DaimlerChrysler could sell Chrysler Group



During an earnings conference with analysts and journalists this morning, DaimlerChrysler CFO Bodo Uebber refused to rule out possibility of a sale or spinoff the struggling Chrysler group, according to trade publication Automotive News.

"We don't exclude anything," said Uebber in response to questions about splitting the companies. "We will do our analysis. Second, we will talk about measures. And third, we will draw our conclusions." Pressed further about the possibility, Uebber said, "I don't do any speculation."

DaimlerChrysler was formed in 1998 when Daimler-Benz and the Chrysler Corporation merged. The company's current brands include Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, Smart, and Maybach.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/10/25/report-daimlerchrysler-could-sell-chrysler-group/

i am a bit confused, so would it go back to the beginning again?

i would want to see mb on their own anyway

Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, back to Daimler-Benz.

Too bad it probably won't happen.

good its about time.

LOL, what a bunch of dumbas......

glad i didnt get a srt...
sounds like their honeymoon is ending haha.

glad i didnt get a srt...
sounds like their honeymoon is ending haha.
i am surprised it lasts this long

Daimler needs to kick them to the curb anyway. We want a true benz company back before it goes the way of old yeller.

Remember Jaguar? You won't by 2008.

from another thread posted by Overclocker:

Date posted: 10-25-2006

DETROIT — General Motors sharply cut its net loss in the third quarter — and actually posted an operating profit before one-time expenses — while the Chrysler Group's operating loss for the quarter pulled down net income for DaimlerChrysler.

GM's net loss for the quarter was $115 million, compared with a loss of $1.7 billion in the third quarter of 2005. The latest period includes a substantial write-down of $644 million, which means automotive operations actually made money. Total revenue rose 3.6 percent to $48.8 billion, from $47.1 billion a year earlier.

The giant automaker said it is still on track to slash $9 billion in operating costs this year, much of which will come through plant closings and employee buyouts.

Chrysler, meanwhile, had a miserable quarter, posting an operating loss of $1.46 billion, at the same time that its sister division, the Mercedes Car Group, rebounded to an operating profit of $1.25 billion.

Parent DaimlerChrysler had a group operating profit of $1.12 billion, although group net income fell to $680.1 million. Revenue dipped to $44.2 billion in the quarter, from $48.2 billion a year earlier.

What this means to you: Reading between the lines of the financial statements, GM appears to be on much firmer financial footing than it was a year ago, while Chrysler continues to bleed.

Source: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=117282

chrysler ruined MB reliability just like K-Fed ruined Britneys waistline

I guess Dr. Z couldn't help much after all eh?

chrysler ruined MB reliability just like K-Fed ruined Britneys waistline

Chrysler has nothing to do with MB's quality issues.

Most of MB's problems are electronic related because they have loaded there cars with so many new features. And remember the Germans are not know for their electronic expertise.

1. Benzs quality went down the tubes before Chrysler, so lets not blame them for that, though Benz would WANT you to believe that.
2. Chrysler was saving Benz's ass for a minute when Benz was losing money, funny I didn't hear them say "lets drop Mercedes".

Clearly they are still riding Image and prestige, just look at those Dr. Z ads... trying to tell US that Chrysler was better just because they were associated with Mercedes....

^^^ exactly.

Remember, MB and Chrylser are very loosely connected. They share very little and are still virtually seperate companies.

They said later in the day they will not sell.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/25/news/companies/chrysler/index.htm

Chrysler == Anchor

Christine Tierney and Josee Valcourt / The Detroit News
AUBURN HILLS -- Are all options, even the most drastic, now on the table as DaimlerChrysler AG tries to cut losses racked up by the Chrysler Group?

The German automaker seemed to send mixed messages Wednesday about the possibility it might jettison its American partner.

"We don't exclude anything here," Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber said during a conference call on DaimlerChrysler's third-quarter results, which were marred by a $1.48 billion loss at Chrysler.

Pressed about the possibility of spinning off Chrysler or pairing it with another automaker, Uebber told reporters and analysts that the company was studying the situation and would draw its conclusions afterward.

"We need to safeguard sustainable profitability for the Chrysler Group and for DaimlerChrysler," Uebber said.

But in response to media speculation ignited by Uebber's comments, DaimlerChrysler chief spokesman Hartmut Schick issued a statement late in the day saying "there are no plans to sell Chrysler."

Uebber's comments triggered a rally in DaimlerChrysler shares.

"It's no longer a clear denial" that Chrysler might be dumped, said Juergen Pieper, an auto analyst and co-head of research at Metzler Bank in Frankfurt, Germany.

DaimlerChrysler's U.S. shares traded in New York closed up 4.5 percent at $54.68, even though a company spokesman, before Schick's statement, said Uebber's remarks had been misconstrued.

Investors see change

Investors thought they detected a shift in the management's thinking, as Uebber refused to rule out anything during repeated questioning about Chrysler. In the past, the company has flatly denied any possibility of dropping Chrysler, even though it shed its stakes in Asian automakers.

"DaimlerChrysler's management know they're under pressure," Pieper said. The stock is one of the weakest performers among European automakers.

With Deutsche Bank no longer serving as a bulwark against predators, DaimlerChrysler might be vulnerable to bidders attracted by a resurgent Mercedes. "A takeover wouldn't be impossible," Pieper said. "There's no family, no big investor."

He doesn't believe, however, that DaimlerChrysler will get rid of its Auburn Hills division. DaimlerChrysler Chairman and CEO Dieter Zetsche, who also heads the Mercedes Car Group, was previously CEO of Chrysler and earned the top job partly on the basis of the recovery he achieved at Chrysler.

