Will Daimler Shed itself of Chrysler?

DER SPIEGEL ^ | October 31, 2006 | Dietmar Hawranek

[Atlantic Bridge]

Eight years after being taken over by Daimler-Benz, Chrysler remains a company in need of restructuring. So much so, in fact, that executives at the German company are increasingly in favor of unloading the American subsidiary.

Dieter Zetsche's stint as an advertising spokesman for Chrysler was a failure. Featured prominently in a Chrysler ad campaign, Zetsche, the CEO of DaimlerChrysler, was trying to convey a message. The ads, which were a blend of humor and irony, were meant to emphasize that Chrysler is not a purely American car company like General Motors or Ford. A Chrysler, according to Zetsche in his role as pitchman for the US automaker, also contains plenty of advanced German engineering, thanks to its relationship with sister company Mercedes Benz. The logic behind the ad campaign was that it would convince customers to pay a little more for a Chrysler instead of switching to a Ford or a GM just because the competition might be offering a few hundred dollars more in rebates.

But instead of selling more cars, Chrysler's sales have in fact gone down since the campaign was launched. The ads featuring Zetsche were discontinued. And at a board meeting last Wednesday, the DaimlerChrysler CEO faced questions over whether he may have failed in his efforts to reorganize Chrysler.

[Atlantic Bridge]

Beside of Zetsche's moronic advertisments (is it possible to be more idiotic? - Even if the context should be true - it is a insult of all those Americans who buy his cars) it has to be said that those big mergers not nessecarily mean more profits. I.e. BMW is earning money again since it got rid of Rover. Maybe some CEOs should think more about the performance than about the size of the company they are leading.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

Dr. Z's dumb advertisements aside.......

Crysler has actually been the bright spot in terms of earnings the past couple years. Crysler has finally started to really produce again.
But during that time period, Benz suffered. It's reliability record took a major hit with some massive recalls and more germans are turning to other foreign brands, especially japanese, for more reliability. Dr Z. was ordered last year to fix these problems or he'd be out on his ass. So he's been spending most of his time back in Germany overseeing the releases of some of benz's most important new cars, the new flagship S-series sedan thats doing well in sales in germany and the extremely popular CLS that has been a huge hit in america.

But I really don't know if the Crysler/Benz deal will ever work out as it was intended. It is quiet possible Crysler would be let go while its got upward momentum.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

Just bring back...


"The 5 Great Cars of the Forward Look-1960:

Plymouth,
Dodge,
De Soto,
Chrysler &

...the Exclusive Imperial" *


* 1957 Chrysler Corporation CBS TV Commercial

[kellynla]

MOPAR! That thing gotta a HEMI?

[prisoner6]

Here's an almost exact clone of My Ride...

5.2L - 318ci, 2WD, PT4WD, FT4WD, Leather, 31 inch Wranglers. Deer bar, winch and a few others goodies coming soon.

Best vehicle I've ever had, and I've had EVERYTHING from VW's, Renaults, Fords, Chevy's, Builcks, Jags, Mercedes and more. Thinking about a new D, but most likely will look around for a couple year old Dakota or RAM...maybe a RAM 2500 diesel and keep the D.

My brothers-in-law got me driving MOPAR ten or twelve years ago...doubt I'll drive anything else. although I could see myself in a JEEP.

FWIW I also drive 92 and 94 Plymouth Mini vans. Plus now that The Kidz are pretty much gone I might pick up a vintage MOPAR...a Big, Good Ride.

I was never happy about the merger with Daimler, but it did seem to help Chrysler improve it's product.

My 2 cents...Daimler won't dump Chrysler UNLESS it gets to keep JEEP. That's why they merged in the first place.

prisoner6

[dgallo51]

There's more to this advertising thing than meets the eye…

http://wallstreetjackass.typepad.com/raptureready/images/dodge_subconscious.jpg

[Neidermeyer]

That red beast is almost exactly like the first car I ever drove , a 2 door Belvedere conv. with a 4bbl 440 and a 727 auto... my friend and I took it out while his mom was away ,,, we couldn't keep it from spinning the drive tires ,, of course we were only about 12 at the time , had no clue how to drive and were lucky enough to get it back in the driveway unharmed...

[Peter W. Kessler]

They were all gorgeous cars.

The problem was that they rusted out faster than any car ever made.

A distant relative had a '56 DeSoto Golden Adventurer. It had a Hemi and A/C, and was wicked fast.

[kellynla]

Those '64 Hemi Belvederes off the showroom floor would turn 12's in the 1/4 mile with a set of headers & street slicks!