Chrysler is not for sale.
2 January 2001
Schrempp Says “Chrysler is not for sale” January 2, 2001 In a copyrighted story, Reuters reported what DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chief Executive Officer Juergen Schrempp told a German newspaper Stuttgarter Nachrichten in a regional edition Saturday December 30, 2000.“It will take two to four years to restructure its money-losing Chrysler unit, and that DaimlerChrysler AG will one day reinstate a U.S. team to head Chrysler and that the revamp at Chrysler is now the task for the next two, three, four years. But my goal is to have an American management again at Chrysler one day." Schrempp was quoted that “it would be a "criminal" mistake even to think about selling Chrysler because it is indispensable to its global strategy.’ Schrempp installed a German management team, consisting of Dieter Zetsche who replaced James Holden as Chief Executive and, at the head of Chrysler along with Wolfgang Bernhard in November which forced out key U.S. executives. Explaining the management reshuffle, Schrempp said he had asked Chrysler's previous management how it proposed to tackle problems, and had not received satisfactory answers. "That made us decide to send experienced people to the U.S. Dieter Zetsche and Wolfgang Bernhard have done what is necessary before," Schrempp said. Chrysler lost $1.25 billion in the fourth quarter of 2000 amid a downturn in the U.S. car market, and faces a difficult year ahead, DaimlerChrysler has warned. During the past month Zetsche has overseen a dramatic cut in Chrysler's North American plant production to reduce vehicle inventories. It was also reported that Chrysler has demanded 5-percent price cuts from parts suppliers starting New Year's Day. DaimlerChrysler's shares came under renewed pressure last week, hitting a 4-year low. DaimlerChrysler shares closed Friday at $41.20. Meanwhile, the head of Deutsche Bank AG, DaimlerChrysler's largest shareholder, reiterated that the bank intended to sell its stake in the carmaker eventually but ruled out doing so at the current price. Deutsche Chief Executive Officer Rolf Breuer told German news magazine Der Spiegel that the bank had a general policy to sell its industrial shareholdings, including DaimlerChrysler, of which it owns 12 percent. "The current share prices are not suitable for that however," Breuer said. Breuer also repeated that Deutsche supported the management of DaimlerChrysler and said the 1998 merger that created it had been a good idea despite the current problems. "We should not let ourselves be thrown off balance by short-term, albeit substantial, difficulties at several merged companies, including DaimlerChrysler," Breuer said. "We must not get nervous."