But for a little cooperation, a dream lineup

Edward Lapham is the executive editor of Automotive News. He writes commentaries for Automotive News online every business day. His commentaries also can be found here.

EDWARD LAPHAM COMMENTARY 4/10/2007

Edward Lapham | Automotive News / April 10, 2007 - 4:20 pm

Perhaps there is no single perfect deal to spin off the Chrysler group.

So maybe the best option is to roll up the various proposals into one well-funded, can't-fail … new Chrysler Corporation!

Jerry York estimates it could take up to seven years to rebuild Chrysler into a powerhouse competitor, which seems reasonable. And you just know it's going to take more than $4.5 billion or $5 billion from one investor to do it right.

So why not invite Kirk Kerkorian and the other serious private equity interests to participate in a broader group? Investors would be required to leave their money in place for a minimum of five years, which would protect the enterprise and its stakeholders.

It could be more than just a financial home run.

Most of the bidders have automotive greats on their rosters, including several who starred in the Chrysler organization. Wouldn't it be spectacular to combine all that talent into the reborn Chrysler Corp.?

It could be a dream team.

No, not like the movie The Dream Team, where four mental patients pile into a van to go to a ballgame but instead have wacky misadventures; I was taking my cue from the movie Field of Dreams, where dead ballplayers from a bygone era come out of the cornfield to lace 'em up again.

Of course, unlike that cornfield team where the guys all instinctively knew where to play, we'd need a manager who could put our highly skilled players in the right positions.

Actually, with all those powerful, uh, resumes, we'd probably need a manager, or maybe a referee, to pick the starting lineup.

As luck would have it, I'm wearing a striped shirt today, so I guess that makes me the ref. (I love it when that happens.)

Let's see.

Among the Chrysler alums, Cerberus' Wolfgang Bernhard would be product honcho, Tracinda's York would be CFO, and Ripplewood's Tom Stallkamp would get human resources and labor relations.

My chief scout tells me Stallkamp is too lenient to handle procurement and that we ought to pick up a free agent from Toyota or Honda. But I'm going with former Fordster David Thursfield of Cerberus as the procurement/supplier relations counselor. Ex-GMer Mark Hogan of Magna would be the manufacturing guru.

That leaves openings for draft picks from the current Chrysler squad.

And since sooner or later the UAW and Canadian Auto Workers will need to play ball, we'll find positions on the bench (or the board) for Ron Gettelfinger and Buzz Hargrove.

I know they'd all like to be CEO, and many are qualified. But these are team players who understand what's at stake. Who among them wouldn't be willing to take one for the team? … especially if Lee Iacocca throws out the first pitch.

Come to think of it, this is starting to sound a lot like The Dream Team.