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German shareholders demand the sale of Chrysler
Berlin Bombshells
German shareholders demand the sale of Chrysler
By AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
AutoWeek | Updated: 04/09/07, 12:52 pm et
Many German shareholders want DaimlerChrysler to sell the Chrysler group, and they didn't hold back during the company's annual meeting last week in Berlin. Here are some of the verbal bombshells.
"For nine years you have been sitting on this scrapheap called Chrysler. Nobody has learned anything. To call this a sale is a euphemism. If you pay for the garbage man to empty the dustbin, does that mean you have sold something to the garbage man?" -- Ekkehard Wenger, author of an unsuccessful motion to change the company name back to Daimler-Benz
"Since this so-called marriage made in heaven, we have seen a drop in the share price by 30 percent. Should there be a divorce, we would be very happy." -- Henning Gebhardt, a Frankfurt fund manager
"The company is split between an American mentality and a German way of thinking. Germans care about quality and technical expertise. Americans only want money. They don't care about the craftsmanship of the product. This is an arrangement that must end." -- Georg Nuemeier, a shareholder from Burgau, Germany
"Chrysler is the worst problem in the group. You are underestimating how poisonous this pill can be for your company." -- Hans-Richard Schmitz, a lawyer representing a German shareholders group
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