Daimler AG, which retains a minority stake in Chrysler LLC, reduced the value of that holding after absorbing a pre-tax hit of $529.1 million on its first quarter pre-tax profits attributable to the American automaker.

Releasing its first quarter report in Stuttgart on Tuesday, April 29, Daimler lowered the value of its 19.9% share of Chrysler to $851.2 million. At the time of the transfer of majority control to Cerberus Capital management in August 2007 the value stood at $2.18 billion.

In the report Daimler wrote, "In light of falling residual values of Chrysler vehicles, Daimler had to impair these assets by 151 million euros ($234.8 million) in the first quarter of 2008." The automaker did, however, stipulate that its action had no bearing on Chrysler's own accounting given the different financial rules in the United States versus those used internationally. "These results are by no means indicative for the results to be recorded by Chrysler LLC due to substantial valuation differences."

Responding to Daimler's report, Chrysler said in an issued statement that it had enjoyed a positive earnings position since the acquisition and that its financial results are "substantially better" than those used by Daimler. Chrysler is now, however, a privately held company and does not make its financial statements public.