DaimlerChrysler said today that it was leaving all options open for the future of its struggling Chrysler Group, which announced a plan to close all or part of four plants and eliminate 13,000 jobs in North America. The announcements came as DaimlerChrysler said it earned nearly $7.3 billion last year, despite a loss of nearly $1.5 billion for Chrysler. The Chrysler loss compared with a profit of just more than $2 billion in 2005. The restructuring plan marked a dramatic swing for a company that had seemed to avoid the same declines as its Detroit rivals. Chrysler said it would close its Newark, Del., assembly plant in 2009, as well as a parts distribution center in Cleveland.
See "Chrysler to Cut 13,000 Jobs in Overhaul", Micheline Maynard, The New York Times, February 13, 2007