Closing case 1. What was the planned strategy at Daimler-Benz for Chrysler in 1998? Emphasize bold design, better product quality, and higher productivity by sharing designs and parts between the two companies. 2. In retrospect, Daimler-Benz’s Plans for Chrysler seem overly optimistic. What decision-making errors might Daimler-Benz have made in its evaluation of Chrysler? How might those errors have been avoided? The company’s core offered pickup trucks, SUVs and minivans that provided products for a time of low gas prices and then the Germans discovered that Chrysler’s factories were in worse shape, and Chrysler is a mass market manufacture and it take years to redesign Chrysler cars and Daimler’s engineers and manager were not enthusiastic about helping Chrysler. Those errors could been avoid if Daimler-Benz’s had researched more about the company and the country. 3. What opportunities and threats was Chrysler facing in 2005 and 2006? What were Chrysler’s strengths and weaknesses? Did its product strategy make sense, given these? Made good money, gained market, the jeep brand was being refocused and struck a deal with the United Auto Workers, Ford and General Motors were in an aggressive price war and Chrysler was forced to match prices or lose market share. And no its product strategy has no make sense. 4. Why did Chrysler get its forecasts for product sales and earnings so badly wrong in 2006? What does this teach you about the nature of planning? Because they did not study the market and the needs of the people, only compared with competitors, and this teach me that is really important study each environment and be changing my strategic plan. 5. What must Chrysler do now if it is to regain its footing in this industry? He must study the needs of the people, the financial environment, and create more affordable cars for people and changing its strategic plan once in a
