Work hard and do your best though we dislike you
Work hard. Contribute your all. Sorry we don’t care about you.
That’s the message coming from DaimlerChrysler for its American employees.
Tom LaSorda urges employees to remember that Chrysler Group is investing in the future, to work hard and try to pull the fat from the fire after all those people from Stuttgart put it there.
Unfortunately, the DaimlerChrysler Boards keep undermining that message by making it clear that anyone who gives them enough cash will get the Chrysler Group. There is no apparent concern for the thousands and thousands of Chrysler Group employees in their actions and statements; indeed, they’ve (probably not Dieter) made enough sleazy off-the-record statements to the press about the Americans to show that at least some of the Board apparently would like everyone at Chrysler Group to lose their jobs as part punishment for trying to taint Mercedes with what we can only describe as higher quality.
Some of the buyers for Chrysler are clearly not good in the long term for Chrysler employees’ jobs. General Motors poses a serious risk, depending on what they would do with Chrysler after acquiring it. Would they simply take over the flexible manufacturing, minivan platform, Jeep name (and perhaps engineers), the upcoming automated-manual transmission, Phoenix V6, and a few other technologies, and can the rest of the company? How about the various private equity firms? Some of them seem fairly sleazy while others seem very above-board, but that doesn’t seem to be a factor; everyone gets the same financial packet, as far as we can tell.
Those waiting for a sign from above only hear “all options are open.” There’s no BMW-style “we’ll give away Rover complete with a billion or so of our cash to help you keep it running for a while.” No symbolic gestures are being made for the Chrysler employees. Instead, it’s a constant stream of insult and innuendo from the cowardly masked board members countered only by Dieter Zetsche’s references to the skills and expertise of Chrysler’s engineers.
Whatever happens, it should happen quickly. This chapter should close as soon as it can. Among other things, I can’t believe this attitude towards employees motivates people to root out and fix quality problems, to stand up to managers and demand that problems be fixed, to put in that extra time to get it right - or even to give Chrylser another chance instead of sending off that newly polished resume to Toyota. I hear they’re hiring.
As a Chrysler Sales Rep at certain dealership, i got contacted last year by certain Toyota Dealership and they made me an offer, i declined their offer and with a sarcastic smile they wished me luck, i respect Toyota, how ever, i dont want to start wearing Toyota Shirts and pens on my desk, i love Chrysler too much to sell any other brand, no matter what kind of money i could make selling Corollas and Camrys, the down side is that the average number of visitors arriveing at our show room is less and less as day´s come by and the confuseing new´s about Chrysler´s future keep rolling contradicting them selves.
Please Make up your Mind, if wanna sale, find get busy and do it, Spin Off? Fine do it, but please DO SOMETHING
It does seem that they WILL do SOMETHING. However, and I am not being snide to you, understanding how much you care about Chrysler, I would pull out that old resume and dust it off. All the options have not been put on the table yet, and that old sneak, Daimler-Benz AG is sleazing around in the back waters, lying in wait to get some more out of nothing.
Mopar 4ever, I appreciate your words very much. I wish the DCX leadership would think about the employees like you that work hard every day. The 13,000 jobs they plan to cut are not numbers on a piece of paper, they’re real people. If only the politicians and UAW leaders were more vocal about what is going on in the auto industry, especially Chrysler. Not one word about this out of Obama or Clinton or Guilliani or any of them. I don’t think they realize how the health of our economy and nation is intertwined with the success or failure of this industry. The old saying went, “what’s good for GM [or Chrysler] is good for America.” Definitely some truth to that.
Does anyone care about the workers in America? When we lose manufacturing jobs, do we really believe the jobs are being replaced by new ones that are just as good? Does anyone care that every day that goes by the trade deficit with China is growing and growing? Certainly not the supposedly educated elite: they’re more concerned about the altitude of the coffee beans in their latte than 10,000 people losing their jobs and the possible disappearnce of Chrysler, the maker of the first modern car.
