Word: chryslers
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Speed kills careers. In the scrimmage between Germans and Americans for jobs, Schrempp lost his top legal counsel, a senior manufacturing executive and a handful of others. Dennis Pawley, the man who revolutionized Chrysler's manufacturing operations, retired as he had planned--even though Schrempp tried several times to change Pawley's mind. In February and March a series of top Chrysler executives defected to Ford and General Motors. Although company officials have downplayed the departures, they hurt; all were part of the winning team...
...effect, Schrempp may have saved Chrysler. Even before the merger, Lutz and Castaing had resigned, and the camaraderie was fading. "We were in a transition that would have continued, in part because of Bob's age," concedes Stallkamp. "[The merger] gave us a very strong leader and solved the problem sooner rather than later...
Most important, the merger is now producing metal. In Graz, Austria, this month, Mercedes and Chrysler vehicles began rolling off the same assembly line--in auto manufacturing, this is akin to walking on water. The Graz plant originally made the Jeep Grand Cherokee. But when the merger talks began last year, Mercedes car chief Jurgen Hubbert spotted a golden opportunity to expand production of the new M-class suv without paying the exorbitant costs of a new factory. In an odd twist, Mercedes saves more than $70 million by shipping components from its plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala., back to Europe...
Your next Chrysler may not be a Mercedes, but chances are it will share some of the same blood. Early this year the two sides established an automotive-strategy group that is already coming up with new products. Plans for a Mercedes minivan have been canceled. Yet the group has commissioned at least one new minivan-like vehicle, to be built probably by Mercedes, and a Chrysler car that will be marketed in Europe against Volkswagen's successful Golf. Both products are being designed with input from both Stuttgart and Auburn Hills. Marketers Holden and Zetsche insist that brand identities...
...matter what happens, America's Chrysler Corp. is history. If Bob Eaton simply cashes in his stock, he stands to make at least $200 million. As early as the end of this year, insiders expect, he will step down, leaving Schrempp to deliver on a promise that Chrysler's creative culture will survive...