DaimlerChrysler to Replace Schrempp; Reports Higher Profit

aimlerChrysler AG said chief executive officer Juergen Schrempp, whose 1998 takeover of Chrysler Corp. wiped out half of the company's market value, will step down Dec. 31, more than two years before his contract was to have expired, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.

Dieter Zetsche, who helped return the Chrysler division to profitability, will succeed Schrempp, DaimlerChrysler said in a statement Thursday.

The Stuttgart, Germany, automaker also said its second-quarter profit rose 28%, citing surging heavy-truck sales as well as a lower tax rate, Bloomberg reported.

DaimlerChrysler has been buffeted by crises at Chrysler, the truck division and most recently at Mercedes Car Group, after Schrempp created the world's fifth-largest carmaker with Daimler-Benz AG's $36 billion purchase of Chrysler in 1998, Bloomberg said.

Shareholders have been calling for Schrempp to resign since the company posted a loss in 2001 following a reorganization of Chrysler, Bloomberg reported.