Chrysler enlists workers for help

CEO LaSorda urges creative thinking to assist automaker; Zetsche of DCX says stay focused.

Josee Valcourt / The Detroit New

AUBURN HILLS -- At the end of a brutal year for Chrysler that fed speculation about its future, top company executives sent messages to workers last week that called for a renewed effort to fix the automaker in 2007.

DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group lost $1.5 billion in the third quarter and struggled all year with a major inventory glut that contributed to the departure of its top marketing and sales executive.

With some German analysts calling for DaimlerChrysler to dump its American division, the pressure is intensifying. Chrysler is working on a major restructuring to be unveiled in mid-February that's expected to include job cuts, plant closures and revamped product plans.

"It's been said that success means getting up one more time than you've been knocked down," Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda told workers in a note. "During 2006, we encountered some painful reminders that the automotive business is ultra-competitive and requires constant adaptation to rapid changes. We are rising to the challenge and are in the process of creating a new business model to achieve sustainable growth."

LaSorda also called on workers to do their part.

"Take a step or two back and think objectively and creatively about how you approach our challenges," he said. "Think outside of the box. Let's use all of the tools at our disposal, and knock down the roadblocks. Bring that same passion that first brought you into this business to your day-to-day business."

A separate message to employees from LaSorda's boss, DaimlerChrysler CEO and former Chrysler chief Dieter Zetsche, also exhorted workers to stay focused.

"We are working flat out to ensure that the Chrysler Group returns to sustainable profitability," Zetsche said in an e-mail.

Zetsche, who became DaimlerChrysler CEO last year, encouraged workers to embrace a new culture at the global automaker.

"To assure the successful future of DaimlerChrysler, we concluded that we must adhere to four basic values: passion, respect, integrity and discipline," Zetsche wrote.

He said the new value system needs to be become part of day-to-day operations and employees will be evaluated on those terms.

Zetsche also gave an update on DaimlerChrysler's new management model to streamline the company's structure. The plan, launched in January and now complete in Germany, also calls for an average 15 percent reduction in management at Chrysler that will be achieved mainly through attrition by 2008.