Coup de Grâce: Citroen poaches Mercedes sales chief
French automaker PSA/Peugeot-Citroen is serious about breathing new air into its chevron-badged division. After partnering with Polyphony's Gran Turismo racing simulator franchise for the GTbyCitroen concept and announcing the revival of the DS nameplate with an upcoming show car at the Geneva Motor Show, the Franco auto group has managed to poach Mercedes-Benz sales chief Jean-Marc Gales to be Citroen's new chief executive.Born in Luxembourg, 46-year-old Gales held a variety of positions at Volkswagen, BMW and Opel before moving to Mercedes-Benz. In his new job, he'll be replacing Gilles Michel, who departed Citroen – now celebrating its 90th anniversary – for a government position last December. Gales will join PSA's five-member top executive committee in a couple of months from now.
[Source: Automotive News Europe – subs. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Doctor 8:26AM (2/20/2009)
Coup de Grâce? What's a lawnmower got to do with this?
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JZeke 8:45AM (2/20/2009)
A "coupe de grace" would be appropriate if Mercedes was failing and this was the final blow.
I don't think its quite come to that... yet.
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sledge 10:08AM (2/20/2009)
I think a more fitting phrase would have been Coup d'etat (though even that isn't perfect for this).
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Mazda FTW! 10:22AM (2/20/2009)
Coup d'etat would be better.
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fixitfixitstop 11:59AM (2/20/2009)
Every time somebody says "poaches", I get an insane craving for eggs benedict, preferably with smoked salmon on it. Anybody else?
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