Deputy CEO Press will reportedly leave Chrysler
— -- Jim Press, Chrysler Group deputy CEO and the last senior executive from the company's pre-bankruptcy leadership, will leave the automaker before the end of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Chrysler would not confirm his departure.
"We do not comment on rumors and speculations," said Chrysler spokesman Gualberto Ranieri.
When Chrysler completed its 41-day bankruptcy restructuring on June 10, Press' title changed from vice chairman and president to deputy chief executive officer and special adviser. One person familiar with Chrysler's new structure said Press' new role may have been designed as a transitional role.
Cerberus Capital Management, controlling investors in the pre-bankruptcy Chrysler, surprised industry observers in September 2007 when they lured Press away from Toyota, where he was president and chief operating officer of the Japanese automaker's North American operations.
In Auburn Hills, Press was caught in a bind. Chrysler had too many trucks and SUVs and not enough competitive cars, just as gas prices soared and the economy weakened. He pressured dealers to take more vehicles than they could sell.
Eventually, Chrysler asked Congress and the Bush administration for financial assistance, which led to the government-backed bankruptcy sale. Press' main role in that bankruptcy sale was to terminate 789, or 25%, of its U.S. dealerships. While the company defended the move as necessary to give the surviving 2,400 dealers a better chance to succeed, it led to hard feelings and the closing of many dealers who thought they had exceeded the company's sales and customer service goals.
More recently, Chrysler has contacted some of the dealers it terminated and asked if they would like to compete for one of 140 new locations it wants to open over the next two years.
Several dealers contacted by the Free Press said they were not told that Press is leaving.
Italy's Fiat acquired operational control of Chrysler when it emerged from bankruptcy in June.
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