Nelson Schwartz, the European economics correspondent for The New York Times, joins us with a look at recent news from General Motors. This week, the financially strapped American car company posted its first monthly sales increase in nearly two years. With money on the books, General Motors is now reconsidering a deal to sell a majority stake in its German subsidiary, Opel.

Chrysler is getting another chance to rewrite its business plan and this time it's with Fiat, the Italian car company known for zippy sports cars that are far from that of Detroit V-8 engines. This is Fiat's way of breaking into the American auto industry and Chrysler's way of keeping its cars on the roadway.

On The Takeaway is Nelson Schwartz, the European economics correspondent for the New York Times who wrote the piece "Chrysler Gets an Italian Accent".