For any organization to thrive, people have to be able to take pride in the organization and know their efforts matter. Morale is everything. Chrysler came through some tough times, always because of the dedication of its employees. They achieved some great things. Chrysler exemplifies what is great about America–and Canada–we like to root for the underdog, and that’s what Chrysler normally has been, but they dreamed big and took risks, and they fought. Who else could dare to make something like the hemi they came out with in 1951? Or do something like the Valiant or minivan no one else dared t o do? They can be great again if given the chance.
Well… Mr. Obama, who has not yet stepped in on the Chrysler issue, “called for using government money to relieve Detroit automakers of some of their staggering health care obligations if they commit to improving fuel economy by 3 percent a year for 15 years.” He also owns a Chrysler.
To quote from an old Windy City Times article: “Jobs and the economy are always important. Illinois’ economic base continues to erode, particularly with regard to manufacturing. … we can make better choices than we’re making right now to encourage job growth in our communities. Dealing with the healthcare crisis will go a long way toward improving our economy, because I think small businesses are getting hit very hard by rising healthcare costs, …
But I think jobs are a critical issue. Part of what I think we can have an impact on, legislatively, is how the the tax code is written up. Right now we have given incentives to companies that are opening up offshore accounts in Bermuda to avoid U.S. taxes, instead of providing incentives for companies that are investing in research and development and worker training here in the U.S.”
That’s something, albeit not much. It would be good if he and Clinton and Guiliani and McCain would all step out and dare to offend their big-money donors and demand manufacturing jobs for Americans. Unfortunately what I see when I look at politicians is often generalities, and the blogosphere seems to have this idea that anything that helps Chrysler is evil because it takes jobs away from “more effective companies.” You know, like Toyota.
Mitsubishi was rescued by its fellow Japanese corporations. They could have said “social Darwinism!” and let it go, too.
By the way, I DID check out McCain and Guiliani.
For McCain all I got was “Some will think McCain’s site looks a bit like a fancy DaimlerChrysler ad — after Chrysler’s facelift — but still, it’s impressively done.” and “McCain wanted car producers to be able to “buy” the reduced emissions from power production to compensate for their inability to meet the requirements of his bill.”
Nothing for Guiliani, and I can’t tell what kind of car anyone but Obama drives (well, Keyes has a Lincoln.)
-”Unfortunately what I see when I look at politicians is often generalities, and the blogosphere seems to have this idea that anything that helps Chrysler is evil because it takes jobs away from “more effective companies.” You know, like Toyota.
Mitsubishi was rescued by its fellow Japanese corporations. They could have said “social Darwinism!” and let it go, too.”
Good point about that Dave, It’s so tempted to go a step further and said then Chrysler is victim of “positive discrimination” or “reverse discrimination” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_discrimination and Clinton, Guiliani and lots of the others seems to do lots of “reasonable accommodation” for “toyonda” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_accommodation
I could, but I won’t. What I WILL say is there’s nothing the polticians can really do that the public wants them to do. The public wants cheap Chinese rubbish to flow without restriction, the public is afraid of socialized medicine (that would save Detroit about $2,000 per car in direct med costs, or so I’ve read, plus it would eliminate the burden of retiree health care), and they can hardly nationalize Chrysler after blessing the giveaway to Daimler a few years back. It would be nice if the White House would at least meet with the Big Three and visit their factories as often as he hangs out with the Japanese transplants, but that’s the least of our problems. It would also be nice if the White House would stop sharing our private information with their campaign contributors (including the upcoming national ID, which has no apparent restrictions against sale of information to anyone who wants it), and, oh, we could go on for a while - with either party.
I don’t know what you mean by positive/reverse discrimination regarding Chrysler, and I don’t know what kind of “reasonable accommodation” Clinton, Guiliani, and others have done for the Asian automakers. I tried to find specifics… really, Bush hasn’t done much directly for Toyota or Honda as far as I can tell, other than meet with them more often than the others. Guess they figure the car companies will always support Republicans and they can take their money for granted - or it doens’t amount to much anyway - or they figure what they gain from the corporations, they lose from the UAW giving to the other side.
