POLL: How will Jim Press affect the fortunes of Chrysler LLC?
Wow, we're still reeling a bit from this morning's news that Chrysler hired off Toyota North America's top executive, Jim Press. He now shares the title of Vice Chairman and President with Tom LaSorda, and the two will report directly to Chrysler's new CEO, Bob Nardelli. While LaSorda will handle the "Supply" side of things (Manufacturing, Procurement and Supply, Employee Relations and Global Business Development and Alliances), Press will handle "Demand" (North American Sales, International Sales, Global Marketing, Product Strategy, and Service).
Press spent the last 37 years of his professional career at Toyota. What makes a man leave a company with that type of history? What makes a man leave a company like Toyota at the height of its success, and join an automaker that's about to begin yet another turnaround? We don't know, but we bet it's more than just the allure of a good challenge.
The real question is how the addition of Jim Press will affect Chrysler. Will his hire be an instant positive for the company, or will his presence be a distraction for the management team. Then there's the conspiracist theory angle. Perhaps Toyota CEO Katsuaki Watanabe sent Press to Chrysler as a mole to learn why the Jeep Wrangler is so popular.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
naggs 12:32PM (9/06/2007)
where is the choice for
"most useless poll ever"?
Reply
ckm 12:37PM (9/06/2007)
Ditto.
bhupi 12:40PM (9/06/2007)
I'll agree with that. What kind of a stupid poll. Autoblog...?! C'mon u can do better right?
Tool 2:39PM (9/06/2007)
Agreed: stupid poll. Let's have some more intelligent choices.
C'mon Autoblog.
eckre 12:47PM (9/06/2007)
"Toyota just planted a mole at Chrysler"
(deep breath) bwhwhwhaahhahhahaahhahhhahahahha
Good one. (wipes away tear) *sigh*.
"We're killing our competition, but let's go learn how to NOT do things at GM"
Reply
J.Crew 12:49PM (9/06/2007)
Yeah, this poll is lame and does not help your credibility even if this was just for fun.
Reply
J.Crew 12:57PM (9/06/2007)
BTW - I love funny stuff, but just give us some real options and leave the funny ones in the poll and I am sure you would get better results.
Marvelous 12:50PM (9/06/2007)
I this were sports related , I'd say Chrysler got a first round draft pick. He'll probably retire at Chrysler with a fat check though.
Reply
Woodenduck 1:01PM (9/06/2007)
John-
You always put liberal pro-Japanese slant into your monthly reports of U.S. auto sales, so I expect no less from you when you have reported on Press.
Many of your comments are totally irrelevant and idiotic.
Reply
J. D. Billiford 1:00PM (9/06/2007)
>>> The arrival of Jim Press' arrivial at Chysler should have an almost near-immdiate impact on the company's future prospects. If Chrysler were still a publicly traded company the price of its stock would be headed north by several percentage points I would suspect.
Reply
paddy 1:29PM (9/06/2007)
Maybe the Poll could be:
When is the next time Toyota hires a American as President of NA?
Reply
James 1:29PM (9/06/2007)
Good luck Jim Press. You'll need it. I am currently renting a Neon and even though it's a couple of years old and has 37k on the clock, this is one horrible machine. The steering has an odd "rubberband" quality. The steering wheel seems to be offset from center. The shifter wobbles like one of those weevils. And it feel like an exhaust bracket fell off as the whole back end vibrates.
One man, even if he knows all of Toyota's secrets, will not be able to save Chrysler, for sure not in the short term. When we start seeing ugly, bulbous noses and generally bad proportions on Dodges and Chryslers then we'll know what effect Press is having on the product.
Reply
howard 1:46PM (9/06/2007)
Hey dummie, you say your renting a NEON and your having all this trouble? TAKE THE SOB BACK TO WHERE YOU RENTED IT AND GET A JUNKY OLD TOYOTA! MAYBE THAT'LL SATISFY YOU!
