Iacocca Wants Back In; Schrempp Says Nien

DETROIT, March 17 Reuters reported that Lee Iacocca, the mercurial former head of Chrysler Corp. who brought the automaker back from the brink of bankruptcy in the 1980s, has lashed out at DaimlerChrysler AG Chairman Juergen Schrempp for refusing to bring him back for another try at rescuing Chrysler.

     In a wide-ranging interview with the Detroit News newspaper published on Sunday, Iacocca, now 77 and living in Los Angeles, said Schrempp wooed him in discussions over the last two years about a possible role at Chrysler, then spurned him.

     "I'd give my right arm to do it, to be honest," Iacocca said of a possible role at Chrysler, which in 1998 was bought by Daimler in one of the most celebrated business mergers ever. But Daimler has struggled ever since to integrate Chrysler, and the U.S. arm of Daimler has been losing money of late.

     "Chrysler was my life. I feel bad it is where it is today. People say well, it's just another German company. No. This was a great American company."

     Iacocca said he met regularly with Daimler and Chrysler executives in secret talks over the last two years but Schrempp ultimately stopped calling him.

     Iacocca, who headed Chrysler from 1979 to 1992, was prevented from speaking publicly about Chrysler for five years under a gag order he agreed to in 1996 settling a dispute over his joint bid with investor Kirk Kerkorian to buy Chrysler.

     In the interview, Iacocca aid Schrempp does not want to deal with him because the Daimler executive wants control of Chrysler himself.

     "He just wants to run Chrysler from his ivory tower in Stuttgart," Iacocca said.

     "Schrempp doesn't want to be upstaged by even the aura of having me around," Iacocca said. "The guy doesn't want me, but I think I could give them some credibility. Who could represent Chrysler better than me?"

     "I guess I could stay in California and enjoy life, but I think I can help them. I'm ready. President Bush says volunteer. Well, I don't want to volunteer for the Peace Corps. But I would volunteer to go back to Detroit."

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