1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140 
* Spanish affair
Page 84
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
If you follow the international scene you may know that Don Eduardo Barreiros and his three brothers recently resigned from the board of the vehicle-building company which bears their name. Now my contact in Spain has sent me the local version of why they went, and it seems to centre on disagreement with spreading American influence in the company.
Chrysler Corporation first bought into the Barreiros concern in 1963, with a 40 per cent holding for around $20m. In 1967 they stepped this up to 77 per cent (did someone breathe "Rootes"?) and I'm told that from this moment relations became increasingly strained, until the break came. The Barreiros brothers sold their shares to a Spanish bank, which offered them for purchase by other local interests, since Chrysler don't want 100 per cent control.
Don Eduardo, explaining his departure, was quoted as saying: "American companies fail to use the human values that there are in each country. It is impossible to give the same treatment to a company in Spain or elsewhere that is given to a company in the USA. Mentalities and customs are entirely different and although North American methods are good, they must be adapted to the different countries to work as they should.
Now the Spaniards are speculating on whether the man who built Barreiros from a tiny company to a group with over 13,000 employees will have another go on his own, in the vehicle world again.