实话实说：车界老兵点评六大CEO

罗伯特•伊顿

1993至1998年任克莱斯勒CEO

    卢茨说：“他是一个魅力和能力都不错的领导，但是在‘对等合并’中在计谋上惨败给了狡猾的德国人。”

卢茨的打分：229

    鲍伯•伊顿被招进克莱斯勒当李•艾柯卡的接班人之前，他还是通用汽车的欧洲区负责人。鲍伯是个有经验、有礼貌、讲话得体、懂业务的人。由于在通用的几十年里看惯了业务的一片大好和蒸蒸日上，养成了他成熟、冷静、自信的风度。我们很好地分担了各自的职责。我们的产品很受欢迎，而且我们也保证了多数功劳都被算在鲍伯头上。他的聪明才智告诉他要学会适可而止，不要插手他认为凭自己的力气很难改进的事。

    1998年，戴姆勒-奔驰（Daimler-Benz）与克莱斯勒合并后，戴姆勒的CEO尤根•施伦普来到奥本山，他和鲍伯一起制订了一份一开始被称为“对等合并”的计划。施伦普是个威风凛凛的高个大汉，声音宏亮，鲍伯•伊顿有点矮胖，脸上有些皱纹，外表低调。可以这么说，施伦普就像站在鲍伯身边的一个傲慢的巨人。很显然这次合并绝对不会使双方变成一家联营企业。不久后鲍伯就离职了，据称拿到了2.5亿美元左右的遣散费。

    克莱斯勒的命运很快走上了下坡路。鲍伯•伊顿成了过街老鼠。他是导致克莱斯勒半死不活的总设计师，是轻易就被老经世故的施伦普骗了的笨蛋。但是在这些针对伊顿的中伤中，很多人忘了一点，那就是他已经做到了私人企业系统希望一个CEO能做到的事：他运营了一家优秀的公司，使它成了一个值得并购的合作伙伴，而且把它与一个更大的公司进行了合并，在这个过程中为克莱斯勒的股东创造了巨大的财富。鲍伯•伊顿的声誉受损是不公平的。

Robert Eaton

CEO Chrysler 1993-98

    Lutz says: "A gentle leader of modest charisma and command presence, he was badly outmaneuvered by the wily Germans in the ill-fated 'merger of equals.'"

Lutz grade: 229

    When Bob Eaton was recruited to succeed Iacocca, he was head of GM Europe. Bob was experienced, polite, well-spoken, and knew the business. He showed the mature, calm confidence and self-assured manner that had been honed in decades of facing upward and looking good at GM. We had a good sharing of responsibilities. The products were hits, and we made sure that Bob Eaton got most of the credit. Bob's considerable intelligence told him to leave well enough alone and not try to insert himself or his authority into something he realized he could hardly improve.

    After Daimler-Benz and Chrysler merged in 1998, Daimler's Jürgen Schrempp came to Auburn Hills, and he and Bob sketched out the beginnings of what was to be heralded as a "merger of equals." A tall man with a powerful, commanding physique and a stentorian voice, Schrempp was, to put it mildly, a brash giant next to Bob Eaton's small, slightly rumpled, slightly pudgy, and generally low-key appearance. It was pretty clear that this was not going to be a jointly run company, and Bob soon departed, richer by a reported roughly $250 million.

    The fortunes of Chrysler soon went south. Bob Eaton became a pariah, the architect of Chrysler's semi-demise, the gullible fool who had been tricked by the worldly J. Schrempp. What got lost in all the vilification of Eaton was that he had done what the private enterprise system expects of its CEOs: He ran a great company, made it a desirable partner, and merged it into a larger company, in the process creating enormous wealth for Chrysler's shareholders. Bob Eaton had his reputation unfairly tarnished.