Isn’t Mitsubishi on the verge of pulling out of America? I hear they are gaining in europe and Japan though
The point is that the Japanese industrial base - or at least part of it - acted together to rescue one of their own.
To be fair, Ford bought Mazda, GM bought chunks of Suzuki and Isuzu, Chrylser was set to buy Mitsu for a time… so letting Chrylser go to Daimler isn’t unique (though some of us DID know better.)
Back to topic…I completely agree that the sooner the better; the longer this goes on the more we’re going to see effects of it down the road. I can’t imagine morale isn’t anywhere but the toilet; it’s bad enough when the rumors are ‘we might get bought by XYZ’ but when they’re ‘we might get bought by…someone…in whole or in part…or we might not and be stuck with the Overlords…who we now know without any doubt aren’t really vested in us….’
I have to imagine while DCX honchos are burning the midnight oil trying to unload Chrysler, a lot of Chrysler folks are burning that oil polishing resumes and sending feelers out.
If this thing continues to drag on, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some departures from management.
Rich Hutchinson: im 1000% with you, if DCX does not makes its mind soon about what to do with Chrysler Group, it would be worst for us, the guys that work for or sell Chrysler`s Brands.
I can’t believe that Mercedes will prosper long term by doing this. After using Chrysler $$ and resources and technologies, to poise itself as a remade latest and greatest MB ever. Without a major influx of cash (selling chrysler) they are Doomed without being able to sell affordable cars & suv’s From the MB side of things they will be unable to sustain themselves for much more then 2-3 years with current designs.
Now after having committed a desperate act of plundering chrysler’s assets, and bad mouthing a company that there are so disgusted by, but want to sell it at a Premium Price?
Thier investors and board must be Insane, Are they thinking Ok were near being back on top, SO we need investment capital to solidify our position. Ok we will invest more money if we can distance ourselves
from those inferior American products, we should sell that company asap. (OK then when it is sold we will invest, well we will probably invest, well most likely we would invest in a pure MB) lets see what happens with the sale and we will let you know about investing)
Mark my words, If they sell off chrysler, and retain the current leadership, They are doomed!
If they let it errode as they have been doing, they are past the point of no return, ( Far to late to even bring in an outsider a new DCX head)
And take thier foot firmly away from thier mouth.
They have to be able to sell affordable cars and trucks around the world and in the US, to make the money they need to sustain themselves, Any Money gained from a sale would be like giving an addict one more Fix, hoping that it lasts just a little longer.
Is it to late to organize a March to Washington ? Get some union folks too at least have the knowledge that you did something ?
Can some entity come up with $$ to air a commercial, about the history of Chrysler,Dodge & Jeep
Maybe a timely Program from the History Channel, about it’s contributions to our Nation!
Perhaps commentary from American Chrysler Workers, Engineers, Designers, I don’t work for Chrysler, but I sure feel like I’ve been Insulted
MB. And insulted by thier percieved superiority, In all things automotive.
Perhaps Concerned Citizens Need only Go to thier local Mercedes Dealer, to protest cutting up an American Icon, and It’s Worker’s and families.
Mercedes, in the US, has never been about ‘affordable’. Remember “engineered like no other car in the world”? It used to mean something, and that doesn’t come cheap. However they’ve floated downmarket, and the top end has been co-opted by Maybach. I think the single biggest hurdle they’ve provided Chrysler is the siphoning off of funds, and a misunderstanding of how much capital it takes to compete in the markets Chrysler competes in. It’s a lot more crowded than in the areas where MB is used to competing here.
According to comments from Rick Wagoneer yesterday he sees NO consolidation in the domestic car industry in the near term.
Timely if not convenient comments from Zetche yesterday about the concern of Daimler itself being a takeover target make things much more interesting. Boddo Ubber CFO was quoted last week saying one of the reasons Daimler merged with Chrysler was of fend off a takeover. Selling all or part of Chrysler would leave the prized Daimler ‘mothership” very vulnerable for takeover in a world market. This whole thing is starting to smell like a smokescreen to help in the negotiations for this years KEY contract. Its much easier to negotiate under a cloud of doubt and fear especially when you created it. Don’t be fooled, The Chrysler Group made money in 2006.
