Above all, Schrempp wants to convince investors that DaimlerChrysler, which makes 80 percent of its profit by selling cars and trucks, isn't wedded to the economic past. Next fall, Schrempp says, he'll unveil an e-commerce strategy that could take the automaker into new service businesses such as selling life insurance directly to Chrysler or Mercedes customers. That included the 1996 bankruptcy of Dutch airplane maker Fokker Aviation, which he had convinced Daimler-Benz to buy. Some are starting to do just that. Yet Dornier-Tiefenthaler, a longtime Schrempp critic whose family is suing DaimlerChrysler over its management of Dornier, is an exception.
Most shareholders are willing to wait and see.
Bischoff didn't think it was a good idea. But in came a dynamic, decisive young man who knew what he wanted. He made very persuasive arguments. I found him open and engaging. In less than an hour, Bischoff approved the capital increase.