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Automotive Industry

Time to Turn It Around

Automotive Industries, Feb, 2001 by Lindsay Brooke

The pressure's on Dieter Zetsche to make Chrysler an industry benchmark again. He has the conviction to lead it -- now comes the reorganization to make it happen.

The entire auto industry is waiting for February 23. That's when DaimlerChrysler is scheduled to announce what is expected to be a massive reorganization of its ailing Chrysler Group. As the day of the big bombshell approaches, all eyes are on new Chrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche, who has been given the Moses-like assignment of leading the former No.3 U.S. automaker out of the wilderness of high costs and management chaos and back into the Promised Land of profitability.

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Already, engineers and managers at DC's giant Auburn Hills, Mich., Tech Center tell Automotive Industries that Zetsche's visibility and willingness to talk to any employee have made a positive impact on their morale. To say there's pressure on Zetsche is a vast understatement, but he's not showing any of it -- at least not during our interview at the recent North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Q: In the brief time you've been Chrysler Group CEO, what successes can you say you've seen thus far?

A: Product is the most important part of any auto company. I'm extremely confident and happy with what we've got coming into the marketplace. Those vehicles will be further building blocks of our success story.

Q: What do you believe are the key constituents of great morale at a company?

A: In the end, it boils down to your conviction about your future. Falling into a crisis, especially at the speed with which we did it, ifs quite understandable that people aren't too happy about that. They're irritated. Now it's time the management team, together with the people, build their own conviction to make this company successful again.

Clearly, the DNA of the Chrysler Group is very special. This company is used to fighting back.

Q: What role will your leadership play in rebuilding that morale?

A: It takes a CEO and management team to give direction. That's exactly what people are expecting from us, and it's exactly what we intend to provide for them.

Q: Is Chrysler still the nimble, quick-thinking company that existed when it was independent?

A: Absolutely, yes. But speed is one thing; sound basis for decision is something else. We need the combination of both now, even if it delays a decision by one day. Sound decisions are what is needed in the long term.

Q: There's a belief among many OEMs that lots of cost can be wrung out of the smaller subtier suppliers -- that they're far from being lean. Do you agree?

A: That's a fair assessment. Certainly it's not applicable to every supplier, but in general, it's what we've found. The new program we've established, called TCO, is now in the roll-out phase. It's addressing exactly that issue. We're trying to optimize the entire supply chain through the tier levels with this program.

Q: What will you be doing to reduce vehicle development costs?

A: I want to be the benchmark in all areas, but vehicle development is certainly one in which we had the leadership position. We can get back there legitimately. One way to do it is to remodify our platform situation, which we invented for the worldwide industry. It's kind of stagnated. We have to find a new balance of responsibilities along the platform lines--without "inventing the wheel" five times.

Q: So you're developing a new paradigm in platform design and engineering?

A: Yes. It will be more a further enhancement than a change in direction.

Automotive Industry

Time to Turn It Around

Automotive Industries, Feb, 2001 by Lindsay Brooke

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