All-
I have just recently taken an internship for DaimlerChrysler at their Washington, D.C. office, the main focus of the office is Lobbying, however they do dabble in other parts of the business.

I will try to answer any questions, as I have direct access to the daily DaimlerChrysler Newsletter along with the ability to pick at the minds of some of the top executives here.

The standard company car here is the new E500, while one of the workers has a new S600 (Yes, 2003) as a company car. He cannot stop talking about it, so I will hopefully be getting a ride in it soon enough.

I believe Jurgen Schrempp ( DaimlerChrylser Chairman of the Board) will be coming into the office in the next week or so and I may be able to meet him.

If anyone has any questions they have answered, Ill do my best. Im still working on trying to get an E55 as my company car

 

Congrats on your influential and cushy position, filled with potential perks.

Here is an easy one:

CNBC just announced 5 minutes ago, that for MAY, GMs sales figures were in the + column, however

Daimler-Chrysler's 2003 May sales slumped over a year ago by 3%.

Question:

What measures do you and DC's CEO Juergen S. intend to implement, in order to turn this downward trend around?

FYI

In the just concluded "JD Powers initial quality survey", INFINITY moes UP to # 3 and MERCEDES drops to # 15 - low mediocre quality.

And CHEVY beats MERCEDES in initial quality!!

Summary:
1.Lexus
2.Cadillac
3.Infiniti
4.Acura

7.Porsche
8.BMW
9.Toyota
10.Jaguar

11.Honda
12.Volvo
13.Chevy
14.Audi
15.Mercedes-Benz

...and so did HONDA and 14 other car manufacturers.

What gives? Too many workers from Albania in the Stuttgart assembly plants?

 

Karl-
Thanks, in terms of increasing sales, that has not yet been discussed today. In our staff meeting this morning with Auburn Hills (DaimlerChrysler main headquarters) the sales numbers had yet to be released, Hopefully tomorrow I may have some more info. on the potential remedies for the situation. In addition to the plethora of Chrylser incentives, MB has just introduced the Mercedes Benz Summer Event...which may (and hopefully) will increase sales. In terms of quality, I cant say anything in regards to that, except that its a damn shame. Ill try to see if anything comes up tomorrow in a meeting about the slumping sales.

 

Karl-
In addition, I was just looking at the DaimlerChrysler Times that we get here in the office and it seems as if this merger has turned out to be more and more of a worse thing.

DaimlerChrysler does not consider MB and Chrysler to be seperate, but rather one company. In the paper, it states that "Chrysler Group closes gap on industry leaders", meaning that it is considering both Chrylser and MB's quality, not each one seperately. The article continues by saying that " Chrysler Group vehicles earned a 3 percent gain in quality for 2003, while overall industry quality fell flat and key Japanese competitors dropped signifcantly, according to a leading independent vehicle quality research firm." Referring to JD Power.

Its a shame....

 

K Street Huh???

Ill be waiting on an E55 for Christmas...but Im not counting on it.

 

Thanks Lowell -

Keep the fires burning on K Street.

Before you know it, Christmas will be here and an E-55 might await you as an over-sized stocking stuffer!

PS:

CNBC just announced, that PORSCHE sales increased by 30%!!

...mainly due to its introduction of the new SUV:

The Cayenne...made in Leipzig - Eastern Germany!!

 

Karl-
I read about that as well...I guess we know that you sit infront of the TV all day, huh?

 

Whaaa??? You get an E55 as an intern?? Where do I sign up?

Hey, when you see Jurgen, ask him why my goddamn ESP/ABS warning lights keep going off. Thanks.

 

Another question for Lowell:

What do DC's strategic partners -

1. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, and

2. Hyundai Motor Company

contribute to the MB automobile parts percentile.

Which specific parts do these corporations supply?

http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/index_e.htm

 

RBrenton88-
No, I wish...thats what Im hoping for.

Karl-
I will check tomorrow on that, I was actually doing some reading about it but can't really remember exactly what the contributing factors were. I believe part of it in the Mitsubishi deal was acquiring Mitsubishi Fuso (diesel engines) since MB has been making break through's such as CDI (Common Rail Direct Injection). Ill try to get more details on Mitsubishi and Hyundai tomorrow for you.

Did you know that DaimlerChrysler also holds a large share of Airbus (airplane manufacturers)?

 

Prior to the MB-Chrysler merger, MB had a profitable aerospace division, which over time became unprofitable, reduced and I believe almost eliminated.

