The people at the top of Chrysler are more clever than some car company pundits may have given them credit for being.  Bob Nardelli may actually be the best thing that’s happened to the company in quite some time.

Let’s put aside the whole notion about how Chrysler is a “cherished American icon.”  The Liberty Bell is a cherished American icon.  The Statue of Liberty.  The Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington.  But not Chrysler, new, old, whatever.  Walter P. Chrysler’s toolbox is fairly iconic for those who are familiar with it.  But Chrysler Corp. is not.  The Chrysler Building in New York, yes.  Chrysler, no.

Let’s face it: Chrysler is a company that designs, engineers and builds stuff.  Stuff with wheels.  Some of those products are certainly revered by automotive enthusiasts.  Some of those products are used by people to commute every day.  Some of those products are the stuff of legend.  Most of those products are the stuff of transportation.

Let’s not get all patriotic about it.  (I had a grandfather who spent his entire career working there, so I am not being cavalierly dismissive here, but I’m not going to get misty eyed about the company.)  Chrysler is a company that has done good work and continues to do so.  Full stop.

Chrysler is a company that is in business to do one thing: Make money.  That’s the first rule in the auto business.  The second is: “See rule #1.”  Period.

Chrysler has long been known for its chops in design.  Somehow, these chops have been rather rare of late.  Since the introduction of the Chrysler 300--that would be the 2005 Chrysler 300—there haven’t been a whole lot of Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep products with significant road appeal.  Certainly, the new Challenger has the sauce, but that’s going to be a comparatively low-volume vehicle, not the sort of thing that is going to drive sales volumes to peak positions.

Then there’s Chrysler engineering.  It is easy to lose sight of the fact that Chrysler engineers have been doing yeo-persons’-like work over the past several years.  They’ve been overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities.  Alas, it seems as though some other people in the system (perhaps in Purchasing) haven’t followed through on the opportunities, so some of this work has been overshadowed by things like interior materials that are often more bargain than brilliant.

Manufacturing is a real strength at Chrysler.  Arguably when GM and Ford were still talking about production systems, Chrysler was executing and implementing its Chrysler Operating System.  Frank Ewasyshyn, who is presently executive vice president of Manufacturing, was there at the start of that flexible, cost-effective production initiative.  In the many years that I have known him, Ewasyshyn has always shown a depth of technical understanding and bias toward action instead of platitudes that is uncharacteristic of executives (it is interesting to note that he started at Chrysler in ’76 as a maintenance foreman, so he literally worked his way up on the strength of understanding and abilities).

Chrysler has more than 30 manufacturing facilities in North America—casting, stamping, tool making, assembly.

Which brings us to the possible point of brilliance and fulfillment of rule #1.

Recently, Chrysler announced that it will be producing a full-sized pickup for Nissan at its plant in Saltillo, Mexico.  To accommodate that production, Chrysler will need to shift some of its truck production north.  But the flexible plants should be able to accommodate that without a hitch.  Chrysler is first-rate at building trucks.  It’s not so hot in the small car category.  Nissan will provide it with a small car, which will undoubtedly make its dealers happy.  But undoubtedly, the real money in this is in the manufacturing part of the business—making those full-size trucks for Nissan.

Soon you’ll be seeing a VW minivan, the Routan.  It is being manufactured in Windsor, Ontario.  No, VW hasn’t slipped in a plant that you’re not aware of.  It is being built at the Windsor Assembly Plant—the Chrysler Windsor Assembly Plant, along side Grand Caravan and Town & Country models.  Once again, Chrysler manufacturing is getting it done.

Isn’t it possible that going forward Chrysler will become more of a true manufacturing company—a manufacturing company whose business is primarily producing products for other vehicle manufacturers?  In an environment where there is overcapacity, doesn’t it make more sense for vehicle manufacturers to turn to a specialist—like Chrysler—for producing products rather than plowing under greenfields or trying to refurbish brownfields?

Isn’t it possible that Bob Nardelli and the people at Cerberus see Chrysler as a great (North) American Manufacturing Company first and foremost?  Certainly, this doesn’t mean that the company would stop designing, engineering and producing its own cars and trucks.  But the assets and the understanding, the presses and the people, and all of the other aspects of Chrysler manufacturing—they’re the real things to be cherished and utilized in pursuit of Rule #1.