The red flag signals the bid battle among Chrysler Group's potential purchasers. And the challenge is for them to satisfy. In order to put up a good fight, Chrysler's suitors have sought considerable help from top executives in the auto industry.
Bernhard and Rewey, former top auto officials in the industry, will help the Cerberus Capital Management compete with potential bidders for Chrysler. Cerberus has managed to come up with an all-star team of former auto executives spearheaded by Wolfgang Bernhard to boosts its efforts to purchase the ailing automaker.
"Private equity needs experienced people in the industry to help understand the challenges," noted Colin Blaydon, the director of the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
With Bernhard on the steering wheel, Cerberus is expected to gear up for a heated battle with competitor Blackstone Group which is a private-equity giant. In the race to acquire Chrysler, Cerberus wanted to take advantage of the best it has hence it made Bernhard the adviser and tapped Robert Rewey, former Ford Motor Co. executive to aid in its bid for the troubled American division of DaimlerChrysler AG.
According to the people familiar to the situation, Bernhard, Chrysler's former chief operating officer, met with Cerberus officials this week to decide on the strategy for the potential sale of Chrysler.
Cerberus is competing with Blackstone and Centerbridge Partners, a new private-equity firm that include former ace auto analyst Stephen Girsky as its top executive. According to people familiar to the situation, other potential bidders for Chrysler include the General Motors Corp. and Canadian auto supplier Magna International.
The Chrysler Group was essentially put up for sale 14 February when DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche said the German automaker was exploring "all options" for its American unit. The unit has three brands - Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. The most problematic brand among the three is Chrysler. The rest of the brands are doing pretty well.
Dodge and Jeep are trying different strategies to win over customers. As a fact, it entertained online adventures and films as well as other advertising strategies to boost sales. The brands are also famous for being flexible. Add-ons like the could be used to dress the vehicles.
The sources also said that DaimlerChrysler is expecting to receive formal bids for Chrysler by the end of March. Teams from Cerberus and the Blackstone and Centerbridge group visited Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills earlier this month. Representatives from the two companies have also met with Daimler's officials in Stuttgart, Germany.
