• HOME»
• BLOGS»

• Article Tools:
•  Print
•  Email
•  Reprints

Updated: 6:07 p.m. News reporters like to find news. One definition of news is anything that makes a newspaper's city editor say: "No fooling!" (Actually, I cleaned it up a bit.)

There wasn't anything today that rose to that level, although there some nice nuggets and insights.

But on balance, the time spent here today has been worth it to get a notion of how our tax dollars are being spent/invested.

At the end of the day, Sergio Marcionne emphasizes that the TARP and EDC loans will be repaid by or before 2014. It seems possible. if management's assumptions are right.

You know, any time a new manager takes over a team or a company or a government, there is the temptation to describe with alarm and disbelief the disarray they found. Some times you can dismiss it as politics.

But not today.

Having seen how the crew from Daimler looted Chrysler, and how Cerberus mis-ran the joint, I understand the size if the task facing Marchionne and his entire team.

So can the five year-plan work?

It could happen.

-------------------

It looks like they're getting along

Updated: 4:07 p.m. It's interesting to come to a multinational, multidiscipline event like this one and watch how the nearly 500 attendees interact ... especially the Chrysler and Fiat execs, since this is supposed to be an alliance.

I didn't notice a lot of intermingling during the coffee break. But so far they seem to be getting along. The Chrysler execs I know say nice things about Sergio Marchionne and the way the other Fiat execs have acted when they got here.

That's a heckuva lot better than what the Chrysler guys used to say about the Daimler execs when they came to town as part of that old, so-called merger of equals.

And it's better than how Fiat and General Motors got along in the final days of their alliance.

Of course they were also competitors in Europe.

I guess the real question for allies is whether they eat lunch together ... or try to eat each other's lunch.

-------------------

Knott not wrong about expectations

Updated: 3:47 p.m. Lunch was delicious. But no wine.

So far, most of the presenters have been saying what sound like the right things about what needs to be done to fix Chrysler. But Daniel Knott, Chrysler's head of purchasing, nailed it when he said he knows we've "heard all that crap before" and we'll believe what we've been told when we see results.

That said, the rigid parts -- powertrain, manufacturing and purchasing -- already seem to have a head start.

In powertrain operations, it makes sense to have Fiat responsible for gasoline engines with a displacement of less than 1.8 liters and all diesels while Chrysler has responsilbity for developing gasoline engines bigger than 1.8 liters and electrification.

The question is how much Chrysler will have to pay Fiat in licensing fees, which is one of the ways Daimler, uh, transferred wealth from Auburn Hills to Stuttgart.

The quest to achieve world class manufacturing could be seen by what workers did to improve the plant layout and condition at the Jefferson Avenue North assembly plant in Detroit.

And sharing 50 percent of costs savings with suppliers ought to help rebuild supplier relations in a hurry. Sounds like the good, old days of SCORE, doesn't it?

-------------------

No cameras allowed at a media event?

Updated 12:20 a.m.: When you tune in the 11:00 news tonight, don't expect to see too much inside-the-tent video coverage of today's presentations. The TV cameras were all tossed out of the meeting before it started.

You could tell when the VIPs walked in because the TV lights clustered around the entrance came on. Once the dealers, suppliers, analysts and politicians were seated, Sergio Marchionne came in. The TV cameras were allowed to get about five minutes of Marchionne coming into the room, wearing his famous black sweater with his hair stylishly tousled.

Then the TV cameras were ejected, the doors closed and the meeting began, only about five minutes behind schedule.

The VIP footage is good stuff for the TV cameras but not nearly enough to make their reporters and producers happy.

Back in the media center to which the TV cameras were banished, there were a lot of loud, unhappy TV people.

"They were told at the beginning that it would be like that," said one of my sources in Chrysler's communications operations. "Hey, originally we weren't going to let them in at all."

So much for the uplinks, eh?

-------------------

A little different this time

Updated 10:52 a.m.: It seems like only a couple of years ago that I was here in Auburn Hills when a new Chrysler was unveiled.

Oh, wait, it was just a couple of years ago.

To be precise, it was Aug. 6, 2007, a day that will live in infamy. That was the day Bob Nardelli of Cerberus appeared and began to roll out his vision for Chrysler.

This time there are dealers here, since seems like a good sign, especially if it means buy-in from dealers who need to move the iron. It seems well planned that they were invited.

Spotted among the retailers were some big dealers, including Mike Jackson, CEO of AuoNation, and Sid DeBoer, CEO of Lithia.

Yeah, two years ago the crowd was a lot smaller.

And there wasn't any espresso.

-------------------

Early signs at Chrysler event

The day-long unveiling of the Chrysler 2010-2014 business plan doesn't get under way until 11:00 a.m. local time, but U.S. and European media types started arriving several hours early. The day is designed to show the unity between Fiat and Chrysler, although the signs of dissent were present.

On the bus ride in from the parking lot I saw a small plane pulling a sign that read "Fiat/Chrysler Bailout Bandit."

There are other signs of Fiat's European presence. The refreshment areas all have espresso and cappuccino. And there are ashtrays scattered about.

Better yet, I ran into a local high-class caterer who told me lunch will be something special because Fiat has brought in authentic food from Italy.

This could be OK. Especially if they serve a nice crisp pinot grigio.