The newly minted Chrysler Corp. held its first press conference today and carryover CEO Tom LaSorda made it clear that all of Chrysler's brands will be kept together after the sale to Cerberus Capital Management goes through. Many have been wondering if Cerberus would pull an Edward Lewis à la
Pretty Woman and break up the automaker, selling off its pieces for profit. LaSorda says that won't happen, and in addition his company and Daimler AG will continue to work together in areas such as hybrid technology and purchasing. One would also hope that work done to bring a small B-class car to Chrysler's product portfolio from Chinese automaker Chery is also intact.
LaSorda also said that the purchase will not be followed by more job cuts than were already planned. One job cut we speculate might be considered is LaSorda's own position as CEO of Chrysler Corp. We suspect he'll be given a year or two to improve Chrysler's standing, but ex-Chrysler wünderboy Wolfgang Bernhard is waiting unemployed in the wings. It's likely Bernhard couldn't be named CEO of Chrysler Corp. anyway until his noncompete clause with VW/Audi runs its course. Until that time, you can bet LaSorda will be working to prove his worth to the new suits in town from Cerberus.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
