DaimlerChrysler chief executive Dieter Zetsche said on Tuesday that it would be difficult to break up Chrysler, as analysts and other outside experts have speculated in recent weeks, because of an integrated production system that binds together its various brands.
"Chrysler Group is very integrated," Zetsche said in an interview at the Geneva Motor Show.
"The technical lines, like platforms, do not go along the same lines as the brands. The less they are aligned with the brands, the more difficult it would be to think of any separation," he said.
PHOTO: EPA
Zetsche emphasized that he was making an observation, not commenting on options for how DaimlerChrysler might sell the Chrysler unit -- a prospect it confirmed three weeks ago that it was considering. But his statement seemed to reinforce reports that DaimlerChrysler hoped to unload Chrysler as a single unit, rather than pull out single brands like Jeep.
Zetsche did open the door to spinning off Chrysler Financial, its loan and leasing arm, saying "there are different models" of how to organize the financing arm of an automaker -- among them, separating it from the home company -- and that "we would want maximum flexibility."
Speculation about Chrysler's future has been at a fever pitch since Feb. 14, when Zetsche confirmed that DaimlerChrysler was keeping all options open for its US unit, which lost US$1.5 billion last year. The Stuttgart-based company has since been silent about its plans, which made Zetsche's appearance in Geneva the show's most avidly watched event.
For Zetsche to be scrutinized as a deal-maker rather than a "car guy" is a new and somewhat awkward role for him. He normally relishes these shows as a chance to indulge in some showmanship. A few years ago, he shattered a glass wall with an electric guitar to promote a new Chrysler model.
On Tuesday, however, Zetsche kept his inner rock star under wraps. Sitting with his hands folded on a table, as two public relations executives monitored his remarks, he stuck to formulaic pronouncements about seeking "the most promising future for the Chrysler Group."
Yet there were hints, in his answers, of the flurry of activity that is taking place behind the scenes, as DaimlerChrysler scouts for potential buyers, which analysts have said include General Motors, auto-parts suppliers like Magna International and private equity investors.
Some investment bankers said private-equity firms were the most likely buyers for Chrysler, given the weakness of other carmakers and the health care and pension liabilities that Chrysler carries. Several automakers, including Renault, Volkswagen and Toyota, have said they are not interested.
That is why Zetsche's comments about Chrysler's financing arm, which he first made at a Merrill Lynch automotive conference here on Monday, pricked the ears of people in the industry.
General Motors last year sold a majority stake in its giant financing arm, the General Motors Acceptance Corp, for US$7.4 billion to an investment group led by Cerberus.
Zetsche, who ran Chrysler from 2000 until the end of 2005 and even appeared as a character in its advertising, said he was troubled by the upheaval that the sale rumors had caused at Chrysler.
"I am personally not a guy who is cool and numbers-oriented and doesn't care about people," he said.
"I have gone through a lot of emotions in the past six years -- and many positive emotions as well," he added.
After Zetsche presided over the rollout of two new models by Mercedes-Benz, he appealed to visitors to watch Chrysler's presentation, which was led by its executive director of international sales and marketing, Thomas Hausch, not its chief executive, Thomas LaSorda.
Noting that Chrysler's sales increased 15 percent outside North America last year, Hausch insisted that the unit's financial problems would not crimp its introduction of new cars and trucks.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)