Bob Nardelli’s year-end wrap-up

Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli recently sent an open letter to the employees of Chrysler. Some key points he made were:

• Thanks to the U.S. and Canadian governments for providing bridge loans
• Investment continues
• 88% of Chrysler vehicles got five stars in front crash tests; 86% got five stars in side impact tests
• 73% of models have better gas mileage than their 2009 equivalents
• The first electric Chrysler LLC product (since the 1990s’ electric minivans) will be launched in 2010
• Three more electric vehicles will be launched by 2013
• 24 major launches will be made from 2009 through 2012
• A hybrid Ram is still planned
• The Harbour Report says that Chrysler now equals Toyota as the most productive automaker in North America (as measured by hours of assembly per vehicle)
• Warranty claims are down 29% per vehicle
• 1.2 million units of capacity including 12 shifts and two plants have been dropped, cutting fixed costs by $2.4 billion per year
• 32,000 people have left Chrysler through retirement, job loss, and voluntary termination since 2007
• A new advertisement thanking the country will run in newspapers and magazines soon.