Times are achangin', German to head Chrysler

[Jay Herbert]

Times are achangin\', German to head Chrysler

Guess "The Merger of Equals" is over.


BUSINESS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal
Nov. 14, 2000

DaimlerChrysler will name German executive Dieter Zetsche to replace James Holden as head of its Chrysler unit, finally running out of patience with its troubled U.S. arm, people familiar with the matter said.

And from Martketwatch.com

:FRANKFURT (FTMW) -- DaimlerChrysler (DCX: news, msgs), the world's fifth-biggest carmaker, is set to replace the head of its U.S. operations with a German after the unit racked up its first loss for almost a decade in the third quarter.

The Detroit News reported that the Stuttgart-based company will replace Chrysler president James Holden with Dieter Zetsche, the veteran board member who oversees the commercial vehicles division.

A DaimlerChrysler spokesman in Germany declined to comment on the report.............

 

[Viperrick]

Re: Times are achangin\', German to head Chrysler

Unbelievable! Three CEO's in three years. Hard to imagine that this wasn't planned all along.

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Re: Times are achangin\', German to head Chrysler

In case you missed it, take a look at The Wall Street Journal from last Wednesday, November 8th. The article, interestingly enough, is entitled "<u>Daimler Drives Chrysler Into a Ditch"</u>. Perhaps the most telling quote from the article is this one, "This (merger) was initially celebrated among the Wall Street brain trust as a win-win situation for both sides, although it quickly became apparent that the brilliant, peripatetic and occasionally ruthless Daimler-Benz boss, Juergen Schrempp, viewed Chrysler not as a corporate equal, but an American satrapy whose executives would have men's room privileges in Stuttgart but little else." Add to that, "During the early stages of the takeover, some Daimler-Benz officials held meetings with Chrysler staffers and spoke only in German, knowing full well the provincials couldn't understand."

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Now if that doesn't upset your stomach enough, the article closed with this, "The Detroit rumor mill currently has Honda interested in buying Chrysler or Mr. Schrempp waiting until German estate tax laws are likely to be changed in 2001. This will allegedly permit him to buy family controlled BMW while dumping the once-proud Chrysler in order to finance the purchase."

As an outsider, it seemed to me that Chrysler was doing pretty well without any outside influence from abroad. Such cars as the Viper, Prowler, and PT Cruiser were already on the books. Perhaps Daimler was feeling threatened by VW, who seems to be showing a flair for design which is matched by Chrysler. It is unfortunate that they chose to ignore that flair and instead wish to stamp their own Teutonic mold around this vibrant company. Having owned a Mercedes, I can tell you that they are of impeccable design and quality. Yet they seem to lack any real excitement and character, as did my Lexus. I pity BMW if they should become targets of these "refrigerators on wheels". Then they too will be forced to learn the goose-step instead of the boogie.

 

[Rich Detert]

Re: Times are achangin\', German to head Chrysler

I read that article, it was written by Brock Yates from Car & Driver. It was a pretty interesting article. I tried to post about it last night, but the computer (internet) kept locking up.

Things do not bode well for Chrysler, and now Jim Holden is ousted. You can't limit the abilities of of the decision makers, cut them out of the loop and then tell them how much profit you expect to make. What is Jurgen Schremp

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thinking?