DETROIT — Cerberus Capital Management and Daimler AG engaged in an extraordinary public spat yesterday over their talks for Cerberus to acquire the final 19.9 percent stake in Chrysler.

Daimler issued a statement in the morning saying the negotiations "have been made considerably more difficult during the last weeks due to exaggerated demands by Cerberus."

Cerberus followed in the afternoon with a statement saying Daimler breached its obligations under the terms of the deal in August 2007 that gave the private equity firm 80.1 percent of Chrysler.

"Cerberus and Chrysler have concluded that Daimler intentionally and materially breached its obligations under the relevant contracts relating to the Chrysler transaction," the Cerberus statement said.

"These serious breaches include, but are not limited to, misrepresentations relating to extraordinary changes in underwriting practices with regard to vehicle acquisition financing and leasing, as well as nonordinary course lending and leasing practices."

Daimler called the allegations nonsense.

Cerberus stopped short of saying it is considering legal actions against Daimler, while Daimler seemed to indicate Cerberus wants to be paid more than $7.4 billion to take the rest of Chrysler off the German company's hands.

Industry observers watched in surprise. "I am not exactly sure what this means, frankly. The statement is bizarre," said Aaron Bragman, an analyst with Global Insight.

David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., agreed it was an unusual display.

"It means Cerberus is difficult to do business with," Cole said. "It adds to the drama."

The disagreement occurs as Chrysler is working to reduce its workforce and persuade Congress to provide the auto industry with loans to see it through the economic downturn.

Chrysler appears to have reached its goal of getting 25 percent of its white-collar workforce — around 5,000 people — to leave without any forced layoffs. The deadline for accepting buyout and retirement packages was Tuesday, though workers have until Sunday to change their minds.

"We are expecting minimal, if any, involuntary layoffs come the end of December," said Shawn Morgan, a Chrysler spokeswoman.