Chrysler LLC’s CEO, Bob Nardelli, may only have been chairman and CEO of the recently privatized Detroit automaker for 14 months, but he is already warning that the industry is “extremely fragile” and that the credit crisis the world is experiencing is particularly difficult on automakers – more so than rapidly escalating gas prices.
Many have argued that privatized Chrysler is in the best position to turn around rapidly, yet many have also suggested that, thanks to their weak current lineup, the automaker may never recover. The automaker has told us numerous times that the all-new 2009 Dodge Ram is a “must succeed” vehicle for Chrysler’s future success and, just days ago, we learned that Chrysler and GM have talked about combining forces.
Now Nardelli is warning that the auto industry faces imminent collapse.
“You start to see the global collapse of the auto industry where strong, dominant international players are really feeling it in their home market,” he told Automotive News. “We thought the $4-a-gallon gas was going to be our biggest challenge, but that’s been minimized by the credit market.”
“I’m not sure it’s registered at the highest levels the impact of losing the auto industry,” he continued. “When I say the entire industry, it’s not only the OEMs [Original Equipment Manufacturers]; it’s the Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 [suppliers].”
Nardelli said that Chrysler isn’t on the edge of a cash crunch, but the automaker is very closely watching the situation.
