History of Chrysler stake in the firm. Financial performance improved and Chrysler was generating a significant part of Daimler-Chrysler's profits from 2004 to 2005, as the other subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz, incurred costs for restructuring. By 2005, Chrysler was said to be the healthiest of the Detroit Three automakers (compared to General Motors and Ford Motor Company). As a result of Zetsche's apparent success in a turnaround of Chrysler, Juergen Schrempp, the CEO of parent company Daimler-Chrysler, was pressured to retire early. Zetsche was elevated to CEO of Daimler-Chrysler on January 1, 2006, and Thomas W. LaSorda became President and CEO of Chrysler Group. However,
Chrysler R platform Chrysler R platform The Chrysler R platform was introduced for the 1979 model year as an attempt to compete with General Motors' downsized standard line (introduced 1977) and the new Ford Panther series. It comprised six models and lasted just three years. As the middle of the 1970s approached, Chrysler was facing an increasingly worrisome organizational and financial situation due to a combination of internal and external factors. The company had suffered the embarrassment of releasing new, bulkier full-sized C-body models for 1974 which promptly flopped due to the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, and unable to fix the mounting difficulties