PEOPLE : Bidwell Joins Exodus of Chrysler Officials

Outspoken Chrysler Corp. executive Bennett Bidwell ended months of speculation about his early retirement and joined the executives leaving the No. 3 auto maker Monday.

The departure of the company’s most colorful executive next to Chairman Lee A. Iacocca was the fourth announced in the past six weeks. Bidwell is chairman of Chrysler Motors, in charge of car- and truck-making operations.

“It’s time to put all this speculation to rest and let the media go back to covering some of the other important stories of our day such as perestroika, democracy in Eastern Europe and the search for a cure to AIDS,” Bidwell said.

The resignation is effective Jan. 1. Chrysler spokesman Tom Houston said it was too soon to name Bidwell’s successor.

Chrysler has lost to resignations its vice chairman, Gerald Greenwald, and vice president for international operations, Michael Hammes. Treasurer Frederick Zuckerman has said he plans to leave this summer.

Greenwald left Chrysler on May 30 to head a union bid to buy UAL Corp. for $4.54 billion, and Hammes left earlier to head Black & Decker’s tool-making operation.

Because of those departures and Bidwell’s expected early retirement at age 63, Iacocca said late last week that he would stay on past Dec. 8, 1991, when his four-year contract was to expire.

Bidwell reportedly had sought a reduction in his workload but because of problems at the auto maker didn’t get it.

“I’m in reasonably good health,” Bidwell said, “but it’s time to decelerate a little.”

He held out the possibility that he would stick around past the end of the year “if the environment were to change significantly and I were really needed.”