Nardelli to destroy Chrysler next

[Phil Thien]

Looks like Robert Nardelli (booted from Home Depot) will now be running (ruining) Chrysler.

[Kyle Kraft]

I think I saw that guy on the news this morning, and I actually thought it was an interview with Bob Newhart!! Why is it that companies don't check a fellers track record before they bring them on board? Do they just have a soft spot in their heart and think that maybe the guy simply had a bad run and needs another opportunity to really shine?

[David G Baker]

Kyle,
I think the word is "cronyism" or "good old boy network"
I worked for a major television network for years, you would not believe the inside things that went on at the shareholders expense. Eventually a rat purchased the network and it got worse. The CEO owned the board of directors.

[Greg Peterson]

At first I was surprised to see this report. Then I came to my senses.

Nardelli travels in exclusive circles. Their numbers are relatively small, but it is a network for sure. The terminology of Class Warfare rubs some folks the wrong way, so I'll just call it 'the good ol' boy network'.

These guys all know each other or know of each other. The degree of separation is usually no more than an acquittance or two. Or they went to Princeton rather than Yale.

Ivy League is simply code for Good Ol' boy Network. 21st century Blue Bloods.

[Steven Wilson]

He'll make sure that himself, some executives, the politicians he bribes, and the board are treated well. Customers? Employees? Shareholders? The community? The country? Who cares, they don't matter, they don't count.

[Matt Meiser]

I don't think he'll get to take all the credit. Daimler has done a pretty good job of getting the ball rolling.

[Greg Peterson]

Nardelli will draw a salary of $1 / year. The article I read indicated that his compensation package had not been made available yet, but that it would be based on the performance of Chrysler Corp.

I'm guessing he'll go for the quick buck. High profit product, low quality. Marketing and ad departments will probably see a boost in their budgets.

Take the money and run is the new American way.

[Matt Meiser]

What I'm really looking forward to is labor relations. He's used to cutting back people on a whim and paying them poorly. No way the UAW is going to go for that.

[Greg Peterson]

UAW doesn't enter into the big picture. Back in July Chrysler signed up with Chery (China's largest auto manufacturer) to produce cars for export to the US and other markets.

Not sure what Chrysler has up their sleeves, but going with Chery could be the ticket. BMW is also involved in a joint venture with Chery.

Interesting times.

[Jim Becker]

The Chery deal only involves a limited number of vehicles. It will not be all that material to Chrysler's financial health, at least in the short term. Interestingly enough, when I was in Shanghai a couple weeks ago, the two nameplates that were most in evidence were VW (the first foreign car brand to manufacture there) and Buick. These two were dominating the roads...

[Greg Peterson]

I'd equate the Chrysler deal with Chery as testing the waters. Chery could eventually bring their own product into the US, and perhaps that is still their intent. Meanwhile, they are getting some good experience building vehicles for others.


WSJ did a report several years ago on labor rates by nation. Germany was highest with US second or third. China was near the bottom. I don't recall the exact figures, but I do recall the ratio was about 25 to 1. Pretty difficult to compete with a workforce that works for practically nothing.

[Matt Meiser]

They were probably counterfeit

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Looks like Robert Nardelli (booted from Home Depot) will now be running (ruining) Chrysler.

Now now now. Different people make better - or worse - top level managers depending one the nature of the business. Nardelli may be better in a factory.


Besides, how can you ruin Chrysler? They ruined themselves already by refusing to produce good cars.

IMNSHO Ford's truck line may well be the last gasp of American auto unless those bozos get off their rear ends and think.

Why they won't and can't put out a line of cars on the road that can go head to head with BMW or Mercedes Benz is beyond me. Ford bought Volvo and ruined it. It's like a disease their brains all caught that won't let them think beyond 1955.

[Dan McGuire]

I spent 15 years with the company both as a represented employee (3 years) and the rest of the time in management. I left three years ago when I got tired of playing the game and saw the writing on the wall, which spelled to me that the American auto industry is going to change drastically in the next decade. Under the current collective barganing agreements, there is no way any of the American companies can stay profitable and expand the business to compete in the world market. To say the Chrysler and the American Auto nevers learns from its mistake is an understatement. When times are good they are doling out the cash living fat dumb and happy, giving away the shop to the union just going along to get along. When times get tight they (upper management) say we have to "tighten the belt", "knuckle down" to get profitable. So they so put in place whatever sales incentives or cost measures necessary to make the next quarterly statement look good for wall street then wonder why the next quarter looks so bad.

To think I soley blame the union for the crisis is a wrong assumption, I truly believe that in collective barganing that either side can ask for whatever they want. I place a lot of blame on the labor relations department for agreeing to the absurd stuff asked for. (going along to get along)

Now that I see the guy from the BORG is going to run the show, I truly have no regets leaving that debacle behind. I still have a soft spot in my heart for MOPAR, and would hate to see it run to the ground but I ain't holding my breath either.

Dan
Still driving a RAM hoping the tranny holds

[Pat Germain]

^^ Very good points, Dan.

Nardelli will have to pull a gigantic rabbit out of a very small hat to turn Chrysler around. There's plenty of blame to go around, with the unions and managment high on the list, but you can't blame the Japanese or the American consumer. Buying a vehicle from the Big Three, I mean the former big three, just to support unions is absurd if they make a lousy product.

As for UAW, they don't have a leg to stand on. Their members have been laid off by the tens of thousands. Parts of the Detroit area are starting to look like a Mad Max movie.

As for Chery, it's in trouble before it even hit the US or European markets. One of their cars was recently crash tested in Europe and it failed horribly. I saw the video. A fairly large Chery sedan pretty much folded turning the passenger compartment into a trash compactor. Some of their prospective dealers dropped them after those results and the rest are demanding a safer car.