Hmmm… The prognosticating skills of Robert Nardelli are now evident during his coming out speech as head of Chrysler and they are not looking too sharp. For a couple of years as Nardelli was leading the home repair company Home Depot he worked hard at convincing the stockholders that a housing slowdown would not materially affect earnings for the home improvement warehouse. All the while he was granting himself huge bonuses at these same stockholders expense.

Now that he has migrated over to Chrysler the same person is warning that the housing slowdown is going to hurt earnings at the car manufacturer. If I was a betting man I do not think that I would follow what ol’ Robert Nardelli is preaching. My guess, he got his deal with Chrysler and is doing all he can to lower expectations and using all the cards in his deck. Then, when things turn around for the ailing automaker, he will claim victory.

But I can not imagine the housing market being the anchor that drags sales at Chrysler. It could be because the cars they make do not capture the imagination of the public, unlike how they looked during their heyday.

As the former head of Home Depot, the home improvement retailer, Mr. Nardelli said, he can see a connection between housing woes and the automobile market. He said Chrysler was trying to anticipate what might await the industry, whose sales this year are expected to be the worst since 1998.
“There is a direct coupling there,” Mr. Nardelli said in a speech to the Automotive Press Association, “and some negative spill from housing into the auto industry.” via the New York Times

Related posts:

1. Lowe’s and Home Depot Struggle in Tough Real Estate Market
2. Housing Market Shows Stronger June Sales
3. Lowes See Home Improvement Market Improving In Hard Hit Areas
4. Why The Chrysler and GM Deals Will Raise Mortgage Rates
5. Is There Hope For Housing Sales in the Numbers?