Merger over marriage
DaimlerChrysler co-chairman Jurgen Schrempp told a German newspaper that he separated from his wife of 35 years to devote all of his attention to merging Daimler-Benz AG and Chrysler Corp.
Schrempp said in Germany's Bild newspaper that he was faced with the choice of marriage or work. 'And I realized that the challenges of the job at hand were more important to me than anything else in the world,' Schrempp said. 'My wife is a great person but our goals for life kind of drifted apart. She wanted me to start slowing down. I wanted the merger with Chrysler. Quite simply, the point came when it was no longer possible to reconcile my work with her expectations.'
Schrempp said he and his estranged wife, Renate, had been living apart for the past year.
Tetra tempts Pischetsrieder
Bernd Pischetsrieder, the former chairman of BMW AG, has been named to the supervisory board of Swedish packaging giant Tetra Laval.
Pischetsrieder was ousted from his position at BMW in February following mounting losses at the company's Rover Group unit. Tetra Laval is based in Lund, Sweden, and is famous for its easy-opening cardboard milk cartons.
Rolls-Royce, Bentley find path to true happiness
Arriving in a brand-new, chauffeured Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph at the Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars Ltd. factory in Crewe, England, a passenger is greeted by the sound of crunching gravel.
Indeed, the drive-up area in front of the factory has been covered in gravel recently.
But this is not just any gravel. Rolls-Royce and Bentley hired a gravel consultant to make sure the stones in front of the factory made just the proper crunchy sound, said Richard Charlesworth, head of public affairs for Rolls-Royce and Bentley.
The factory plays host to many car-buying customers every year, Charlesworth said. Rolls-Royce and Bentley wanted them to feel right at home - almost as though they were motoring right up the driveway, to their country estates.
