On Jan. 1, 2014, Italy-based automaker Fiat SpA announced that it had come to terms with Chrysler Group LLC's minority shareholder, the VEBA trust, to acquire the remaining portion (41.5%) of Chrysler for a total consideration of about $4.3 billion. Fiat has announced that the deal is expected to close on or before Jan. 20, 2014. On Jan. 10, 2014, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its ratings on Fiat. At closing, Fiat will own 100% of Chrysler. We now designate Chrysler as a "core" subsidiary of Fiat under our group rating methodology. Therefore, we are raising our ratings on Chrysler, including the corporate credit rating to 'BB-' from 'B+', equal to the ratings on Fiat. The rating outlook on
