DaimlerChrysler boss to step down

[Satch]

DaimlerChrysler chief executive Juergen Schrempp will step down this year as the German-American car firm battles to attract customers and boost sales.
He will be replaced by Dieter Zetsche, head of the firm's Chrysler division.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4723779.stm

 

[Maff]

He will be replaced by Dieter Zetsche, head of the firm's Chrysler division.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4723779.stm

Oh dear......

 

[Satch]

I hope this turns out to be true

Zetsche, 52, helped turn around the number-three U.S. automaker at a time of ferocious competition in North America. The German manager gets a five-year stint as group CEO. He is succeeded by Chrysler chief operating officer Thomas LaSorda.

"Schrempp's stepping down should absolutely be seen as positive for DaimlerChrysler," said Metzler Bank analyst Juergen Pieper. "Schrempp has made too many poor strategic decisions in the past. Zetsche should bring a breath of fresh air."

However:

http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/0,,0-5-78470-1-56953-1-0-0-0-0-0-104-7155-0-0-0-0-0-0-0,00.html

 

[Robbo]

DC shares up around 10% so there are obviously a lot of people who think this is a good thing!

Lests hope they can re-introduce quality into the marque.

 

[GRAV888]

DC shares up around 10% so there are obviously a lot of people who think this is a good thing!

Lests hope they can re-introduce quality into the marque.

.......And reduce the length of time for rust claims

 

[Robbo]

Or even better, get rid of the need for any rust claims!

 

[prprandall51]

DaimlerChrysler chief executive Juergen Schrempp will step down this year as the German-American car firm battles to attract customers and boost sales.
He will be replaced by Dieter Zetsche, head of the firm's Chrysler division.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4723779.stm

Yes, but didn't Chrysler pull themselves back by cutting costs, centralising manufacturing operations in cheap-labour countries and by selling cars at large discounts to steal sales from Ford and GM?

I don't pretend to know how MB is going to get back on top but I can't help but wonder if they didn't remove the "built like no other car" approach from the list a few years ago and now have now removed the "most technically advanced" approach with the departure of Schrempp.

Perhaps all the manufacturing will move to South Africa?

 

[calum]

I don't pretend to know how MB is going to get back on top but I can't help but wonder if they didn't remove the "built like no other car" approach from the list a few years ago and now have now removed the "most technically advanced" approach with the departure of Schrempp.

I do hope this doesn't backfire. One of the major reasons I buy MB is because of their reputation. If Merc cars lose their advantages, as part of cost-cutting, then I'll suddently start looking at e.g. BMW, Lexus, etc.
I do think my new W211 is the best Merc I've ever had, but the fact that half the bodywork is plastic niggles me a bit, and not just because my magnetic GB sticker falls straight off
I tell myself it's a good thing, less weight, better crash deformation, etc, but I do wonder whether cost-cutting was the main reason.

 

[grober]

Hasta La Vista Baby

GOODBYE then" ol jerkin shrimp" or "hasta la vista baby" as Arnie would say.

 

[Vlad]

Best thing that could have happend to DaimlerChrysler.......Shrempp was a walking egomaniacal disaster area who should have been given the boot years ago.

The only reason he survived is that he sucked up to DC's biggest shareholders, ie Deutsche Bank etc.

 

[Rory]

Analysts reckon it was a merger too far

Merc S Class: saviour or millstone?

DaimlerChrysler could be falling apart. That's the conclusion of an article in the latest issue of BusinessWeek.

The problem? On the unlikely merger seven years ago between the quality-led, premium brand leader Mercedes-Benz and the mass-market Chrysler company, few would have foreseen the situation we see today. Chrysler is the healthy part of the empire while Mercedes drags its feet.

Quality problems, a small car business that's bleeding money and high production costs have taken their toll on the German end of the operation. Mercedes is no longer a global benchmark for quality and profitability but "a money-losing shambles", according to the article. Mercedes lost $1.1 billion in the first half of 2005 alone.

The theory of the merger was that the two companies would learn from each other. Together, they would have the wherewithal to build new engines and small cars "for the world's emerging middle classes". Chrysler would gain Mercedes technology while Chrysler gives Mercedes somewhere to go if luxury car sales fall. It was, in the buzzword of the time, synergistic.

It didn't happen that way. Chrysler hoovered up Mercedes' cash squeezing the German operation's profitability. Mercedes then lost quality control and its reputation, along with market share and money, much of which resulted from bringing out too many new models too quickly, while demanding more from its suppliers at lower prices. The share price tanked.

Should DaimlerChrysler split?

And with a new CEO, Dieter Zetsche, at the helm, the question is being asked: does the merger still make sense? If the two companies were to split, they'd likely be worth more than their constituent parts, many argue. One financial analyst reckoned they'd be worth almost double separately than together.

However, a number of problems stand in the way, from finding a buyer for Chrysler, to unearthing the $8 billion needed to prop up Chrysler's under-funded employee pension scheme. Essentially though, Chrysler is performing reasonably well -- it's in the black as a result of popular models such as the Dodge Magnum and is keeping Mercedes afloat -- but it plays in the incredibly competitive middle market which is notoriously fickle, so there's little guarantee it can keep the momentum going.

Meanwhile, sales of Mercedes' two profit engines, the E-Class and C-Class, have plummeted by up to 35 per cent this year as a result of those widely-reported quality problems. And many feel they don't stand up well to competitors such as the Audi A6 and BMW's new 3-Series. Mercedes needs to inject some pep into its product line, say analysts, while cutting costs and improving quality. A tough ask.

So a split could be the solution to the group's problems -- but the conditions for making it happen are not good.