Gekko

Quality Problems Leave DaimlerChrysler Chief Lost In Stuttgart

Date Posted 04-05-2005

Mercedes-Benz

STUTTGART, Germany — DaimlerChrysler chairman Jürgen Schrempp himself was a victim of his company's faulty navigation system; the one in his car got him lost — three times.

In an ironic twist, the system couldn't find its way round Stuttgart — the city where Mercedes is headquartered. Schrempp said the navigation system on his Mercedes kept telling him to turn around as he was driving. "I realized only after the third time that there was a problem," he said.

Schrempp told German magazine Der Spiegel the problems were caused by giving too much responsibility for product development to suppliers: "It was wrong to rely fully and completely on system suppliers who supply a complete navigation system or an engine management system and thereby to trust that these parts work when they are brought together in the car." Mercedes recently had to recall 1.3 million cars because of technical faults.

Schrempp could face an angry showdown with shareholders at the DaimlerChrysler annual meeting this week. Shareholders are upset about the Mercedes quality problems and could vote not to ratify management's actions in protest; effectively a vote of no confidence in Schrempp.

What this means to you: Be glad you weren't on the other end of that phone call from Schrempp's lost car. Furthermore, this admission comes from a man who doesn't often admit to mistakes — so he must know the bad navigation might soon be the least of his troubles.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=105280

EddieGTP

Regrettably, he doesn't have to worry about scheduling an appointment to get his car fixed, nor deal with a stealership, etc...

mleskovar

"Schrempp told German magazine Der Spiegel the problems were caused by giving too much responsibility for product development to suppliers"...sure blame the suppliers. It's a sure sign of a company not taking responsibility. MB's problem is they don't know how to deal with or treat suppliers. The Japanese know how but MB is too arrogant to learn anything from anyone else. NIH syndrome to the max. Hopefully they'll wake up and do some serious introspection before it's too late. It's a shame such fine driving cars are handicapped with inferior quality, reliability, and attention to detail.

BenzVince

This is the funniest i ever read, so much for German techology with those glitches.

chitownC55

I pity the poor guy who was on the receiving end of his phone call/meeting when he described the incident to his engineers in the navigation/command department. Major chewing out from the boss :p

Brunelleschi

oops :p

BiTurboBenz

My COMAND Navigation is horrible, I really miss my Lexus Navi - that was the best on the market! Oh well, it is still a Toyota.

RJ55AMG

I agree! I was once with a group of friends going to the Atlanta World Congress Center, a well-known convention center in Atlanta, and I told my friends to follow me since I had just purchased a new Navigation CD. This thing took me to the boonies and I ended up in the middle of a small street. The Navi wasn't worth it but it looks so damn cool!

Big Kahuna

Agreed, my CLS-500 demo had navigation which I programed with my home address. and the very first street was a wrong turn. Acuracy=0 Coolness=10

blaze1539

Oh well, I guess Benz should learn from Toyota.......
The E's nav is really a pos compared with Lexus.