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New Chrysler CEO Nardelli has aggressive reputation, no auto experience

4K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Mbukukanyau 
#1 ·

WASHINGTON -- Robert Nardelli takes over as CEO of Chrysler with no automotive experience but a track record of producing impressive financial results at retailer Home Depot that new Chrysler owner Cerberus Capital Management hopes he can duplicate at the automaker.
But the former chairman, president and CEO of Home Depot, known for his aggressive style, has no shortage of critics. He was forced out of the nation's largest home improvement retailer in January, receiving a staggering $210 million retirement package, after shareholders balked at his pay package.

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#2 ·
Cerberus is sending a clear message about what its intentions are with Chrysler. Revenue is going to be prioritized over product.

They are hiring a reckeless manager from the retail business. He knows distribution and he knows market. Like Allan Mulally he is not a car guy but unlike Mulally he knows nothing about an industrial concern, about design and production or dealing with unions. He was fired from the Home Depot by angry shareholders.

GM had a guy like that in Ron Zarella, Rick Wagoner is still dealing with the mess he left when he was finally fired and replaced with Bob Lutz in November, 2001.

God, have mercy on Chrysler.
 
#4 ·
Lacking automotive experience does not seem to be a huge hurdle anymore. They manage people and ideas mostly, not products. Besides, what does a 60+ year old exec know about current and future products that today's young generation demands. They are very fickle today.
I agree 100% with you. The problem I see is that this guy come from the retail end of the business. I would give him a chain of dealerships with my eyes closed. But to manage an industrial conglomerate like poor old Chrysler is a whole different game for the reasons outlined above.

I hope I am wrong though, but I can't stop thinking of Ron Zarella.
 
#5 ·
The guy does have a reputation that preceeds him, but he was part of Jack Welch's GE dream team. He does have some manufacturing background. Plus, Chrysler does not need Mr. Nice Guy right now
 
#6 ·
Something else worth reading, I think....

Money Magazine:

Three: Observers are making much of the fact that Nardelli is the second outsider to move into Detroit in the past year, the first being Alan Mulally of Ford (Charts, Fortune 500). But any similarities between the two stop with that fact. Mulally was coming off a big success - the development of the Boeing 787 - has little visible ego, and appears to be very comfortable knowing what he doesn't know. He seems to have charmed much of Ford with his off-putting, gee-whiz style while at the same time using his knowledge of large industrial companies and some basic common sense to shape up the company.

Nardelli, on the other hand, arrives on the heels of an enormous fiasco at Home Depot, appears to have a very high psychic profile, and by all accounts has the tact of a Marine drill instructor. This is not precisely what Chrysler needs at this point in time.


Full Article:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/06/news/companies/chrysler_nardelli.fortune/index.htm
 
#7 ·
Most Journalists like to think they are experts at most things. They speak to a few people and suddenly they are experts in the field. They become prophets, they draw conclusions based on their objectives and motives.

My take is this, lets see what the guy will do, he probably has not even began his job yet. John Snow and his team certainly know what they are doing
 
#10 ·
".....'cause nobody else will."
God, have mercy on Chrysler.
Exactamente . . . .
Its not like they price their vehicles very mercifully or out of their good will.
The Basic problem for Chrysler is they got bought while GM and Ford were going into China, India, buying GMDAT, they also killed their low cost entry level car, the Neon, wasted money of a fugly little Ducklin, that no one wants,


and have no product to go aganist camry.
The only thing they have going for them is Jeep which is now truly global and can be found as far away as Africa.
 
#11 ·
You gotta love Bob
Lutz said:
Bob Lutz, vice chairman of General Motors Corp. and a former Chrysler president, told The News on Monday that Cerberus' moves suggested a view that Detroit executives don't know what they were doing.
"Personally, I think it is another reflection of the general Wall Street belief that we are all a bunch of unsophisticated, undereducated Midwestern idiots, who constantly hide behind excuses like health care, undervalued yen, UAW, government regulation, etc., instead of rolling up our sleeves, making the tough calls, the hard decisions, looking at it through fresh eyes, and ending that cozy relationship with the union," Lutz said.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007708070385
 
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