UAW leader to DCX: Keep Chrysler

April 19, 2007 | BY TIM HIGGINS | FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

With DaimlerChrysler AG talking to potential buyers for the Chrysler Group, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said Wednesday that he is preparing to make the case to the supervisory board for the company to keep the Auburn Hills-based automaker.

"There is a lot of value in keeping it there right now because of the synergy, even though you don't hear a lot about that. It has worked well," he told reporters Wednesday.

He noted that Chrysler is implementing a turnaround plan aimed at returning to profitability after posting an operating loss of $1.5 billion last year.

"It seems to me that both the Chrysler Group and DaimlerChrysler as a whole would be better served if we focused on moving forward with the plan that is in place and building a quality product, then worrying about the future," he said.

He noted DaimlerChrysler as a whole did well last year, when the company's net income rose 13.2% to $4.3 billion.

"We're in a little downturn right now," Gettelfinger said about Chrysler. "But if you compare what happened at DaimlerChrysler last year, the end result, and compare that to Ford and General Motors when they reported their losses, it's like hardly anything."

Ford Motor Co. lost nearly $13 billion last year; GM lost $12 billion over the last two years.

Gettelfinger is one of the 20 people who sit on DaimlerChrysler's supervisory board, which is similar to a U.S. company's board of directors.

"Right now, what I am focused on is the opportunity to get back and talk to the supervisory board and make the case for keeping Chrysler Group in DaimlerChrysler," he said.

The German magazine Stern reported Wednesday that DaimlerChrysler could make a decision on a buyer in the next four weeks. The report said Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, has made the highest offer.

But the bid by Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc., while lower, might get less opposition from the UAW, the report said. Cerberus Capital Management, another private equity firm, also is in the mix.

A $4.5-billion offer by Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. appears to be in the background in the talks.

Gettelfinger indicated the UAW has received several calls from potential Chrysler buyers.

Gettelfinger, who has spoken against private equity firms in the past, reiterated his distaste for them.

"They are hovering overhead right now," he said. "We can have differences of opinion. We'll deal with what we have to deal with at the time, but right now I am going to make the case ... that I believe we are better off to stay where we are at."

DaimlerChrysler spokesman Han Tjan declined to say when the next supervisory board meeting will be held, citing company policy.