Another daring move at Chrysler
New order: LaSorda to build vehicles; Press to sell them
September 7, 2007
BY TIM HIGGINS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
In a move that shocked the auto industry, Jim Press, Toyota Motor Corp.'s North American president, on Thursday was named president and vice chairman of Chrysler LLC -- titles he will share with onetime Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Tom LaSorda.
It is the second time in the past month that Chrysler, under new ownership, has lured a senior executive from Toyota. The Japanese company has sold more cars in the United States this year than Ford Motor Co. and is on its way to surpassing General Motors Corp. as the world's biggest automaker.
Once called Toyota's secret weapon, Press was most often the American face of the world's most profitable automaker: the man who unveiled the Tundra pickup in Detroit (and stuck a hybrid tag on it), and the one who calmed the storm after a sexual harassment incident rocked the New York headquarters.
"I relish this new opportunity with the Chrysler team to be a part of the resurgence of a true American icon here and around the world," Press said in a statement.
Under the new arrangement, LaSorda will basically be responsible for building the vehicles and Press will be responsible for selling them.
"Our top team now consists of a world-class 'supply' leader in Tom and an equally world-class 'demand' leader in Jim," Chrysler Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Nardelli said in a statement.
Delphi Corp. Executive Chairman Steve Miller, a former Chrysler Corp. vice chairman, was among those who praised the move.
"I am impressed with Press. I think he's one hell of a good, strong executive, and I think it's a great coup for Nardelli and Chrysler," Miller said.
Analysts said Chrysler is moving stunningly fast.
"Cerberus is obviously deploying the tactic of using 'shock and awe' to make a statement about where they want to take Chrysler," Dennis DesRosiers, industry analyst with DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc., said in a note.
Press, 60, spent 37 years at Toyota, most recently as the president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, the holding company responsible for Toyota's North American sales, engineering and manufacturing units.
He was also the first non-Japanese executive to serve on the board of directors, which is a management board, not a U.S.-style shareholder board.
Press' career blossomed along with the success of Toyota. He is beloved by dealers and considered a car guy who knows winning products.
But in his new role at Chrysler, he will face issues that he has not had at Toyota for a long time, if ever -- high incentives, stagnating sales and poor scores on major quality studies.
"Jim's got a tremendous amount of sales background, and Chrysler sorely needed to build a better relationship with its dealer network," Michelle Krebs, senior editor for Edmunds' AutoObserver.com, said in a note Thursday.
"But the problem is still with their products, and we'll see if these moves will help bring Chrysler back to profitability."
Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at J.D. Power and Associates, echoed those thoughts.
"From a PR standpoint, at a minimum, it's a huge step," Libby said. "I will say, though, that Toyota's success -- even though Mr. Press played a huge role in it -- Toyota's success has come from having very, very competitive products in the showroom, and Chrysler has to have that. And the products that are in the Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge showrooms are going to be the same today as they were yesterday."
Execs to share power, split duties
Nardelli and Chrysler's new owner, Cerberus Capital Management, are working quickly to remake the Auburn Hills automaker as a private company. Press' hiring comes one month into Cerberus' ownership. His final day at Toyota is to be Sept. 14. He will be replaced by Shigeru Hayakawa, Toyota Motor North America's executive vice president.
Press will hold the title of president and vice chairman and be responsible for all sales, marketing, product strategy, and service and parts around the world when he begins at Chrysler on Sept. 17. His compensation was not disclosed.
LaSorda was made president and vice chairman in August when Nardelli took the top job. He had been CEO and president since 2005. Now he will oversee manufacturing, procurement and supply, employee relations and global business development and alliances.
"I've known Jim for many years and know that he will hit the ground sprinting. I look forward to partnering with him," LaSorda said in a statement.
Both will report to Nardelli.
In a statement, Press said he looks forward to working with Chrysler dealers: "Part of my new responsibilities will be strengthening and energizing the dealer body. This is something I was passionate about at Toyota and will be passionate about at Chrysler."
Nardelli said Press' skills complement LaSorda's.
"Tom LaSorda and I are thrilled that one of the most successful executives in the history of the auto industry has joined our leadership team at the new Chrysler," Nardelli said in a statement.
Last month, Chrysler announced it had picked up another high-ranking Toyota exec -- Lexus marketing vice president Deborah Wahl Meyer. She now is Chrysler's chief marketing officer and vice president.
Working on change
Press comes to Chrysler at rocky time. The automaker's relationship with dealers came under stress last year after Chrysler came up with more than 100,000 vehicles in the company's so-called sales bank -- vehicles that no dealer had ordered -- then strong-armed dealers to buy the surplus cars and trucks.
Joe Eberhardt, Chrysler executive vice president of global sales, marketing and service, stepped down over the mess last winter.
LaSorda and his team have been working ever since to repair the company's relationship with its 3,700 dealers.
The company also is working to turn around its bottom-line results, after losing $680 million last year and nearly $2 billion in the first three months of this year. Former parent DaimlerChrysler AG said Chrysler lost money on operations in the second quarter, but as a private company, Chrysler no longer makes public its finances.
Chrysler, which has a truck-heavy lineup, is working to invest $3 billion into making more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Chrysler dealer Carl Galeana of Galeana Automotive Group in Warren welcomed the news about Press.
"He listens to people. There are not a lot of people in this business that really want to listen and hear what people have to say, especially dealers, but he is one of them," he said.
With all of the changes at Chrysler, Galeana said, "You just wonder what's next."
