Chat Transcript: Author Bill Vlasic and Bradley Stertz
July 24 -- From the outset, Daimler-Benz’s $36 billion buyout of Chrysler, one of America’s Big Three automakers, was a battle of epic proportion and enormous global importance. With vivid descriptions and meticulous reporting, Taken for a Ride: How Daimler-Benz Drove off with Chrysler tells the full story — with in-the-boardroom intimacy.
Authors Bill Vlasic and Bradley Stertz joined us today for an online chat to discuss Chrysler and the U.S. auto industry.
Moderator at 2:57pm ET
Welcome to the ABCNews.com chat with authors Bill Vlasic and Bradley Stertz. Let's begin.
Interested Investor at 2:58pm ET
What response/reaction has your book received by now from the corporate suits in Stuttgart? Are the Germans as unconcerned about American popular opinion as they appear to be?
Bill Vlasic at 2:59pm ET
First of all, no one at Daimler Chrysler has challenged any of the events of accuracy of the book. That being said, I don't believe the Germans are that concerned with perception of a takeover by Americans. They clearly are in charge, they clearly won, if you well and I believe they like to win. So, I don't believe the book has caused them to lose any sleep. However, as Daimler Chrysler faces rocky times, I do believe they are feeling some heat in how the merger has fared to this point.
Bradley Stertz at 3:01pm ET
I think they are concerned that the level of American investors has plummeted. That also conflicts a bit with their sense that they are definitely in command in calling the shots. So those are two contradictory signals that they have to contend with. That's partly why you see their effort to take over floors in the Chrysler building; just for symbolic image reasons among other arguments for doing that.
Todd Kewley at 3:02pm ET
Some press reports immediately after the merger made Bob Eaton out to be naive and something of a "patsy" in his dealings with Daimler. How much of that perception, in your view, is accurate?
Bill Vlasic at 3:03pm ET
Some readers of our book think the title "Taken For A Ride" refers to Bob Eaton being taken advantage of by Jurgen Schrempp. We believe that Eaton was convinced this was a good deal during the negotiations. Our sources tell us that afterwards he didn't realize he had given up the store to Daimler just to get the deal done. If that makes him naive in some people's minds, I think that could be considered accurate.
Bradley Stertz at 3:06pm ET
One of the things that was pretty clear in our research was that the Germans and Jurgen Schrempp were far more prepared in how they wanted to accomplish this goal and actually had a well thought out game plan, if you will, that exceeded anything the Americans had time to think about. The other difference is that Schrempp had a loyal team around him strategizing the details of the offer to Chrysler. But Eaton was almost a solitary figure in many ways who noodled through some of this stuff by himself or with a couple of advisors, so he didn't have this backup. He was working alone in many ways.
Jerry from proxy.aol.com at 3:06pm ET
What's the future of Jeep in the Daimler-Chrysler situation?
Bill Vlasic at 3:08pm ET
Jeep is definitely one of the crown jewels of the former Chrysler Corporation and has kind of lagged behind Ford and General Motors in bringing out exciting new sport utilities. I don't think you can blame that on the Daimler acquisition yet. But, the Jeep continues to lag, and of course the Japanese and European automakers are building lots of new sport utilities. If Jeep continues to lag behind its competitors in new sport utilities that will pose serious problems down the road for Daimler Chrysler.
Bradley Stertz at 3:09pm ET
It's pretty clear that the Germans appreciated the cash that Jeep created and the image of the brand, so I'm sure they're not interested in seeing that wither too much.
Chris at 3:09pm ET
It seems to me that Chrysler was really getting on it feet during the late '90s. The freshness and uniqueness of their model lineup seemed to be inspiring... has this deteriorated since the MB acquisition?
Bill Vlasic at 3:11pm ET
Several of the key executives led Chrysler's comeback in the 1990's either left the company just prior to the merger or have left since Daimler bought Chrysler. You can't even measure how much that has hurt the company from the American side. The champions of Chrysler's product comeback, with one or two exceptions, left. The PT cruiser, which is a hot new product, is really a product of the team that was in place before the merger. The real question is can Chrysler continue to bring out fresh cars and trucks without the executives that led it in its comeback.
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