Late yesterday, Chrysler and Nissan said their plans to build products jointly in North America are on hold. Automotive News reported that the automakers will iron out ways to cut costs before the projects come to fruition.

Chrysler and Nissan have been working on a Nissan small car that would likely be sold under the Chrysler name, likely as the Dodge Hornet.

A third project, in which Chrysler will sell a rebadged Nissan Versa for distribution in South America, is still on, Chrysler said.

The Associated Press, citing Japan's Kyodo news service, said Nissan is re-evaluating its product-sharing alliance with Chrysler and said 'terminating the tie-up an option.' The wire service said it was relying on unnamed 'sources close to the deal' for the report.

Automotive News reported that talks are going on between Chrysler and Fiat about a similar partnership. Such a deal could conceivably substitute Fiat-based products for Nissan-based ones, the paper suggested.