By Robert Farago
March 13, 2008 - 1,515 Views

1956368-lg.jpgThe autopblogosphere is abuzz with Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli's memo to his employees, ordering the entire company to take a two-week vacation on July 7. Nardelli said he was putting 19k white collar and 52,500 hourly workers on simultaneous furlough to "create better alignment and efficiency across organizational lines and boost productivity." Huh? While most analysts take Nardelli at his word, and a company-wide summer break is an industry norm, rumors are circulating that Chrysler is going to file for bankruptcy while its workforce is off-site. Chrysler's market share losses and cash conflagration has continued (if not escalated) unabated since Cerberus bought the ailing automaker from [what was then] DaimlerChrysler. Chrysler workers' summer "vacation" could well be permanent.