The new managers of Chrysler have flipped to the first page of the private equity handbook: Slash costs. By any means necessary. Immediately.

In the first major overhaul since Cerberus Capital Management took control of the auto company in August, Chrysler has announced that it is cutting as many as 10,000 hourly jobs, or about a fifth of its unionized workforce. It is also eliminating about 1,000 salaried positions, or about 37 percent of its white-collar workforce.

Chrysler plans to eliminate shifts at five assembly plants in the United States and Canada and to reduce production at other plants.

The company will also drop four models through 2008, including the Dodge Magnum; the convertible version only of the Chrysler PT Cruiser; the Chrysler Pacifica; and the Chrysler Crossfire.

At the same time, Chrysler will add the Dodge Journey and the Dodge Challenger, as well as two new hybrid models: the Chrysler Aspen and the Dodge Durango.

"We have to move now to adjust the way our company looks and acts to reflect a smaller market," said Tom LaSorda, the president of Chrysler. "That means a cost base that is right-sized and an appropriate level of plant utilization."

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