Nobody’s bowing to him as the second coming of Lee Iacocca. Not yet, anyway.

Nevertheless, industry insiders credit Chrysler Group president/CEO Dieter Zetsche for engineering the rebirth of an automobile producer that was gasping along on one cylinder and three flat tires not so long ago.

Zetsche recently dispensed the Chrysler gospel in front of one of the toughest rooms in Calgary, or anywhere else: The Spruce Meadows Round Table, a Davos-style business forum that annually attracts the tallest corporate foreheads in North America (and beyond) for discussions of economic trends and issues.

Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert, former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed, Alberta premier-in-waiting Jim Dinning, TD Financial Group CEO Ed Clark, and Globe and Mail publisher Philip Crawley joined a Supreme Court judge, the head of the CBC, ex- federal cabinet ministers and many of Western Canada’s senior energy moguls in lending an attentive ear to Zetsche’s spiel.

Larry MacDougal, Business Edge
CEO Dieter Zetsche described Chrysler Group’s North American turnaround during a recent forum.

He represents a flourishing new breed of undeniably attractive corporate communicators: Men and women whose personal dash and charm are equally as important as the credentials they’ve acquired en route to the Big Chair.

Zetsche, for example, is a well-seasoned and clearly competent career manager with a background in electrical and mechanical engineering. Yet he plays his forthright style and natural marketing skills like a concert virtuoso, whether he’s reassuring shareholders or connecting with the public at large.

When Snoop Doggy Dogg, the hip-hop star, ordered a new Chrysler 300 sedan this year, Zetsche was quick to pounce on a golden opportunity. He personally took care of the sale and made a point of turning up at a rap concert to meet his famous customer face to face.

(Rare for a charter member of the penthouse set, he often flashes a ground-floor sense of humour. Now 51, Zetsche was once asked whether he grew his bushy moustache to help him look older while still in his teens. Answer: “Yes . . .

and now it’s working.”) Three years ago, parent DaimlerChrysler sent Zetsche from Germany to the North American branch on an emergency rescue mission and positive results soon began appearing on the balance sheet.

Under the eye of the airlifted CEO, the North American division underwent radical surgery, dramatically attacking out-of-control costs while shedding thousands of employees in the process. As a result of leaner manufacturing strategies and improved production and design, the one-time money-loser has been able to record a profit in nine of the last 10 quarters.

In conjunction with his Calgary speech, Zetsche also confirmed a good-news proposal to add as many as 900 new (or restored) jobs to the Chrysler assembly plant in Brampton, Ont.

Yep, business is booming and vehicles produced exclusively in Brampton are a primary reason for the resurgence. Snoop Dogg’s aforementioned Chrysler 300, for example, offers a rare combination of affordable pricing with high-octane performance and design. The company moved almost 35,000 units to U.S. customers within three months of the unveiling.

While likening the North American automobile market to a “highly competitive global slugfest” between European, Japanese, Korean and North American manufacturers, Zetsche also predicted that the Chinese will soon leap, feet-first, into the dogpile.

Meanwhile, he added that Mercedes Benz, a DaimlerChrysler sister company, will soon return the favour by introducing new Chrysler models to Asian markets, China in particular.

But the thought of millions of Asian drivers tearing around in SUVs (emulating millions of North American drivers) must’ve struck a chord in one delegate’s imagination, particularly after two hours of talk about bigger market share, increased productivity, more cars, more pickups, more minivans and more sport wagons.

Given leave to pose one of the morning’s last questions, the delegate asked about emission controls, barely mentioned to that point.

Zetsche acknowledged the problem while stressing that a series of technological breakthroughs have already significantly reduced emission toxicity.

Meanwhile, he pointed out “that the automobile is the focus of this emission debate . . . even though there are many more sources (of CO2)” fouling the atmosphere.

Spoken as a coda to an upbeat speech, Zetsche’s words (to be fair, he was speaking off the cuff) fell flat.

Everyone’s in favour of healthy profit margins and prosperous times ahead for automotive workers. But we live at a time when such specialists as the British government’s chief scientific adviser believe climate change poses a more urgent problem than international terrorism.

A more heartfelt promise from the continent’s third-largest auto manufacturer to address dangers posed by CO2 emissions would have been most welcome.

(Tom Keyser can be reached at tomk@businessedge.ca)