Ex-Home Depot chief Nardelli to head Chrysler

DETROIT -- Chrysler began its new life as a private company on Monday with auto-industry outsider Bob Nardelli taking the wheel.

Nardelli, who left Home Depot in January after a shareholder rebellion over his pay, was named to head the company, replacing Tom LaSorda, who is taking the No. 2 slot.

"What I bring is a fresh set of eyes," Nardelli said at a press conference. "A new perspective, if you will. As I've indicated, I am not from the automotive industry, so it's important to know what you know and to know what you don't know."

Nardelli and LaSorda shared a handshake and posed for pictures during a celebratory event at Chrysler's headquarters in Auburn Hills.

"We'll move forward with speed and a renewed focus on meeting the needs of our customers," Nardelli said.

"We are excited to welcome Bob to the Chrysler family," LaSorda said in a statement. "Bob has a proven track record of success and an unwavering focus on performance."

"I've heard about him, I've read about him, he's kind of a legend," LaSorda said at the press conference. "You can read about him all over the place. He's a winner."

Some wondered what effect Nardelli's hiring would have on ongoing contract talks with the United Auto Workers, but Nardelli was quick to point out Monday that union President Ron Gettelfinger already has been contacted about the executive shake-up at Chrysler.

LaSorda had been widely expected to stay on as Chrysler's CEO through negotiations on replacing a four-year deal on wages and benefits for UAW-represented workers that expires on Sept. 14.

Nardelli said he and LaSorda spent two hours with Gettelfinger and "had a great exchange with one another."

LaSorda, Chrysler LLC's newly named president and vice chairman, still will be at the forefront of "what could be a landmark negotiating period" not only for Chrysler, but for the auto industry, Nardelli said.

Chrysler also said Monday that following a nine-year hiatus, the Pentastar is coming back as the corporate mark for the company. First used as a logo in 1962, the five-pointed star is returning with a three-dimensional update. The symbol will be used on buildings, signs and corporate stationery.

The move comes just days after private equity firm Cerberus took over the automaker. Cerberus Chairman John Snow had said last month that LaSorda would remain CEO of the ailing automaker.

The company also said Chief Operating Officer Eric Ridenour has elected to leave Chrysler.

On Friday, Cerberus closed its $7.4-billion acquisition of an 80.1% stake in Chrysler, and the shake-up showed the speed at which the private equity firm was moving to remake the loss-making automaker.

In Nardelli, Chrysler is getting a former senior General Electric executive, who was both credited with overhauling purchasing and technology systems at Home Depot and widely criticized for pay and severance packages seen as excessive.

Nardelli received a severance package valued at $210 million, including a $20 million cash payment, when he left Home Depot in January.

He has agreed to take the senior post at Chrysler for a $1 per year salary, with further compensation tied to the success of the automaker's turnaround, the Associated Press reported, citing a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the news had not been officially announced.

The details of the remainder of Nardelli's compensation package at Chrysler were not immediately available.

Chrysler lost $680 million last year and has said it will remain unprofitable until 2008 as it restructures by cutting 13,000 job cuts and closing an assembly plant dedicated to the slow-selling Dodge Durango sport-utility vehicle.

Cerberus had offered Wolfgang Bernhard the position of non-executive chairman of Chrysler, but the veteran Chrysler executive who advised the private equity fund during the acquisition process was unable to accept that role for personal reasons, the person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.

Under Cerberus, many observers and Chrysler executives had expected Bernhard to end up in a senior role at the newly private automaker.

Nardelli joins a small set of auto company leaders who have not risen through the ranks of the industry.

Most recently, Alan Mulally joined Ford Motor f as CEO last fall, succeeding Bill Ford, the executive chairman to whom he now reports. Mulally was a Boeing ba engineer and executive, and was credited with helping turn that company around. At Ford, he has cut costs and worked on creating teamwork and a more disciplined culture — surprising Wall Street last month with a profitable second quarter after Ford lost $12.6 billion last year.