Chrysler Calls BS: Refutes Tesla Loan Claim
Earlier today Tesla announced that it had repaid its government loan nine years early and claimed to be the first American automaker to have cleared its government debts in full.
Not so fast. Chrysler has issued a rebuttal to that statement, titled “Not Exactly, Tesla” and announcing that it was in fact the first automaker to repay its government loan. Penned by company corporate communications boss Gualberto Ranieri, the brief post on the Chrysler’s official blog calls Tesla’s assertion “unmistakably incorrect.”
In fact, Chrysler repaid its debts two years ago, “in full and with interest” the company clarifies. The loan repayment totaled $7.6 billion to both the US and Canadian governments and took place six years ahead of schedule.
The Tesla statement, however, refers to the company’s repayment of a specific U.S. Department of Energy vehicle loan for the development of electric cars, not the highly publicized bailouts. In total, as much as 8 billion in loans was distributed to companies, including Nissan.
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Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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Chrysler should not start talking politics and criticize Tesla: When Chrysler filed for bankruptcy in 2009, Obama administration forgave more than $4 billion of debt from the $13 billion it had put into the company. So while Chrysler did technically pay off the government loans owed by the post-bankruptcy Chrysler, the U.S. government still lost billions of dollars on its investment in Chrysler. In other words: Tesla investment = millions in profit. Chrysler investment: Billions of taxpayer money lost.