Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third- largest automaker, said it’s evaluating the “financial objectives” of two pending agreements with Chrysler LLC to share vehicles as the global recession saps sales.

Nissan and Chrysler teams working on the two projects have been “asked to ensure that financial objectives for both companies can be met before these two projects move forward,” said Fred Standish, a spokesman for the Japanese company.

Since striking the 2008 agreement, which would provide both companies with new models, Nissan has slashed production and announced 20,000 job cuts to cope with plunging vehicle demand. Nissan agreed to supply Chrysler with compact cars for sale in Latin America, and in a second project make small models Chrysler could sell in the U.S. In exchange, Chrysler would provide Tokyo- based Nissan with large pickups.

“Nissan has since come into dire financial straits, and they are reviewing all their expenditures,” said Aaron Bragman, a Troy, Michigan-based analyst at industry forecaster IHS Global Insight.

Chrysler, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, also said in a statement that teams from both companies will “work together in the first quarter of 2009 to improve the financial objectives for both companies before the projects move further forward.”

Kyodo Report

Standish wouldn’t comment on a report by Japan’s Kyodo news service that the Tokyo-based company may cancel a deal with Chrysler that focuses on compact cars. Yesterday, Chrysler President Jim Press said the project was moving forward and mentioned the small car that Nissan would produce in a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago.

The Latin American car project is still to begin this year, said Standish, who is based at Nissan’s North American unit in Franklin, Tennessee.

Since the supply accords were announced, Chrysler agreed to give Fiat SpA, Italy’s largest carmaker, a 35 percent stake and access to its factories and U.S. dealers. That complicates the small-car project, Bragman said.

“There’s redundancy now that Fiat is going to produce a subcompact as well,” he said. “Chrysler no longer needs a small car from Nissan. Perhaps Nissan is also wondering whether they still want a pickup.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 13, 2009 09:11 EST