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.

....

0 comments

Lancia-Chrysler CEO Olivier Francois has talked of the new Lancia Thema and the direction the Italian brand is going, in an interview with German magazine Handelsblatt. It’s an interesting mix to have a French CEO heading a new Italian-American merger where the Italian brand has just borrowed heavily from its US cousin to update its fading range.

Francois is bullish about the new Thema. He says: “Whoever drives the new Thema will understand that it’s the best of the E segment. Lancia competition in Europe and America per Chrysler will be Audi, BMW and Lexus.” So just how much hope is being invested in the new Thema and are we talking Chrylser, Lancia or both?

On hearing this declaration on the new possibilities that Lancia will compete in the luxury field, there will be more than one raised eyebrow. It’s where Lancia has always wanted to play, but where of late, it has missed the mark. Francois explains his reasoning thus: “If our cars have excellent quality, performance and technology, and are less expensive than the competition, why shouldn’t customers take them into consideration?”

Continue reading: Olivier Francois: Lancia to compete with BMW, Audi through 300C/Thema

....

1 comment