America is about passion. Its love for the automobile is without exception. In reality, it's one of the greatest industrial relationships ever imagined - between a country and one of its products. It's stood the test of time and endured. Today, let's just say America's passion for the automobile is rampant in the halls of one of America's icons - Chrysler!
Quite simply, our turnaround plan could aptly be referred to as "building on the strengths of an American Icon." This strength is in our exceptional American workforce.
Before getting into it, I'd like to just talk about the bigger picture. Our three brands -- Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep -- are as part of America as Baseball and Apple Pie. Chrysler is at its core American. That has always been and never will change!
On the whole, the automobile industry accounts for one out of 7 jobs in this country. For us, DaimlerChrysler's overall U.S. sales approach a figure close to 1% of U.S. GDP. Chrysler, not only employs some 100,000 people earning more than 7 billion dollars in annual wages, but also creates multiples of economic impact through our dealers and suppliers. Last year alone, for example, the Chrysler Group purchased more than $32 billion dollars' worth of components and supplies from more than 7,000 suppliers. That's really an impressive figure and its something that's continued in the ebb and flow of economic cycles. In cities large and small - from Detroit to St. Louis and Toledo to Belvidere, Illinois and Newark, Delaware - our company is not only a major employer, but also a leading corporate citizen.
Add in the fact that today's cars and trucks are also a big part of the social fabric of American society?.and, it becomes perfectly clear that America and the automobile go hand-in-hand.
So, in the context of America's relationship with the autos, our turnaround plan is built on the strength of a unique and passionate American workforce.
In November 2000, Juergen Schrempp, the Chairman of DaimlerChrysler, asked me to lead the Chrysler Group. At the time, Chrysler had taken a quick turn from high profits to red ink. When I arrived, I found many of the problems I had anticipated when a company bleeds red so quickly. Costs were out of line with reality, capital spending had become excessive and inefficient, along with other problems. However, what I did not expect to find was the core strength of the Chrysler Group - employees who truly have their hearts "in the game."