AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Ex-Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca says the struggling automaker will survive its current woes, just as it did when he helped save it from bankruptcy in the early 1980s.
Iacocca spoke Thursday at an employee rally at the company's Auburn Hills headquarters.
Current Chairman Bob Nardelli took the stage with the 83-year-old Iacocca, calling him "a great American" to the cheers of onlooking employees on three levels surrounding the building's atrium.
Iacocca became chairman in 1979 and helped the automaker stave off bankruptcy during a severe auto downturn, retiring in 1992. But he clashed with company management in 1995, backing billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's hostile takeover bid.
Chrysler Corp. merged into DaimlerChrysler AG in 1998, before private buyers relaunched it as Chrysler LLC in 2007.
