Juergen Schrempp still at the wheel as chief executive of DaimlerChrysler

DaimlerChrysler shares fell 2.45% on Friday following the confirmation that the board backed Mr Schrempp.

Only last week he decided not to offer financial aid for its troubled Japanese partner Mitsubishi.

"The Mitsubishi decision matters more to us than Schrempp stepping back", said one big institutional investor.

Last week, news that DaimlerChrysler would pull the plug on a multi billion dollar bail-out plan sparked rumours that DaimlerChrysler would sell its stake in Mitsubishi Motors.

Shortly afterwards, chief executive, Rolf Eckrodt, on secondment from DaimlerChrysler to Mitsubishi, resigned.

Battered plans

The episode highlighted some of the weaknesses in Mr Schrempp's ambitions to build a successful global car empire.

It has always been a subject of debate whether the Daimler Benz and Chrysler marriage was a wise decision.

DaimlerChrysler was famously sued for $9bn in December 2000 by its third largest shareholder who claimed investors were misled during the 1998 merger which created it.

DaimlerChrysler denies falsely describing a takeover as a merger to save on payouts to shareholders.

Eastern difficulties

Investing in Mitsubishi Motors - Japan's only lossmaking car maker - took DaimlerChrysler another step further into troubled territory.

The Mitsubishi Group has appointed a new head and is working out a 250 billion yen ($2.3bn) plan to help its subsidiary which is sinking under huge losses and debt.