But Dave wasn’t the whole point of DC selling mitsubhisi because they wasn’t allowed to fully own and control the company
Everyday this Chrysler saga seems like a publicity stunt to get UAW to allow chrysler to make more cuts. If so i reckon it is working.
According to a Detroit News article, potential buyers of Chrysler, including private equity firms, are being wined and dined with views of upcoming vehicles in the Design Dome, talks by Trevor Creed and others, and meals in the Chrysler Museum, together with a view of Chrysler’s books that UAW officials and government accountants can probably only dream of. Dieter Zetsche has said that the sale of Chrysler Group will not be an auction, but that DCX is being selective about potential bidders and may choose to retain Chrysler Group after all.
I still dont see any reazon to create all of this fuzz and then in the end Keeping Chrysler Group,
Well i do see one, Speculate and make a Quick Buck, but the price for that short term profit is that costumer and employee morale gets hurt big time, and makes you wonder…pardon my french…is Chrysler Group being treated as MB’s P…tute?
go ahead Mopar4ever you can say it!! there it’s out in the open. please you stinking [deleted] unload Chrysler NOW. there you have even got me begging, Happy???
It’s too bad all the Mopar employees in north america couldn’t band together and buy the company themselves. A Chrysler publicly owned by north americans would be kind of neat I think, sort of like some of the commercial airlines nowadays.
All the talk of takeovers — GM has been the only smart company out there.
A sign of doppy management is when they stop doing their jobs and start looking for “partners”. It is all about putting out great products. When products get outdated from management falling asleep in the comfort of a few good sales quarters — two things happen.
First, like GM they admit they were asleep at the wheel and take personal responsiblity by putting their careers and image on the line and start to rebuild the company and product line.
Second, like Chrysler and Nissan — you say it is a structural problem beyond your control and that a merger and/or new partnership is needed. So you sell the idea that a company is sort of like an investment and not a business — this is a great distraction when you talk to your shareholders as they will actually listen to this BS like it is actually true. Well a company is something to INVEST IN; but it is not an INVESTMENT internally. Perception is everything so when these top execs get scared they talk to shareholder in a way to distrack them from the fact the company is being run poorly; by talking about share value and manipulation instead of the products etc they are making.
Anyway, not good what Chrysler is doing now. They should be focussing on new products etc; but cannot do any proper planning now that they are looking for a buyer. This is also why the decisions they do make look so out of sync with what they should be doing. Think of when you are selling your house, you patch things together by looking backward and not forward — so you fix that old boiler in the basement or repair the roof; when in fact a major renovation should be done with modern upgrades if you were keeping the place. So in Chryslers case to build up Dodge Trucks and SUVs as that is what you are advertising on the for sale sign (what you are known for, looking back and not forward).
-”Unfortunately what I see when I look at politicians is often >generalities, and the blogosphere seems to have this idea that anything >that helps Chrysler is evil because it takes jobs away from “more
effective companies.” You know, like Toyota.
> i love Chrysler too much to sell any other brand, no matter what kind >of money i could make selling Corollas and Camrys, the down side is >that the average number of visitors arriveing at our show room is less >and less
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As a Chrysler customer I can say Chrysler’s biggest failure is in customer service. I bought my PT cruiser the same year my sister bought her Toyota. I have spent over $6,000 in engine repairs on my three year old car. No response from letters of complaint to Chrysler.
My sister’s Toyota in the same period has only needed basic maintenance and wiper blades.
My PT is the first New car I’ve purchased, it is 3 years old with 57,000 miles. I’ll never purchase another Chrysler product, not only is the quality poor, but the customer service is non-existant. I’m out of warranty so I have no recourse. But I can express my opinion to everyone I know. Chrysler has lost a customer in me. I don’t expect much, but it would be helpful if they would provide some solution or perhaps meet me half way on some of these failed components.