Mercedes And Consumers Can Still Ask Dr. Z

According to

,Daimler

is back in the fast lane despite a harsh dose of reality from Dr. Zetsche. Barron's reports that back in 2006 when Chrysler and Mercedes were still in a committed relationship, the "Ask Dr. Z" commercials began to appear on television as an ad campaign featuring CEO Dieter Zetsche. In these commercials, the "doctor" had all the answers as to how Chrysler would benefit from the marriage between the luxury German automaker and the former member of Detroit's Big 3, and since then, Dr. Z has had to come up with plenty more answers, most of which he answers correctly. Barron's writes "Zetsche orchestrated the costly break with Chrysler, which Daimler had acquired in 1998 under his predecessor, Jürgen Schrempp. By 2007, when he sold 80% of Chrysler to Cerberus Capital, the U.S. company had become a millstone. Ultimately, the Germans, who had paid more than $36 billion for Chrysler in 1998, received basically nothing for the American car maker—which later went bankrupt, was bailed out by Uncle Sam and is now managed by Italy's Fiat." Barron's goes on to say that "Zetsche also steered Daimler safely through the global auto depression that began in late 2008, as high fuel prices, the financial crisis and the sickly U.S. and European economies slammed car and truck sales." Daimler's stock has also rebounded somewhat since the divorce, currently reporting in the mid-60s, 25% higher then at the start of 2010, but the significant earnings gain still doesn't measure up to arch-rival BMW

which reports much more forward price/earnings ratios. Some remain bullish on Daimler, but at least we can look forward to the fruits of Daimler's partnership with Tesla Motors

for which Mercedes plans to offer an electric A-class with an 82-mile range.