Daimlerchrysler Merger

Strategic purchases in the latter market have further solidified DaimlerChrysler's advantages. The German engineering facilities produce top-notch designs, which can be used throughout the organization. The many modern factories can be quickly modified, via assembly modules, to adapt to changes in manufacturing designs, while the older plants can be closed to reduce overcapacity and cut production costs. The American body design studios can be utilized to produce across-the- board designs, and strategic alliances with MMC and Hyundai should allow rapid penetration in the Asian market. The potential synergies, if realized, should allow increased production efficiencies while reducing costs. New product lead-time could be diminished substantially, allowing an advantage over the competition, while incorporating Daimler-Benz's engineering facilities with Chrysler should increase Chrysler's perceived quality without sacrificing Mercedes-Benz's brand image. DaimlerChrysler will prosper in this very competitive industry, if it explores all potential comparative and strategic advantages to minimize costs while sharing its core competencies throughout the organization to increase market share and brand recognition. .
             The economic situation remains very difficult and therefore DaimlerChrysler must still assume that uncertainty among consumers and investors will continue for some time. Against this backdrop, in full-year 2003, Mercedes Car Group should match its strong results of 2002 in terms of unit sales, revenues and earnings. Given the difficult market conditions Chrysler Group must intensify its efforts to realize additional cost savings. However, during the last few weeks the market environment in the US has become even more challenging. Thus it will be difficult to achieve projected operating profit target of $2 billion before restructuring expenses. For the Commercial Vehicles division, DaimlerChrysler should benefit from the significant restructuring costs incurred in past years with a positive effect in 2003, leading to better earnings than in 2002.