. Those contests awarded $10 million to the winners; the foundation has not set an amount for the 100-m.p.g. challenge.

The teams -- which include one Michigan group -- must design a vehicle that could be mass produced for everyday use and can use any propulsion system.

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