DaimlerChrysler's Zetsche: Average American Joes Don't Want to Pay Much for Technology

DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche, for whom the company's multi-million dollar publicity machine conjured up "Dr. Z," acknowledged today that company officials had misjudged Chrysler car owners' technology demands. Prior to the merger mess and today's announcement that the company would sell Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management, company officials thought Chrysler could use Mercedes' high-end influence. They were wrong, Zetsche said today during a press conference:

We mis-estimated the impact [Mercedes] could have on the brands of Chrysler. The American volume customer is not willing, and is probably not able to, pay significant premium prices for technology offered in those cars. And accordingly, we could not develop the incremental amount of brand equity we had hoped for at that time.