Chrysler insists it’s viable despite tough conditions

Struggling automaker Chrysler LLC insisted on Sunday that it is a viable company despite tough market conditions and will be able to repay a four billion dollar loan from the US government.
"We see that as a bridge loan... and we fully intend to repay that," chief executive officer Bob Nardelli told reporters on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show.
Those funds, and a further three billion dollars expected to arrive in the coming months, were only released after the US Treasury Department determined " based upon data not emotion" that Chrysler was a viable company, Nardelli said.
Getting through the next year will be "very challenging," Nardelli said, given that Chrysler expects US auto sales to fall to between 10.5 and 11.1 million vehicles from 13.5 million in 2008 and a recent average of 16.5 million in recent years.