“Cerberus executives have maintained repeatedly that they believe in the industry. They expect to be there for the long term and want to do all they can to position Chrysler for the future,” a source said.

Chrysler has seen sales slide 25% this year alone, a higher percentage than the auto industry as a whole.  It remains a hot topic for automotive reporters to speculate on.  No one quite knows what the future of Chrysler is and with the company being silent to the press it’s an easy target to fill a column with.

Cerberus recently had talks with General Motors about a potential merger.  But according to a source the talks never consisted of giving up any of their stake in Chrysler.  Nor would they swap it for GMs stake in GMAC.

“Cerberus is not dumping Chrysler or simply swapping it for an increased share in GMAC. That deal was not discussed and they have no interest in it,” said the source, who declined to be identified.

“In any business combination with GM or anyone else Cerberus would look to come out on the other side owning a meaningful stake in the combined auto company,” the source said.

I guess with the auto industry in shambles it makes sense for the guys with all the cash to come in and scoop up some of the mess for pennies on the dollar.  The upside would be too hard to ignore.