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS GUY? I'ii bet if he gets some sour milk at the store he just bitches about it and doesn't TAKE IT BACK! Typical RED NECK!!!!
naggs 2:04PM (9/06/2007)
who on earth is going to 'return' a rental car and ask for a better one? i dont know about you but when i am renting a car, i generally to busy to take a few hours out of my day to ensure that my rental car has responsive steering...
if it gets you around, it serves its purpose.
howard, CAPSLOCK CHECK
Drewboy 3:02PM (9/06/2007)
Naggs,
A year back when I was on VACATION, I was renting a Chevy Impala... It had obviously been beat up and was a POS. I got a Chrysler Sebring instead, and it was an awesome car. I've been tempted to buy one ever since. Too bad I can't give all the credit to Chrysler on that one, as it was the Mitsubishi Eclipse-based Sebring Coupe...
Maestro1 4:06PM (9/06/2007)
I'm gonna have the agree with Naggs on this one.
Since I do a lot of overseas travelling for business and the like, I also have to rent a lot of cars and I know how time-consuming it is to bring the car back and have to wait in line behind new arrivals for ages and then take another half an hour to sort it out.
Generally, you don't want to take a car back unless it has serious problems because you don't really want to waste that time on exchange when you could be doing something more productive.
But yeah, I believe James when he says the car is crap. My friend had one a couple years ago and I don't recall him ever praising the thing - though there were plenty of swear words when he referred to it lol!
JC 9:20PM (9/06/2007)
Hey howard, Neons ARE crap. Get over it. And don't be making fun of them rednecks - you're all on the same foreign car bashing side.
66coronet 1:36PM (9/06/2007)
If Tom does supply. He is to make sure that production has thier parts on time if not a weeks worth of parts.
Press is in charge of demand. So all he looks at is what do dealerships need or project to need and what vehicle is just piling up in storage and hopefully would slow down production or stop production a day here and there. Plus communicate with Tom on supply.
But do they do more than that? Do they both deside what is made for each region? What is it going to take to get chrysler to make a deal with VW to allow the 2.0Lcrd + exaust system that passes US emissions. That would allow the Dodge caliber, avenger, journey, Jeep compass, patriot, Chrysler sebring to jump in fuel mileage. Add the cargo grand caravan crd if they want to push the competition to thier limits in that market. I believe the only reasons the sprinter sells is fuel mileage and being tall. If Ford and GM sold 2.9L-3.0L diesels in thier full size cargo vans. Sprinters would fail. As for hight, there are kits. But some people want the low profile van to fit garages. For those who want to tow and haul with a van, Ford and GM already has that market with thier large diesel. If diesel is the future. Why are they making it very hard to get. Top model grand cherokee. Priced out of most of the public grasp. What about a base model with rubber floor and washable seats? What about the 300 crd? Dodge charger & magnum crd 6 months later when 300 is proven successful.
Reply
howard 1:55PM (9/06/2007)
I have just one thing to say about Chrysler hiring PRESS away from TOYOTA; remember LEE IOCOCA AND THE WAY HE TURNED CHRYSLER AROUND AND PAID BACK WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAD GUARANTEED PLUS HE DIDN'T NEED THE $300 MILLION THAT WAS LEFT!
If, Press was forced out of TOYOTA at least he had the good sense to go with the best, CHRYSLER!
Reply
James 2:12AM (9/07/2007)
Hey Howard, you CAPS LOCK loving moron, do you fundamentally understand the difference between renting and buying? Apparently not.
Also, you must work directly/indirectly for Chrysler as you seem to have taken my criticism of the Neon personally. If so, you should be very ashamed of this second-, no, third-rate product.
Lastly, you confirmed yourself as a world-class moron by automatically assuming that I am a redneck. You must have some sort of hard-on for rednecks. Yeah, you could say I'm from the south... as Hawaii is the southernmost state.
As for Lee Iacocca (learn to spell, moron), he only kept Chrysler alive by slicing and dicing the K-car into every variation known to man. Give the man credit, however, he did know how to promote himself and pump up his ego.