DETROIT – Sounds like a disaster at Chrysler. In a stunning development, Peter Fong, who had just been named as CEO of the Chrysler brand, and Mike Acavitti, who had just been named as CEO of the Dodge brand have both abruptly resigned from the company.
Now Fred Diaz will become CEO of the Dodge Ram brand, and Ralph Gilles will become CEO of Dodge passenger cars, and will still be in charge of Chrysler’s design department. Olivier Francois, who will also continue to run the Lancia brand, will also become head of the Chrysler brand. This news just broke and we’ll have more details Tuesday.
The Financial Times reports that an investment consortium in the United States is leading a bid to buy Volvo. Up to now, Chinese automaker Geely was the only known bidder. The American bidders, called the Crown consortium includes Michael Dingman, a former director on Ford’s board, and Sham Rushwin, a former manufacturing executive at Ford.
A report in the Globe and Mail out of Toronto says that Ford’s CAW workers represent its highest labor costs in the world. They are about $16 an hour higher than Ford’s plants in the US, thanks to concessions at the American plants and due to the weakening of the American dollar. The CAW says it will not agree to concessions until Ford makes commitments to keep Canadian jobs. Ford says it will not make those commitments until it gets concessions.
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