DaimlerChrysler AG named Andreas Renschler, president of its Smart car unit, to lead a team of managers being sent to restore profit at the automaker's Japanese affiliate Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
The team will start work with Mitsubishi Motors, 37 percent owned by the German company, later this week, Japan's fourth-largest automaker said in a faxed statement. The company denied media reports that DaimlerChrysler will pull out of the holding.
Mitsubishi Motors, which makes Galant cars, is preparing a plan to return to profit after widening its loss forecast last week. DaimlerChrysler CEO Juergen Schrempp said he will use the plan to decide whether to provide additional capital.
"Mitsubishi needs improvement and Renschler knows the company through working with them on the Smart project," said Albrecht Denninghoff, an analyst at HVB Group in Munich. "It's a good idea to send him."
Mitsubishi Motors widened its loss forecast for the year ending March 31 to 72 billion yen ($664 million) from 11 billion yen, partly because its U.S. sales slumped while Honda Motor Co.'s and Toyota Motor Corp.'s rose.
Mitsubishi Motors' sales fell by 26 percent last year in the United States, its biggest market, after the company restricted loans as the percentage of customers defaulting rose.
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