Chrysler's Nardelli: "We're in Good Shape"

Chrysler's Nardelli: "We're in Good Shape"

By Joseph Szczesny

In his first mingling with the masses after a couple of weeks on the job, Chrysler’s new CEO Bob Nardelli said the company has resources for its recovery plan without making capital spending cuts, and he gave his nod to Chrysler’s future product pipeline.

"We're in really good shape” in terms of funding, Nardelli said Thursday during an impromptu news conference outside Chrysler's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Nardelli was attending the 10th anniversary party for the Plymouth Prowler at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum. In the process of moving to Detroit, Nardelli brought his 2001 “Black Tie” Prowler that he had trucked in for the event.

Nardelli said the company has enough resources to implement its recovery plan without cuts in capital spending despite gyrations in the financial markets, which have made it much more difficult for private equity firms, such as Cerberus Capital Management, the automaker's brand-new owner, to borrow money.

"The debt market right now is under a little bit of stress and some of the deals that were in the pipeline are certainly being held up. We're very fortunate in having gotten this deal done on time and on schedule. Now we're focusing on looking forward,” Nardelli said.

Nardelli said he didn't foresee the need to cut capital spending. "[Cerberus] has done a wonderful job. They've got us the capital financing and the financing that we need.”

He said the New Chrysler’s job is flawless execution and focus on the fundamentals of the recovery and the transformation plan.

“I'll be spending a lot of time on the various work modules with the various members of the leadership team, looking at revenue. Certainly looking at what we need to do on quality," Nardelli said.  "Looking from an environmental standpoint where we're going with our products." 

Nardelli said Chrysler has “a great pipeline" of future products. “Looking at some of the future products we've got coming out it's just fantastic," Nardelli added.

Specifically, he said the launch of the new minivan this fall is very important.

Meanwhile, Nardelli obviously is making a point of trying to walk away from the image of the imperial CEO hung on him during his six years at Home Depot. He went out of his way to praise the employees since landing at Chrysler.

"There is an unbelievable level of energy as you walk the building and get to talk to employees," he said. "They just feel enthused and energized," he said.

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.