Vines resigns; Keyser Söze of Private Equity strikes again
From the article: “A former stand-up comedian with a flare for showmanship, Mr. Vines clashed with a more tight-lipped approach to media relations advocated by Mr. Nardelli and Cerberus, they said. He had been pushing Mr. Nardelli and Vice Chairman Jim Press, who was recruited from Toyota Motor Corp., to speak to the media about Chrysler’s turnaround efforts, but Mr. Nardelli opposed him, they said.”
A picture of Cerberus’ Chairman hasn’t been released to the public in 4 years, and Vines wants the leadership to talk about the turnaround. Cerberus Capital Management founder and CEO Feinberg was recently featured in Businessweek’s Most Important People in Business 2007. Here is the photo they chose of Feinberg.
Top Chrysler Spokesman Quits
Amid Differences With CEO - wsj.com
December 10th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/with-spokesmans-departure-is-chrysler-preparing-to-hush-up/?referer=sphere_related_content
Here’s a link to the NY Times coverage of the Jason Vines resignation.
December 10th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I was never a fan of Jason Vines and I’m not sorry to see him go.
The guy couldn’t keep his mouth shut and had a habit of making comments about issues that he lacked knowledge. He definitely was no friend to Chrysler dealers
I believe that we are witnessing a blood letting at Chrysler, if you can’t justify your position in the company then see you later.
Chrysler is making the tough calls, cutting production, cutting product and getting rid of dead beats.
If they could just work on their dealer relations I’d be happy
December 11th, 2007 at 6:51 am
What with the cut back they need to build a CAR that people want. Someone put the pressure on them to build the Nassau or the EcoVoyager..
December 11th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Chrysler has enough pressure Shannon!
They (Jim Press) are going to build cars that the current dealer body can sell and that people want—unfortunately that takes time.
Check back in 24 months.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:38 am
From a dealer’s perspective this is a non-issue.
It’s Nardelli’s game—not Feinberg’s. He has other coals to worry about than just Chrysler LLC. Obviously Feinberg’s indiscreet style of management has served him well and he should not change to please Jason Vines or anyone else.
Nardelli should be able to pick and work with the people that he wants to work with.
December 12th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
The latests Auto Extremist rants on Vines, who in the end just isn’t mission-critical, IMHO. But buried down near the bottom is this little bomb.
“I’ve been hearing for weeks now about how Cerberus management is basically horrified at the monumental scope of Chrysler’s problems and the sheer difficulties associated with the auto industry itself. This is like nothing they’ve ever encountered before, and for the first time they’re worried. Seriously worried. The usual “we got this nailed” high-fiving that Cerberus is so used to with their other deals is nowhere to be found in Auburn Hills, I can assure you. As we said recently, it’s more like the case of the car-chasing dog who finally catches the car and then doesn’t have the first clue as to what to do next.”
Rut-roh.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Cerberus knew of Chrysler’s horrific problems very clearly before the deal—they have been surprised at the down-turn since they took over.
They are making a ton of positive changes. It will take 3-5 years to turn the tides around.
Stay patient–and keep tuned!