KEY POINTS:
Hyundai has emerged as a potential purchaser of Jeep after General Motors dropped its plans to buy Chrysler.
The South Korean manufacturer has held talks with the owner of Chrysler, Cerberus Capital Management, about the buy-out of Chrysler's off-road brand, says Australian online motoring publication GoAuto.
It is understood Cerberus wants to sell Chrysler intact, but if it is broken up the United States Automotive News has reported that Nissan-Renault may consider buying its Ram pickup truck production, while Volkswagen is a possible buyer for Chrysler's people-mover Voyager line.
Ironically, DaimlerChrysler sold its 10.5 per cent stake in Hyundai in 2004, three years before the company sold Chrysler to Cerberus in 2007.
Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge sales in the US have fallen by 26 per cent to the end of October this year.
In New Zealand, the three brands sold 281 vehicles in the quarter to September 30, 2007, but dropped to 175 in the same period this year.
In an unusual twist, Chrysler's New Zealand operation is almost directly across the road from Hyundai in Mt Wellington.
Hyundai has its own line of four-wheel-drive vehicles, but they lack the status of the Jeep, whose lineup includes the Wrangler, which has a direct lineage to the original World War II vehicle.
Some US reports say senior Chrysler executives are worried about the company's ability to finance its operations beyond the first half of 2009.
Though it is said to involve only part of Chrysler, the Hyundai proposal appears more likely to attract federal financial assistance than GM's bid, which failed to attract a US$10 billion ($17.9 billion) government loan because of the massive job losses it would have involved.
Hyundai had also been talking with Ford about buying Volvo, but negotiations apparently ended after the pair disputed the value of the Swedish brand.
