DaimlerChrysler on Monday said media reports that its chief executive, Juergen Schrempp, might have to resign were “nonsense”.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
According to Reuters, Daimler’s supervisory board, which is responsible for the group’s strategy including executive personnel decisions, is expected to meet in New York on Thursday.
During the meeting, the board will discuss Daimler’s Asian strategy and the future of the CEO, German weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported on Sunday, according to Reuters.
“That is nonsense. That is absolutely not a topic of discussion,” a DaimlerChrysler spokesman told the news agency on Monday.
Reuters said Daimler’s decision last week to cut off all financial support to troubled Japanese partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp is a tacit admission that Schrempp’s strategy of acquiring stakes in carmakers around the world has failed to pay off.
Pressure had already been mounting on Schrempp following news that his contract would be extended by three years exactly at a time when 37%-owned MMC was in danger of collapse, the report added.
Reuters said the acknowledgement that Mitsubishi wasn’t worth the billions of euros in aid needed to return it to health could mean Schrempp’s grand strategy of creating a “World Inc.” carmaker might be thrown overboard and Schrempp along with it.
Fund managers have united with shareholder rights groups to call for his head, the news agency noted.
On Friday, Schrempp was further broadsided by former Chrysler shareholder Kirk Kerkorian, who is suing Daimler for more than $US1 billion in damages, Reuters said.
According to the report, the Las Vegas casino owner called the Daimler “merger of equals” with Chrysler a fraud and accused the defendants of acting with “evil motive” by not portraying the deal as the de facto takeover it was.
Schrempp was the architect behind the merger with Chrysler and the acquisition of the stake in Mitsubishi, Reuters noted.
