Chrysler Studies Condition It's Sales Outlets

Chrysler LLC told a select group of dealers that it is weighing the strengths and weaknesses of its roughly 3,200 dealerships, as it tries to prune several hundred of them from its sales network.

In a meeting with the company's national dealer council, which represents the dealerships, Chrysler executives said the auto maker is reviewing each dealership's location, the condition of its facility, finances and sales to determine which are the strongest and most desirable, according to dealers with knowledge of the meeting.

Tuesday's meeting came as a handful of creditors continued to oppose the planned sale of the auto maker's assets to Fiat SpA of Italy. In the court overseeing Chrysler's bankruptcy, a group of investment funds holding about $300 million of Chrysler's $6.9 billion in secured debt pressed its argument that the sale of Chrysler assets should be blocked.