Nardelli: Where Chrysler Went Wrong

Chrysler chief executive Bob Nardelli, who used to run Home Depot and knows a thing or two about bubbles, just succinctly summed up what Chrysler did wrong over the past decade, as the housing bubble allowed homeowners to take out home equity loans and spend the money on big toys:

"We were responding to the customer who wanted bigger, more expansive, higher horsepower [vehicles] to go with their second homes, their boats, their trailers. We chased that demand and lesson learned for us. Our portfolio today is much more balanced," he said.

Essentially what Nardelli said, in psychological terms: We were an enabling bartender, telling the drunks at our bar to have another round.

-- Frank Ahrens

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