Dieter Zetsche gives advice to Sergio Marchionne

Posted: Monday 16 November 2009 by Alison

Zetsche_Marchionne

According to reports, Daimler head Dieter Zetsche has been advising Sergio Marchionne on what to do with the Chrysler brand and how to handle the Fiat-Chrysler merger. Known also as having destroyed the Chrysler brand, at least to Americans, the guys at Autoblog.com are telling Marchionne to do exactly the opposite of whatever Zetsche is telling him.

We think Marchionne is probably safe, as we don’t see him as the kind of guy up for advice from someone who was the head of a company that went disastrously bankrupt. We’ve reported on some of the reservations regarding the new Fiat-Chrysler relationship, but frankly, things are looking better than what they did when it was Daimler-Chrysler “merger of equals” time.

Zetsche has apparently happened upon the fact that the US market likes big cars, and that Fiat has only promised smaller cars and fuel efficient technology. We had thought of this too, along with many others in the business (it doesn’t take a former CEO to figure that out, after all) but we’re feeling quite positive about future Lancia-Chrysler sedan designs, as the Lancia Thesis renderings indicate.

In addition, we should see a nice new SUV developed and while Fiat will be bringing the Fiat 500 to the US, it’s expected to cash in on a fascination for cute retro models, than be any kind of revolutionary Fiat flag-bearer. The decision to suspend the Chrysler brand in Europe for a while is probably a good thing, particularly as there’s plenty of competition among the German brands in the sedan sector and there’s no point in shooting yourself in the foot from the start.

Fiat and Chrysler have plenty of work to do on the local US market before rushing head-long into new designs and reinventing the wheel on US or European soil. It’s been said that Marchionne and Fiat have a lot to learn about the US car market, and while we’re not denying that, the first steps seem to have been in the right direction. And besides, could they screw up any worse than Daimler….?

Source | USA Today via Autoblog.com