Tom LaSorda must step up to the plate.(can manage DaimlerChrysler AG. Chrysler Group)(Column)

Automotive News, December, 2006

It would be easy to blame Joe Eberhardt for all of the Chrysler group's problems. Certainly the former global sales, marketing and service chief played a big role in creating the ineffective incentive programs that failed to reduce swollen inventories and the heavy-handed tactics that alienated dealers.

But making Eberhardt the scapegoat won't solve anything.

Now is the time for Chrysler group CEO Tom LaSorda to step up and be the leader, not just a stand-in waiting until Wolfgang Bernhard or some other relief pitcher arrives in Auburn Hills.

LaSorda can do it.

First and foremost, LaSorda and Chrysler must reduce the automaker's huge inventories without doing further damage to its brands. Next, they need to fix the sick allocation...