Fiat Begins the Chrysler Shakeup
After months of wrangling, a deal has been reached for Fiat to acquire Chrysler. A brief delay from Justice Ruth Ginsberg of the Supreme Court was overcome, with Chrysler proceeding to exit bankruptcy as soon as next week.
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is already beginning his own restructure of the Chrysler Group. The Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge divisions will now operate separately and have a president/CEO to assume responsibility. Chrysler’s Jim Press will now report directly to Marchionne on all corporate matters. Sales guru Steve Landry and head engineer Frank Klegon have been fired.
The key names emerging from this change are Peter L. Fong, Michael Manley, and Mike Accavitti. Fong will oversee the Chrysler division; he previously handled Ford operations in Philadelphia before leaving to handle Chrysler Mid-Atlantic sales. Manley, now president for Jeep, manages US sales and global product planning. Mike Accavitti will be chief exec for Dodge after a history with its motorsports branch.
In the meantime, Marchionne is deciding whether or not to cut the Lancia and Chrysler nameplates. It’s likely Lancia will be retired, but Chrysler’s still-sizeable minivan share, coming 300 update, and well-received 200C concept (pictured above) are giving the brand a better shot at survival.
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Now that Fiat is in with Chyrsler I wonder how that will translate to the Jeep brand.For years, those of us who are into Jeeps (wranglers) have been asking for a diesel option only to have it offered in a liberty which is not worth a damn off road.The question of a clean diesel for the wrangler should not pose a problem either since the technology is plentiful,and readily available and is an option on several VW’s for sale in this country as we speak.It never ceases to amaze me how very little the “big 3″ actually listens to what their own customers want.Having said that,it looks like Mahindra will be bringing out a lineup of small diesel pickups,and later a diesel compact suv.Hmmmm,wonder what I’ll be buying next since jeep ignores us.