The 3 points of the MB star logo represent land, air and sea.

At the corporate DC website, I do not see any products related to the sea, unless they manufacture hovercrafts?

 

Karl-
I do not know of anything directly relating to sea, however DC does own Detroit Diesel which makes many marine engines, that may somehow coorelate into the sea part. Im going to check on the Hyundai and Mitsubishi thing this morning...

 

Congrats to you!

 

Karl-
In terms of Hyundai, they have teamed up with DaimlerChrysler to build Truck engines. They have broken ground on a truck engine plant in South Korea which will produce engines for medium-duty trucks and buses. Its known as Daimler Hyundai Truck. As far as Mitsubishi...Im still trying to find some info. on that.

 

Turbo2

dude i suggest you contact your employer asap about what you can and cant post on here, while general stuff like what the symbol means are fine, posting info from conversations, meetings, employee newsletters, company info etc are in general a big no-no and can get you fired and possible legal trouble

i doubt you have crossed the line yet but just warning you

 

DC is a public company and as such, welcomes and is responsive to the public'sconcerns and inquiries, as a matter of policy and under the sunshine laws.

Strategic planning is not done in the lobbying offices in Wash., DC. and company proprietary info is not available to interns, as common sense would dictate.

Turbo2 - charge!! ... the E55 is out there.

 

Well said

 

RJC-
I agree, well said Karl,...your my new lawyer, just so you know!

 

companys have trained pr ppl for just those reasons. As i said if your employer is fine with it thats cool but in general information given to an employee is not for the general public

i can see you arent trying to abuse your position or do anything wrong, just trying to help others, just thought id warn you

 

DC owns: take a look at Http://www.globalauto.org/dc.htm for a list of what DC owns.

DC is the #1 commercial truck builder in the world (Volvo is #2).
DC owns: Freightliner, Sterling, WesternStar, Orion Bus, Thomas Bus, Setra Bus, MTU diesel engines (used in ships, stationary powerplants, etc), 37% of Mitsubishi Auto, 10% of Hyundai/Kia, Detroit Diesel, Gem electric, etc. The list goes on and on.

Mitsubishi: Here's what is currently going on. Rolf Eckrodt from MB is now in Japan and in charge. They have slashed almost half of Mitsubishi's auto lineup (mostly stuff sold only in Japan). Platform sharing is going on automotive-wise between Smart/Mitsu/Chrysler/MB at a pace for the future that will scare you (if you're not into parts sharing). The Smart forfour is the same platform as the NEW Mitsu Colt (see Mitsu's Japan website for info). Mitsu's 'project america' platform (04 Galant & Endeavor) is in the process of lending parts of itself to future Dodge models(next gen Neon, Stratus, etc.). Global Engine Alliance is a four cylinder powerplant, originally engineering by Hyundai, this will be used as the basis for four cylinders used in: Mitsubishi, MB!, Dodge, Jeep, Hyundai, Kia. Each division will have its own unique tuning, cam profile, etc. but the core engineering will be shared.

The Mercedes Vario (the BIG HD van in europe) is being dropped and the Mitsubishi Canter is being sold in its place.

The next gen Mclass is based on the next gen Grand Cherokee.

There are rumors of the next gen Aclass using parts from the next gen Mitsu Lancer/Dodge Neon, particularly AWD components. (this one is unconfirmed)

A 'catalog' of existing parts has been put together (Chrysler execs are in charge of global purchasing of the ENTIRE DC empire) to make cross-pollination easier, quicker, and to speed up the design process.

This forum doesn't tend to bring out a lot of the news & rumors of whats brewing behind the scenes. A good source for info on that topic runs (with lots of opinions!) at the "news & rumours" forum at http://www.allpar.com .

An analysis of the 'merger' (with some input from me--not all of the opinions though) is posted at : http://www.allpar.com/ed/2003/future-of-chrysler.html

 

Dminick- Thanks for the info. I really don't like the idea of the next generation M-class being based on the Grand Cherokee I just hope no parts from the Mitsubishi and Hyundai parts bin find their way into the CLK, E, S, CLE, CL, G, and SL!

Turbo2- In terms of MB future models (next 5 or 6 years) are there any discussions on that you hear? If so, are there any details you can share that wouldn't get you into trouble? Thanks!

DOMINIC

 

Dominic-
I dont hear too much about that since Im in the lobbying office.