daimler chrysler

I went to Stuttgart, Germany this past week to visit some relatives.
Stuttgart is the home of Mercedes-Benz and I believe Porche has a
factory there also. It seems Mercedes-Benz has some serious management
and financial problems at this time. My cousin is a program manager
for one of their sections and was telling me some things that are
unbelievable.

Their management is afraid to make any difficult decisions so they
don't do anything at all. They freely admit competitors like Lexus and
have already bypassed them in technology and quality; the only way they
can catch up to them is if Lexus slips back to them. They believe it
will take at least 10 years to restructure in a way that will make them
profitable again. For the past several years only their Chrysler and
truck divisions have been profitable. They are starting to turn
towards the Chrysler business model to gain back their customers and
reputation. The Germans are saying the best quality luxury German
vehicle right now is Audi.

Sure sounds like they are heading in the same direction as General
Motors. This is rather sad considering Mercedes-Benz used to be the
standard that all other automobiles were compared to.

Back in th late 70's, when Mercedes was "the" luxury car, a doctor friend
told me there were 2 great days in the life of a doctor. First is the day
he gets his first Mercedes. THe second is the day he trades it in.

Even back then the reliability sucked. But there was no Lexus, Acura or
Infiniti.


"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:xn0ek2got56oinv003@news.readfreenews.net...[color=blue]
>I went to Stuttgart, Germany this past week to visit some relatives.
> Stuttgart is the home of Mercedes-Benz and I believe Porche has a
> factory there also. It seems Mercedes-Benz has some serious management
> and financial problems at this time. My cousin is a program manager
> for one of their sections and was telling me some things that are
> unbelievable.
>
> Their management is afraid to make any difficult decisions so they
> don't do anything at all. They freely admit competitors like Lexus and
> have already bypassed them in technology and quality; the only way they
> can catch up to them is if Lexus slips back to them. They believe it
> will take at least 10 years to restructure in a way that will make them
> profitable again. For the past several years only their Chrysler and
> truck divisions have been profitable. They are starting to turn
> towards the Chrysler business model to gain back their customers and
> reputation. The Germans are saying the best quality luxury German
> vehicle right now is Audi.
>
> Sure sounds like they are heading in the same direction as General
> Motors. This is rather sad considering Mercedes-Benz used to be the
> standard that all other automobiles were compared to.[/color]

Art, 3/23/2006,9:56:43 AM, wrote:
[color=blue]
> Back in th late 70's, when Mercedes was "the" luxury car, a doctor
> friend told me there were 2 great days in the life of a doctor.
> First is the day he gets his first Mercedes. THe second is the day
> he trades it in.[/color]

That's the same two days for a boat owner!
[color=blue]
> Even back then the reliability sucked. But there was no Lexus, Acura
> or Infiniti.[/color]

I don't know if the reliability of the 70s M-B was bad, but I know the
price of parts has always been outrageous. Reliability issues aside,
M-B has always been a leader in innovation and certainly reputation.
It's just sad to see their aura has declined because of poor management.

--
"The word 'genius' isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like
Norman Einstein." ~ Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports
analyst.