Chrysler recently said that a team of managers, including top Mercedes executives, was examining every aspect of the business to find ways to cut costs by $1,000 per vehicle and improve efficiency.

In a note to Chrysler employees Wednesday, Zetsche said the company was considering restructuring moves and will unveil a "comprehensive package of measures" in several weeks.

Meanwhile, Mercedes has re-established itself as the company's main breadwinner after a couple of difficult years. "The Mercedes star is beginning to shine brightly again," Zetsche said in the note.

Mercedes more than doubled its third-quarter profit to $1.26 billion, but that did not fully offset Chrysler's losses. DaimlerChrysler's net profit fell 37 percent to $686 million.

The widely flagged deterioration of Chrysler's results reflected a 14 percent drop in sales and softening demand for its larger, traditionally more lucrative, vehicles.

"We are in no way satisfied with our third-quarter results," said Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda.

"We have taken dramatic steps to reduce production and shipments to address the inventory situation in the United States, and we continue to work to find new ways to eliminate waste, lower our costs and improve quality."

LaSorda and his top lieutenants -- Chrysler Chief Operating Officer Eric Ridenour and sales chief Joe Eberhardt -- are under intense pressure to correct the mistakes that led to an imbalance between sales and output -- and subsequently costly production halts.

Production planning cited

But Chrysler veterans say poor production planning is one of its longtime weaknesses. "Chrysler is the industry's worst culprit (when it comes to) building beyond demand and then halting production to compensate," said Thomas Stallkamp, former Chrysler president and now a partner at private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings.

Until recently, DaimlerChrysler executives were counting on a flurry of new model launches -- eight in the second half of this year, with more coming in 2007, including a new minivan -- to revive Chrysler.

Like GM and Ford, Chrysler is struggling against efficient Asian automakers that have newer and lower-cost manufacturing operations in North America.

"Right now, everyone in North America is challenged," said Van Conway, president of Conway, MacKenzie & Dunleavy, a Birmingham firm specializing in turnaround consultancy.

"All three have to deal with the same question -- can the domestic carmakers compete with the Asian car companies?

"You could argue that you can turn Chrysler around quicker" than its Detroit rivals, he said. "Chrysler needs less volume to get into the black than the other two."

But DaimlerChrysler investors are wary of the boom-and-bust cycle of the U.S. automakers and the U.S. market's cutthroat dynamics.

Chrysler has lost $4 billion over the past five years, against a $32 billion accumulated profit for the DaimlerChrysler group, Deutsche Bank said in a report last month.

Mercedes, meanwhile, is showing strong results reflecting reduced costs and smooth launches of models such as the flagship S-Class sedan.

"It's a huge success for Mercedes," said Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at J.D. Power and Associates' Power Information Network. The S-Class was selling for $94,000 in late summer, he said, compared with an average price of $68,000 for its rivals.

"The continuation of the very positive earnings trend at the Mercedes Car Group, the distinct increase in operating profit at the truck group as well as the financial services' operating profit, which is above the high level of earnings in the prior-year quarter, only partially compensated for the loss contributed by the Chrysler Group," DCX said in its earnings statement.

DaimlerChrysler reiterated that it expects Chrysler to lose about $1.3 billion this year but maintained its forecast for group operating profit of about $6.3 billion.

I for one would be very happy to see MB ditch Chrysler.

chrysler ruined MB reliability just like K-Fed ruined Britneys waistline

Mercedes' reliability has been below that of Dodge, Chrysler and Plymouth.

Mercedes' reliability has been below that of Dodge, Chrysler and Plymouth.

Plymouth, eh? :uh:

Mercedes' reliability has been below that of Dodge, Chrysler and Plymouth.

Yeah, ever since they acquired Chrysler. But their quality is making a huge comeback these days.

Let us get this straight. Benz's quality problems are not because of Chrysler. That is hogwash. The problems were existing before the merger/acquisition. :)

Let us get this straight. Benz's quality problems are not because of Chrysler. That is hogwash. The problems were existing before the merger/acquisition. :)
totally agree, i dont' see mb quality changed much before and and after the marriage

Let us get this straight. Benz's quality problems are not because of Chrysler. That is hogwash. The problems were existing before the merger/acquisition. :)


amen brotha...preach it.

Posted on Tuesday 31 October 2006

DaimlerChrysler is back in the spotlight today with increasing speculation that the Chrysler Group may be split from its German parent due to its poor financial performance. There were reports suggesting that there was no creditability to the previous rumors of a possible split, but the issue has flared up again after a German publication quoted an anonymous DCX board member who stated that a separate stock listing for the Chrysler Group was an option.

The quotes were published in Germany’s Der Spiegel, with comments like “we would be irresponsible if we did not draw up exit scenarios.” German investors have been longing for a de-merger for years now, and the recent $1.5 billion third quarter loss only added to their arsenal. In a recent interview with analysts and reporters, Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber said the company was studying the situation and “we don’t exclude anything.” Further, Uebber declined to rule out the possibility of a sale DCX’s American arm.

A possible buyer could be Volkswagen, who currently does not have any US production facilities. Chrysler has also committed to producing a minivan for VW, so a partnership could be on the cards. The other option is DCX selling Chrysler to another American automaker to utilize its capacity, but this move is highly unlikely given the current financial situation of the domestic producers.
source : motorauthority

just do it...

MB selling Chrysler. I'm reminded of a Simpsons episode where some Germans buy the nuclear power plant and end up giving it back to Mr. Burns at the end. Eeexcellent!