P.M. BRIEFING : Buy Stock, Chrysler Execs Told

Chrysler Corp. Chairman Lee Iacocca today urged nearly 100 top company managers to buy Chrysler stock in order to give them more of a direct personal stake in the auto maker’s fortunes.

Chrysler spokesman Tom Houston said the executives were being asked to spend up to a “certain percentage” of their salary on shares in the No. 3 auto maker. He declined to name that percentage.

Automotive News, a trade publication, called the program unprecedented in the auto industry.

“The theory essentially is that, as a matter of company policy, you like to have top people in the company have an even more vested interest in the performance of the company and its future,” Houston said.

While the move follows a significant drop in the value of Chrysler stock--37% from its 52-week high according to Automotive News--Houston insisted that the two developments are not connected.