Former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca knows a thing or two about resurrecting the pentastar brand from tough times, so it comes as little surprise that the now-retired executive has offered his help to new Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne. To top things off, he has offered Chrysler’s 19,000 retirees to assist as advisers in “any capacity that you might require.”
By writing a welcome letter to Marchionne and taking out a full-page ad in Detroit’s newspapers, Iaccoca has attempted to welcome the Italians to Detroit.
“As a first step, we would be willing to meet with the Chrysler human resources team to determine where help is needed and to identify historically top-producing volunteers to assist you,” the ad said. “Just put us to work.”
Yet not all is quite as rosy as it seems with Iacocca and the retirees he represents. The letter contained a very thinly-veiled dig to the fact that many of Chrysler’s retirement plans, including Iacocca’s, languish in bankruptcy with “bad Chrysler.”
“There are still some exceptions that we hope will be reevaluated,” Iacocca’s letter said.
