The sale of Chrysler LLC to Italian-based Fiat is officially complete. After 42 days of deliberations, Fiat now owns most of Chrysler’s assets and will receive $6.6 billion in “exit financing” from the U.S. federal government.

Analysts say the Obama administration has succeeded in reorganizing Chrysler fairly quickly. The new Chrysler Group LLC has a better chance of being more competitive, having shed much of its legacy labor costs and debt, with new small cars from Fiat in the pipeline.

Official statements by current Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli and Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne congratulated employees on being a part of “a leaner, healthier and more robust company” and promised that the world’s sixth largest automaker will begin to show signs of improvement immediately.

As the automaker emerges from bankruptcy, Chrysler’s union retiree trust (VEBA) will own 55% of the company, with Fiat getting a 20% share that can grow to a maximum of 35%. The U.S. and Canadian governments split the rest.

As for SUVs, the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is already in the pipeline, and it is expected that only SUVs from Dodge and Chrysler will be killed, leaving the Jeep range largely intact, minus embarrassments like the Compass.