• The Detroit News , Friday, June 27, 2008 10:30 AM

Lee Iacocca -- largely credited for saving Chrysler from financial ruin in the early 1980s -- received a hero's welcome at an employee rally Thursday at Chrysler Technical Center. Current chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli invited Iacocca, 83, to review Chrysler's operations and to inspire employees who are battling again to resurrect the automaker amid tanking vehicle sales and rising gas prices.

Chrysler performs best in a crisis, according to Iacocca, who expressed his faith in management's ability to turn the company around. Iacocca dominated the conversation, taking about a half-hour to answer Nardelli's inquiry about his experiences when he first arrived at Chrysler in 1978. It was the first time the two had met.

In bringing the Chrysler icon back to headquarters, Nardelli showed that he's embracing Iacocca and his all-American mantra. Previous corporate regimes had tumultuous relationships with the former executive, who retired in 1992. Iacocca has returned as a pitchman in recent years, appearing with rapper Snoop Dogg in a TV commercial -- a stunt that Iacocca joked made him more recognizable than his tenure as an auto executive.

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