Here is the breakdown of the new Fiat-Chrysler management in a chart which shows the regional Chief Operating Officers and brand heads which will make up what is being desbribed as a new, integrated management team. With Fiat’s stake in Chrysler now at 53.5 percent, Sergio Marchionne has said the dating period is over and it’s now time to fully integrate the two.

The chart shows Marchionne himself as COO of North America, in addition to his CEO Fiat-Chrysler role. Gianni Coda will manage Europe, Africa and Middle East operations, Cledorvino Belini heads South American operations and Michael Manley will have the task of managing Fiat’s Asian business.

Brand CEOs include: Olivier Francois for Fiat, Saad Chehab for Lancia-Chrysler, Harald Wester for Alfa Romeo-Abarth-Maserati, Michael Manley for Jeep and Reid Bigland for Dodge. With Chrysler executives looking well part of the Fiat-Chrysler team and the US likely to be an operational centre in the future, Automotive News quotes Marchionne:

We have gone through a pretty long dating period here, over two years to get know the organizations and we’ve established all the right relationships between the two organizations to now implement an integration plan.

More will come as Fiat broadens its stake in Chrysler to about 58 percent by year end, and this will be very interesting alliance to watch in the automotive industry in the near future.

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According to rumours, the new design manager of Alfa Romeo could be Juan Manuel Diaz, who is the hand behind the new MiTo design and who is currently working in the Advanced Design Fiat department. The reports say that Diaz would have been in the position since Monday, substituting Christopher Reitz.

Diaz completed a design course at Italy’s IED institute and first worked for Renault. From there he completed a few months at Pininfarina, before moving to Alfa Romeo. The appointment could be the next step in the brand realignment taking place in Fiat, with Harald Wester now the head of a new kind of sports family, which includes Abarth, Maserati and Alfa Romeo.

Source | Argentina Autoblog via Autoblog.it

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The Alfa Romeo Mito gets a smooth new colour in “Maserati Blue Ocean” for the set of Mito courtesy cars to Maserati. 100 of the cars will be exclusively produced and the limited edition Alfa MiTo will be equipped with the 1.4-litre TB Multiair engine with 170 hp.

The interior gets a revision, too, with Frau leather seats, aluminium pedals, twin-zone air con, radio navigator unit, and Blue&Me system with USB. External features include bi-xenon lights, 18-inch wheels, rear sports spoiler and bumper and Dynamic Suspension electronic control.

The Alfa MiTo courtesy car project is the first product of the new brand integration plan of Alfa Romeo and Maserati, under the guidance of new manager, Harald Wester. The project follows the 500 units produced of the Fiat 500 “Rosso Corsa” edition as a courtesy car to Ferrari.

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