There is no shortage of critics ready and willing to share their opinion why the Daimler Chrysler union was doomed to fail, but the 1998 merger did bring some interesting products Stateside, including the Sprinter Cargo Van and diesel-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee . Friday reports have the famous Dr. Z from the automaker’s TV ads, or Dieter Zetsche, Daimler CEO more formally, admitting the partnership “couldn’t achieve global integration.”
The CEO spoke at the St. Gallen Symposium in Switzerland today, which was held under the “Global Capitalism, Local Values” theme, according to Automotive News. Zetsche said that while the merger made theoretical sense, the reality was much different. “[Global integration] was at odds with the image of our brands, the preferences of our customers, and many other success factors — all of which were far more diverse and fragmented,” he said.
Zetsche continued, saying the cooperation between the Mercedes-Benz and Chryser brands was not as high as Daimler expected, and the American brand’s image was lacking in regions outside of North America.
“It’s fair to say that we overestimated the potential of passing leading-edge technology from Mercedes-Benz to Chrysler ,” he said. “Unlike premium brand customers, American volume brand customers are far too price-sensitive to absorb its cost.”
Daimler sold 80.1 percent of its stake to privately owned Cerberus for $7.4 billion last year.
