Word: chrysler
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...this has a touch of Italian hyperbole, but the point is a serious one as Marchionne, 57, tackles his next big challenge: Chrysler. For at Chrysler, he's moving, just as he did at Fiat, to restructure the organization, overhaul production, revamp the lineup, motivate a beaten-down workforce and deal with prickly shareholders - this time including the U.S. Government...
...Marchionne is to succeed, he needs above all to reposition Chrysler from maker of clunky, overpowered gas-guzzlers to purveyor of must-own, energy-efficient vehicles. "The challenge for Fiat Chrysler is to move away from popular products and into 'pop' products, full of cool environmental technology and on the right side of history," says Carlo Alberto Carnevale, a professor of strategic management at Bocconi University's business school in Milan and a close watcher of Fiat. "In that sense, it's the same bet as Steve Jobs'. That's why Marchionne uses that metaphor...
Marchionne's most interesting challenge is that Chrysler's new owners, postbankruptcy, are his employees - the United Auto Workers, which holds a 55% stake through its retiree trust fund. His other bosses include the U.S. and Canadian governments, which hold 8% and 2%, respectively. Fiat will start with a 20% stake, which could reach 35% if Chrysler succeeds. "Politics and unions are Marchionne's biggest risks," says Carnevale. "Having politicians on the board of directors will require very complex management...
...union got slightly more flexibility in the stock-sale terms negotiated for the Chrysler VEBA. Those terms say the VEBA can start selling stock within six months of any Chrysler IPO, or if Fiat becomes the majority owner, or by June 30, 2012. Though the VEBA could sell its stake to Fiat in a private deal anytime, Gettelfinger has suggested he would like to see an IPO as the best way to maximize the value of the shares...
...there such a thing as a homogeneous city - which helps to account for the Detroit metro area's (relatively) spend-happy ways. Acxiom figures that some 64% of people in Oakland County, Michigan, home to Chrysler headquarters, fall into demographic groups that are more likely to spend. In neighboring Lapeer County, that percentage is 41%. The national picture reflects the same lumpiness. In other words, there are plenty of people in the Rust Belt with tightened purse strings, just as you would expect - but in the aggregate, other pockets of the country have pulled back more. And while there...