Chrysler Repays $7.6 Billion In Government Loans

Where are all of those people that thought the auto bailout was a bad idea? It appears to me that the Prseident did the right thing. Also, all of those in Congress that voted should be congratulated as well. Way to Chrysler for only taking what you needed to get back on track. Way to go indeed!!!

With a few computer keystrokes in an office at its Detroit headquarters, Chrysler Group LLC sent $7.6 billion to the U.S. and Canadian governments on Tuesday, paying off most of the bailout money that saved the company from financial disaster just two years ago.

The repayment — expected for weeks — is a huge step in the automaker's unlikely comeback. Chrysler went from a company that almost ran out of cash and survived a 2009 bankruptcy to one that is revamping its aging lineup and last quarter posted its first net profit in five years, a modest $116 million.

"I think this is going to close a painful and necessary chapter in our history," Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said Monday at the opening celebration of a dealership in Detroit.

For Marchionne and Chrysler workers, the payoff marks partial freedom from government ownership. But it also means the company must stand on its own and continue to overhaul a lineup that's still depends on old Chrysler designs and larger vehicles that have fallen out of favor due to high gasoline prices.

"We celebrate and then we move on," said Marchionne, who is also CEO of Fiat SpA, the Italian automaker which was given control of Chrysler by the U.S. government. "We've got a long way to go."

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