Chrysler is 80 per cent controlled by Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity company. The exact ownership structure is unclear, as Daimler this week agreed to give up a 19.9 per cent stake in the company.
In 2008 Chrysler posted an $8 billion (£5.4 billion) loss, as US car sales fell 30 per cent year on year.
Click here to read about Chrysler's decision to file for bankruptcy protection
Click here to read a short history of Chrysler
Chrysler had about 54,000 employees in December 2008, including more than 40,000 hourly and 13,000 salaried workers. The hourly workforce includes 26,801 in the United States, 8,652 in Canada and 3,862 in Mexico.
Chrysler has 30 facilities in North America, including 12 assembly plants and 18 other facilities for engines, transmissions, stamping and casting.
The car maker has been operating under a $4bn (£2.7 biillion) emergency loan from the US government since the start of 2009 under its bail-out.
The company has been bailed out by the US government before. The first time was in the late 1970s when the oil crisis resulted in it receiving $1.5bn (£1 billion) of loan guarantees to save it from collapse.
Chrysler's founder, Walter P. Chrysler, laid the cornerstone for the Chrysler Building in 1928. The New York icon was briefly the world’s tallest building.
Chrysler invented the minivan genre, dominating it with the Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country models. Even today it holds 39 per cent of the shrinking market in the US.
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