Tom LaSorda Named Chief Operating Officer of Chrysler Group; Frank Ewasyshyn to Lead Manufacturing

- Wolfgang Bernhard Promoted to Helm of Mercedes Car Group - COO LaSorda Becomes Deputy Member, DCX Board of Management

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Feb. 18 -- The Chrysler Group today unveiled changes in its senior management team, following the announcement by the DaimlerChrysler AG Supervisory Board that Chief Operating Officer Wolfgang Bernhard would assume control of the Mercedes Car Group on August 1. Bernhard and current Mercedes' Chief Juergen Hubbert will jointly manage Mercedes beginning May 1.

Tom W. LaSorda, 49, was named Chief Operating Officer of the Chrysler Group effective May 1, replacing Bernhard. LaSorda will report to President and CEO Dieter Zetsche. Frank J. Ewasyshyn, 51, a 27-year veteran of Chrysler Manufacturing, takes charge of the 68,000-person Manufacturing organization as Executive Vice President - Manufacturing. Ewasyshyn will report to LaSorda.

Earlier today, LaSorda was named a deputy member of the DaimlerChrysler AG Board of Management for a period of three years.

In the COO role, LaSorda will be responsible for manufacturing, quality, and fixed costs, and will play a role in the global management of material costs for DaimlerChrysler AG. LaSorda will have the same organizational structure as that under Bernhard as COO.

"The Chrysler Group has a deep bench," said Zetsche. "Wolfgang Bernhard played a major part in the Turnaround Plan that set the stage for a transformation of the Chrysler Group. Tom LaSorda's Manufacturing organization played a pivotal role in that process. Tom is now ready to step in and sustain the programs and the tremendous momentum that Wolfgang helped begin."

Bernhard, 43, came to the Chrysler Group in November 2000, working alongside Zetsche to re-structure the Company. By February 2001, Zetsche announced his ambitious Turnaround Plan aimed at cutting costs, boosting revenues and transforming the product lineup throughout Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, which Bernhard was instrumental in carrying out.

LaSorda's role on plant management teams provided ample savings, but more importantly, led to a systematic overhaul of the Chrysler Group Manufacturing processes that achieved an 8.3 percent improvement in productivity in 2002, according to The Harbour Report, and another step of this magnitude is expected in 2003. Quality also improved by more than 30 percent over the last two years, as measured by warranty expenses.

"Tom is an expert on manufacturing and quality and proved to his team that being cost effective doesn't mean cutting corners," added Zetsche. "In fact, it is just the opposite. A more cost-effective organization is more efficient. That is a philosophy that we are carrying across the entire Chrysler Group as we enter the most ambitious product era in our history with nine new vehicles this year and 25 over the next three years."

With Bernhard's departure, Zetsche will assume an even greater role in key product development decision-making.

LaSorda joined the Company in May 2000 as Senior Vice President - Power Train Manufacturing. He became Executive Vice President - Manufacturing in January 2002. Prior to joining the Chrysler Group, LaSorda spent some 23 years with General Motors in labor relations, service engineering, and then various manufacturing assignments. He oversaw a critical international manufacturing operation for GM as President of Opel Eisenach GMBH Germany in 1991. He left GM as Vice President of Quality and Lean Manufacturing.

LaSorda holds several degrees from the University of Windsor in Canada, including Bachelors of Arts and Commerce (1977) and an MBA (1980).

Ewasyshyn has presided over all assembly, stamping, and power train advance manufacturing activities as Senior Vice President - Advance Manufacturing Engineering. He joined Chrysler Corporation in 1976 as a maintenance foreman, but eventually became a leading driver in the manufacturing technology field. Ewasyshyn has led the Chrysler Group's ambitious plan to improve the flexibility of its Manufacturing operations.

He received several degrees from the University of Windsor in Canada, including a Bachelor of Science and Master's degree in Electrical Engineering (1974 and 1976), as well as an MBA (1989).

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