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.
10/13, 10:44 AM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
In other news, Mr. Nardelli was recently caught trying to use his expired Home Depot employee discount card to get the jump on parting gifts for his favorite Chrysler co-workers.
10/13, 10:55 AM
posted by:
Lariat Luxury Locomotive Liner No.3
Nardelli is facing imminent collapse! It would be interesting to learn what his golden parachute will be. Coming from a losing GE background lead by the cradle robbing Jack Welch (who is a royal ass to begin with) all can see where GE is today thanks to their past leadership or lack of. Nardelli was a joke for Chrysler to begin with. Bye-bye Nardelli!
10/13, 12:07 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
Yeah, this damn credit crunch will make it difficult for Nardelli to pull an astronomical golden parachute when he gets fired for incompetence like Home Cheapot paid the bastard. Now he’s going to have to settle for a measley $50 million or so, and it’s all our fault for not making the corporate bigwig bailout in the trillions.
You bastard serfs ruin everything.