DaimlerChrysler chief Dieter Zetsche said "changes have to happen" at EADS, and the automaker is in "tough discussions" with the aerospace giant's other main shareholders about how to resolve the crisis "as fast as possible." In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Europe published June 28, Zetsche however declined to say if the company, which holds 22.4% of EADS, is demanding changes to EADS's management.
"We don't want to build further obstacles to an agreement" with EADS's French shareholders, but "if we are not successful, we might have to go public about where we stand" on the matter, he said.
EADS has been hit by a management crisis after a profit warning wiped 25% off the value of its shares three months after senior executives including co-chief executive Noel Forgeard cashed in stock options. Forgeard is now under intense pressure to resign.
French Industry Minister Francois Loos said June 27 that the division of responsibility between German and French managers at the head of European aerospace company EADS caused complications for the company. But a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel had said June 26 that Berlin saw "no reason" to question the group's Franco-German management structure, saying it was prepared to confront the current "challenges
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
