DaimlerChrysler AG's U.S. shares rose as much as 6.1 percent after Automotive News reported that the German automaker is negotiating to sell its Chrysler unit to General Motors Corp. GM shares also gained.

GM and Chrysler are already talking about designing new models together such as large sport-utility vehicles, people familiar with the talks said this week.

"We routinely talk to other automakers about areas of mutual interest," said GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem, who declined to comment further.

Chrysler spokesman Mike Aberlich wouldn't comment.

Chrysler has bounced from losses to profits and back again since Daimler-Benz AG’s 1998 purchase of the U.S. automaker as the high cost of U.S. manufacturing reduced its ability to compete with Asian producers such as Toyota Motor Corp. The U.S.-based unit of DaimlerChrysler is cutting jobs and closing a Delaware plant after a $1.5 billion loss last year.

GM, based in Detroit, is the world’s largest automaker by sales. DaimlerChrysler, based in Stuttgart, Germany, is the fifth biggest.

DaimlerChrysler's U.S. shares rose $2.34, or 3.3 percent, to $72.59 at 12:30 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. GM shares gained 19 cents to $36.63.