Chrysler CEO tells workers of wider loss

Chrysler will lose about $1.6 billion this year, worse than the $1.4 billion operating loss it posted for 2006, a source says CEO Bob Nardelli told a group of designers and engineers recently.

The source, who spoke to USA TODAY on condition of anonymity because Chrysler is a private company that doesn't report earnings, said the automaker still plans to break even in 2008.

Detroit rivals General Motors (GM) and Ford Motor (F) have said it will take them until 2009 to stop losing money.

A Chrysler spokesman declined comment.

Nardelli, former CEO of Home Depot, was hired in August just as Cerberus Capital Management took over the ailing automaker. Cerberus bought 80.1% of Chrysler from its former owner, German car company Daimler, which retained 19.9%.

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