Out of The Oil Pan . . . Iacocca's copilot takes wing

As vice chairman of Chrysler, Gerald Greenwald, 54, was considered the crown prince who would succeed Lee Iacocca as head of Detroit's No. 3 auto company. A quietly self-assured master of finance, Greenwald helped save Chrysler from bankruptcy in the 1970s by cutting production costs and lining up Government financing. But Greenwald stunned Detroit last week with his decision to quit the troubled automaker in order to lead the proposed $4.4 billion employee buyout of UAL, the parent company of United Air Lines.

Greenwald denied the widespread industry rumor that his decision was influenced by the apparent reluctance of Iacocca, 65, to retire anytime soon. The Chrysler chairman seems determined to stay at the helm until he pulls off another comeback for the company, which is suffering from weak sales and profits. Greenwald is the third top Chrysler executive to leave in the past month, following Michael Hammes, 48, the head of international operations, and Frederick Zuckerman, 55, the corporate treasurer. The exodus has prompted suspicion of an internal dispute over Chrysler's strategy, most notably whether the automaker should seek a merger with a European or Japanese rival.

With Greenwald's departure, Chrysler insiders began focusing on two dissimilar executives as Iacocca's apparent heirs. Robert Miller, 48, a financial expert with little exposure to product development, was promoted to vice chairman, and will handle most of Greenwald's duties. Robert Lutz, 58, a former fighter pilot who is president of Chrysler's automaking operations, will have expanded responsibility for quality and productivity.

Greenwald's first task in his new post at UAL will be to persuade skeptical lenders to support the buyout, which has an Aug. 9 deadline. If the buyout succeeds, Greenwald will become UAL chairman, replacing current boss Stephen Wolf. Wall Street, for its part, remains chary of the deal. UAL's stock closed at $159 last week, far below the proposed $201-a-share takeover price.