Directory
Print
Email
ReprintsBernhard close to being Chrysler chairman
Bradford Wernle
Automotive News Europe
July 26, 2007 14:36 CET
UPDATED: 7/26/2007 6:10 P.M.
Wolfgang Bernhard is close to being named board chairman of the new Chrysler, said a source with knowledge of Chrysler's impending takeover by Cerberus Capital Management LP. Cerberus is ironing out specifics of its governance structure for Chrysler, but Bernhard will be chairman and current CEO Tom LaSorda will keep his post, the source said. Cerberus, a New York private equity firm, is expected to complete its $7.4 billion purchase of an 80.1 percent stake in Chrysler as early as next week. As Cerberus emerged as a leading bidder for Chrysler, it retained Bernhard as a senior adviser. Bernhard was COO of the Chrysler group from late 2000 to 2004. During that time, he led a product renaissance at Chrysler. The star car of the Bernhard era was the Chrysler 300C, a rear-wheel-drive sedan that lit a fire under Chrysler's sales. In 2004, the hard-charging German executive was named chief of DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz Car Group. But the appointment was rescinded after Bernhard clashed with then-DaimlerChrysler CEO Juergen Schrempp over strategy. Bernhard then went to Volkswagen AG to run the VW brand, but was ousted in January in a boardroom shakeup engineered by VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech. Bernhard is best remembered in Detroit for thundering into the 2002 Detroit auto show aboard the Dodge Tomahawk, a four-wheel motorcycle powered by a 500-hp, 10 cylinder Viper engine. You may e-mail Bradford Wernle at bwernle@crain.com |
You can reach Bradford Wernle at bwernle@crain.com.
RSS Feed
