Quality crucial to Chrysler recovery

Nardelli sends staff memo on mission

Cerberus Chairman John Snow

Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli

BY TIM HIGGINS • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Improving quality and working more closely with dealers will be key factors to Chrysler LLC's turnaround, Cerberus Capital Management Chairman John Snow said Monday.

"I know there's a deep commitment here to putting out better products," Snow said at the International Council of Sheet Metal Presswork Associations' International Congress in Grand Rapids.

Cerberus acquired majority control of Chrysler about a year ago.

In Auburn Hills, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli sent employees a memo about the company's mission, highlighting a "one-pager that expresses our strategic framework for future success."

"It starts with a vision -- to provide cars and trucks that customers will want to buy, will enjoy driving and will want to buy again. Chrysler veterans will recognize these words, because our vision -- or our purpose -- for the most part, does not change. Those 20 words capture the concepts of attracting, satisfying and keeping our customers with great products. That's why we're in business. That's what we come to work to do."

He added: "We also have a very important mission -- one that can be expressed in just three words -- return to profitability. It's a critical mission, because without sustainable profitability, we cannot fulfill our vision."