President Barack Obama may want to reel in his assertion that GMAC LLC will cover for Chrysler Financial.
Buried on Page 95 of GMAC’s 10Q filing released yesterday is a stark warning that GMAC may not be able to honor Chrysler Financial’s lending obligations.
“If we are unable to obtain additional equity capital from the US Treasury to support our financing of Chrysler dealers and customers, we will be unable to provide the anticipated level of financing to Chrysler dealers and customers,” according to GMAC.
As part of Chrysler’s bankruptcy filing earlier this month, the federal government indicated that GMAC would fund Chrysler’s floorplan and retail loans.
According to the White House, “Chrysler will enter into an agreement with GMAC to provide dealer and customer financing. … The U.S. Government is supporting the automotive restructuring initiative by promoting the availability of credit financing for dealers and customers, including liquidity and capitalization that would be available to GMAC, and by providing the capitalization that GMAC requires to support the Chrysler business.”
But it is clear from GMAC’s 10Q for the first quarter of 2009 that GMAC has not consummated a deal with the US Treasury on funding for Chrysler-related activities. A call into GMAC’s press office has not been returned yet.
It should be noted that GMAC appears to have something of a disincentive to serve Chrysler Financial, because of the “uncertainty related to Chrysler’s bankruptcy process and its proposed industrial alliance with Fiat SpA.” In the 10Q, GMAC points out that “our ability to recover any payments or obligations owed to us by Chrysler during Chrysler’s bankruptcy process could be negatively impacted.”
GMAC’s future will be among the core topics discussed during the “Bailout Implications” panel at next week’s Auto Finance Risk Summit.
