Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire US investor, has suffered a setback in his $4.5bn (£2.3bn) bid to buy Chrysler as it has emerged that DaimlerChrysler, its parent, believes his all cash offer is too low.

DaimlerChrysler has not communicated directly with Kerkorian about the offer – which some analysts claim undervalues the carmaker by half.

Instead he has been left out of a series of scheduled meetings in the New York between a senior Daimler official and three other bidders. It is understood they include a partnership of private equity firms led by Blackstone Group and Centerbridge Capital Partners; a second private equity consortium led by Cerberus Capital Management; and a third that includes Ripplewood Holdings and Magna International, a Canadian carparts supplier.