Chicago – There’s one name that should perhaps be at the top of the potential suitor list for Chrysler Group: Lee Iacocca.
What better person to run the company than the man who saved it in the past?
“If I had the money I’d buy it, but I’m too old, and, besides – been there, done that,” said Iacocca, 82, when reached by phone Thursday at his home in California.
Though it’s debatable whether his pockets are deep enough to acquire the automaker, which is valued at roughly $13 billion, there’s no question Iacocca did rescue it from bankruptcy in 1980 by obtaining federal loan guarantees and labor concessions.
Despite Chrysler’s recent troubles, Iacocca says he’s a bit puzzled over talk by parent DaimlerChrysler of selling it.
But he’s sure someone will snap it up.
“It definitely will be sold. I just don’t know to whom – Blackstone, Cerberus or the guys from Canada (supplier Magna International).”
While not supporting any one bid and choosing not to talk about Kirk Kerkorian’s most recent offer for the company, Iacocca notes that Magna “is a hell of a company, with 82,000 workers, $25 billion in revenue and our biggest customer, with 25 to 30 percent of our business, plus it runs our plant in Graz, Austria,” which builds minivans and PT Cruisers for the European market.
