With typical hyperbolic flair, Donald Trump has told reporters this summer about how major corporations were clamoring to be part of "The Apprentice's" second season.

That is, in fact, true: Procter & Gamble, Pepsi and Mattel will be major presences on the NBC series in 2004-05. One of the show's initial sponsors, though, has in effect said "You're fired" to Trump and Co.

Automaker DaimlerChrysler, which was a primary sponsor of the unscripted show last spring -- one of its cars was included in winner Bill Rancic's prize package -- has dropped its sponsorship of "The Apprentice." As with a lot of things in business, it came down to money

"You would have hoped that given the fact that we were the founding sponsor ... that would count for something," Joe Eberhardt, head of sales and marketing for Chrysler, tells the Detroit News. "But they were asking for way too much money."

Chrysler will still run ads during the show, which premieres Thursday, Sept. 9. Procter & Gamble and Mattel, which executive producer Mark Burnett says will figure prominently in the season premiere, are likely to be the show's major sponsors.