World Economic

Fiat SpA will decide which Chrysler LLC dealers will be brought along to the new company to be formed under the U.S. automaker’s bankruptcy process, people familiar with the situation said.

An initial list of the retailers to be retained will be filed in the Manhattan bankruptcy court by May 14, according to documents in those proceedings. Some dealers may be added after that filing, said the people, who didn’t want to be identified because the discussions aren’t public.

Trimming Chrysler’s 3,188 retail outlets would be among the first management actions by Italian automaker Fiat affecting the U.S. automaker. Chrysler wants fewer dealers so those remaining will be more profitable, and had a plan last year to trim the number in major metro areas by as much as 50 percent.

Gualberto Ranieri, a Fiat spokesman, declined to comment on plans for Chrysler dealers faxless payday loan. Fred Spar, a Chrysler spokesman, also wouldn’t comment.

Fiat would manage the new company, which plans to buy most of the assets of Chrysler, based in Auburn Hills, Mich. Terms of the U.S. Treasury’s $4.5 billion bankruptcy loan to help Chrysler reorganize require the company to complete an asset sale to Fiat or close a comparable deal in less than 60 days.

Chrysler gets 90 percent of its sales from 50 percent of its dealers, according to bankruptcy documents. The automaker hasn’t said which outlets it will cut, and President Jim Press told dealers on a Friday call that the list was evolving.

The reductions won’t be a huge catastrophic number, Press told reporters on a call two weeks ago.

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