New order: LaSorda to build vehicles; Press to sell them
September 7, 2007
BY TIM HIGGINS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
In a move that shocked the auto industry, Jim Press, Toyota Motor Corp.'s North American president, on Thursday was named president and vice chairman of Chrysler LLC -- titles he will share with onetime Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Tom LaSorda.
It is the second time in the past month that Chrysler, under new ownership, has lured a senior executive from Toyota. The Japanese company has sold more cars in the United States this year than Ford Motor Co. and is on its way to surpassing General Motors Corp. as the world's biggest automaker.
Once called Toyota's secret weapon, Press was most often the American face of the world's most profitable automaker: the man who unveiled the Tundra pickup in Detroit (and stuck a hybrid tag on it), and the one who calmed the storm after a sexual harassment incident rocked the New York headquarters.
"I relish this new opportunity with the Chrysler team to be a part of the resurgence of a true American icon here and around the world," Press said in a statement.
Under the new arrangement, LaSorda will basically be responsible for building the vehicles and Press will be responsible for selling them.
"Our top team now consists of a world-class 'supply' leader in Tom and an equally world-class 'demand' leader in Jim," Chrysler Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Nardelli said in a statement.
Delphi Corp. Executive Chairman Steve Miller, a former Chrysler Corp. vice chairman, was among those who praised the move.
"I am impressed with Press. I think he's one hell of a good, strong executive, and I think it's a great coup for Nardelli and Chrysler," Miller said.
Analysts said Chrysler is moving stunningly fast.
"Cerberus is obviously deploying the tactic of using 'shock and awe' to make a statement about where they want to take Chrysler," Dennis DesRosiers, industry analyst with DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc., said in a note.
Press, 60, spent 37 years at Toyota, most recently as the president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, the holding company responsible for Toyota's North American sales, engineering and manufacturing units.
He was also the first non-Japanese executive to serve on the board of directors, which is a management board, not a U.S.-style shareholder board.
Press' career blossomed along with the success of Toyota. He is beloved by dealers and considered a car guy who knows winning products.
But in his new role at Chrysler, he will face issues that he has not had at Toyota for a long time, if ever -- high incentives, stagnating sales and poor scores on major quality studies.
"Jim's got a tremendous amount of sales background, and Chrysler sorely needed to build a better relationship with its dealer network," Michelle Krebs, senior editor for Edmunds' AutoObserver.com, said in a note Thursday.
"But the problem is still with their products, and we'll see if these moves will help bring Chrysler back to profitability."
Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at J.D. Power and Associates, echoed those thoughts.
"From a PR standpoint, at a minimum, it's a huge step," Libby said. "I will say, though, that Toyota's success -- even though Mr. Press played a huge role in it -- Toyota's success has come from having very, very competitive products in the showroom, and Chrysler has to have that. And the products that are in the Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge showrooms are going to be the same today as they were yesterday."
Execs to share power, split duties
Nardelli and Chrysler's new owner, Cerberus Capital Management, are working quickly to remake the Auburn Hills automaker as a private company. Press' hiring comes one month into Cerberus' ownership. His final day at Toyota is to be Sept. 14. He will be replaced by Shigeru Hayakawa, Toyota Motor North America's executive vice president.
Press will hold the title of president and vice chairman and be responsible for all sales, marketing, product strategy, and service and parts around the world when he begins at Chrysler on Sept. 17. His compensation was not disclosed.
LaSorda was made president and vice chairman in August when Nardelli took the top job. He had been CEO and president since 2005. Now he will oversee manufacturing, procurement and supply, employee relations and global business development and alliances.
"I've known Jim for many years and know that he will hit the ground sprinting. I look forward to partnering with him," LaSorda said in a statement.
Both will report to Nardelli.
In a statement, Press said he looks forward to working with Chrysler dealers: "Part of my new responsibilities will be strengthening and energizing the dealer body. This is something I was passionate about at Toyota and will be passionate about at Chrysler."
Nardelli said Press' skills complement LaSorda's.
"Tom LaSorda and I are thrilled that one of the most successful executives in the history of the auto industry has joined our leadership team at the new Chrysler," Nardelli said in a statement.
Last month, Chrysler announced it had picked up another high-ranking Toyota exec -- Lexus marketing vice president Deborah Wahl Meyer. She now is Chrysler's chief marketing officer and vice president.
Working on change
Press comes to Chrysler at rocky time. The automaker's relationship with dealers came under stress last year after Chrysler came up with more than 100,000 vehicles in the company's so-called sales bank -- vehicles that no dealer had ordered -- then strong-armed dealers to buy the surplus cars and trucks.
Joe Eberhardt, Chrysler executive vice president of global sales, marketing and service, stepped down over the mess last winter.
LaSorda and his team have been working ever since to repair the company's relationship with its 3,700 dealers.
The company also is working to turn around its bottom-line results, after losing $680 million last year and nearly $2 billion in the first three months of this year. Former parent DaimlerChrysler AG said Chrysler lost money on operations in the second quarter, but as a private company, Chrysler no longer makes public its finances.
Chrysler, which has a truck-heavy lineup, is working to invest $3 billion into making more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Chrysler dealer Carl Galeana of Galeana Automotive Group in Warren welcomed the news about Press.
"He listens to people. There are not a lot of people in this business that really want to listen and hear what people have to say, especially dealers, but he is one of them," he said.
With all of the changes at Chrysler, Galeana said, "You just wonder what's next."
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