Chrysler: Damn We're Fast! Oh, and We'll Strip & Flip By Xmas
When Cerberus rescued Daimler bought Chrysler, pundits predicted a radical reinvention. Oh well. But that hasn't stopped the irrepressible Jason Vines. Chrysler's Spinmeister's got another story to tell, and T he Financial Times is happy to tell it: "Chrysler cuts a dash with speed and decisiveness." Aside from the six-hour resolution to the United Auto Workers' strikelet, "signs of the new urgency include a swift move to bring down swollen inventories of slow-selling models. Five plants were idled last week, and four will shut this week… According to Mr Press, the production cutback was sealed during a seven-minute conference call between Mr Nardelli and a Cerberus executive." (Did we tell you that phone call would be PR fodder?) Other than that, "Frank Klegon, head of product development, observes that Mr Nardelli 'lets me know what he thinks, a lot.'" And Steven Landry, head of North American sales, says “they want to fix things quick." The FT buries the real bombshell (as have we) for the end of the piece. Speaking at the National Automobile Dealers Association in Vegas, Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli answered a dealer's questions about the possibility of Cerberus "spinning off" Chrysler bits and pieces. "While he did not exclude a future spin-off, he said Cerberus would wait at least until Chrysler is once again profitable." Huh.
More by Robert Farago
Comments
Join the conversation
I'd say GM has the best chance of making Jeep work. They could merge it with Hummer without too much trouble, I think---the styling is pretty similar, and the target markets are too. Of course, knowing GM, they'll probably buy Jeep and position it as an entry-level SUV brand below GMC and Hummer.
Poor Chrysler. It wasn't this bad 10 years ago. If I didn't own and love a Daimler product, I might be hurt or upset about it. They'll always be around-- they just might be Chinese. It's a shame, too; the boys at Belvedere build a nice little car.
No, that does not mean "Strip & Flip by XMAS". Obviously Cerberus doesn't intend to be an automaker forever. That's not their business. But I don't see any reason not to expect them to spend several years trying to effect a turnaround and getting the company on solid ground before selling. After all, that's how they'd make a huge bundle on the deal.
"Frank Klegon, head of product development, observes that Mr Nardelli 'lets me know what he thinks, a lot.'" "Hi, Frank, its me Bob. Did you hear about Tom? Yeah, I know I saw him eating a plate full of bon bons the other day. He's really letting himself go. I think being replaced by me really got to him. Well he should've seen that one coming, I mean paleeze. And that Dr. Z, his moustache is so yesterday! And how awful was that suit. I mean oh, my, god, couldn't ya just die??"