The U.S. government and Italian carmaker Fiat SpA will appoint a board of directors for embattled automaker Chrysler following the completion of a proposed alliance between the companies, Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli said on Thursday.

The board will consist of a majority of independent directors who are not employees of either automaker and will have the responsibility to appoint a chairman, Nardelli said in an internal memo to workers obtained by Reuters.

Chrysler, about 80 percent-controlled by Cerberus Capital Management , and Fiat have been in discussions to complete a proposed partnership by the end of April to meet the requirements of U.S. government emergency aid and avoid a bankruptcy filing.

The new Chrysler board would also select a chief executive for the automaker with the assent of Fiat, Nardelli said.

(Reporting by Soyoung Kim and David Bailey, Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

Chrysler