Biz people: Zetsche to face tough meeting

DaimlerChrysler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche (right) will probably face pressure today from investors seeking progress on the sale of the unprofitable US Chrysler division.

Zetsche, hailed at last year's meeting for increasing sales at Chrysler, will meet shareholders in Berlin in what may be the last annual meeting of the combined company. Zetsche said on February 14 that "all options are on the table" for Chrysler, after the unit ended 2006 with a loss of $1.5 billion.

Juergen Schrempp, Zetsche's predecessor, purchased Chrysler nine years ago for $36 billion in an attempt to bring together Mercedes-Benz luxury sedans and Dodge pickup trucks. Analysts say Chrysler is now valued at about $6 billion because the unit lost market share to Toyota Motor Corp's more fuel-efficient vehicles. Blackstone Group LP and Centerbridge Capital Partners LLC plan to bid for Chrysler, people familiar with the talks said on March 30.

"We've said right from the very beginning that two very different car manufacturers like Mercedes and Chrysler don't fit together," said Juergen Graesslin, head of the Critical Shareholders of DaimlerChrysler Association.

(China Daily 04/04/2007 page16)