Word: schrempp
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Cynics abound, especially in Germany, where Daimler-Benz had to take a huge write-off because of Schrempp's disastrous acquisition of Fokker, a Dutch aviation company. But the mountain-climbing chairman has won astonishing support from the Americans for his straight talk, quick decision making and more charisma than most rooms can handle...
...factory. In an odd twist, Mercedes saves more than $70 million by shipping components from its plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala., back to Europe for assembly alongside the Jeep. "There was the distinct opinion on the Mercedes side that we would never build a Mercedes under a Chrysler roof," says Schrempp, with a smug grin. "We're doing it already...
...turn, the Germans began to listen. The watershed moment came when the Yanks (with a little inside help) persuaded Schrempp in March to drop a long-standing bid to buy Japan's Nissan Motors. Schrempp wanted Nissan badly, to consolidate his empire, and he had been negotiating with an absolutely desperate Yoshikazu Hanawa, Nissan's chairman. But the Americans, who would have been saddled with turning Nissan around, had been uncomfortable with the plan from the start...
Still, says Schrempp, "our toughest times are ahead." Last year, in a move that still draws an angry reaction from Schrempp, DaimlerChrysler was refused admission to the Standard & Poor's 500 index--important because inclusion would make the company's stock a must-buy for many money managers. The majority of the company's shareholders are now in Europe, though the largest stake is controlled from Kuwait. Another concern is contract negotiations this summer with an increasingly feisty United Auto Workers union. In Europe the economy still trails Schrempp's ambitious expectations, and so do sales of the Smart...
...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...