Autoblog

General Motors has reintroduced the position of President and Chief Operating Officer with the naming of Fritz Henderson to the post by Rick Wagoner. Henderson's move up from Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer sees Ray Young moving from group VP of finance to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, filling the vacuum left by Henderson's departure. Group Vice President of Global Powertrain and Global Quality, Thomas G. Stephens, also makes the move to Executive Vice President. The new appointees will work closely with Rick Wagoner and product guy Bob Lutz to keep the GM ship on course.

Henderson will be drawing on his past experience in a variety of roles at GM. Regional presidents will report to Henderson, who will confer with Rick Wagoner. For now, it's about as exciting as watching a chess match, but GM's moving these people into their new roles with an eye on the company's trajectory out of the doldrums. The newly reinstated President and COO will be looked to as an integral part of the machinery that keeps pushing GM back from the brink.

[Source: Auto News - sub req]

'You don't want us, and we don't want you.' That seems to be the consensus at Mercedes-Benz regarding Fernando Alonso, who has openly stated his displeasure over the course of the season with McLaren, the F1 team principally owned and powered by Mercedes.

According to emerging reports, the majority of the German automaker's executive board voted that Alonso is no longer a suitable representative of their company, and that his services should not be retained for an additional season. This despite the contract that binds the Spanish driver to the British team through 2008, but if neither party has any desire to uphold the conditions, the contract is rendered rather meaningless.

Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug has also dismissed the speculation that they could prevent Alonso from going to a competing team next season by forcing him into a sabbatical until the contract has run out, saying, "That's not our style." Guess that means the one hurdle between the two-time world champion and a return to happier days at Renault, where he won said titles, has just been conveniently removed.

[Source: F1i.com]

Jim Press, the president of Toyota Motor North America (TMA), has been announced as the recipient of this year's 2007 Automotive Industry Executive of the Year award, which surprisingly marks the first time (though probably not the last) that a Toyota exec has earned the honor. You may remember last year's recipient was Bill Ford, Jr., who technically no longer holds the position as Ford Motor Company's reigning auto exec. Press, however, is at the reigns of Toyota's North American division, which finished up last year with double-digit sales growth. Many analysts are placing their bets that 2007 will be the year that Toyota sells more vehicles in the U.S. world than General Motors, which seems entirely likely considering that GM is scaling back production while Toyota is revving up. 2007 also marks the year that Toyota will go head-to-head with its domestic competitors in the full-size pickup segment with the new Tundra pickup (show above with Press). Press also stands out for being the first non-Japanese president of TMA, and few can argue he's done an outstanding job so far. The question remains whether he can keep his ship intact as Toyota's business in the U.S. market scales ever upward. Clearly the automaker's reputation for quality has begun to crack with recalls and service issues beginning to grow in number. Nevertheless, Press will receive his award in April at a fancy shindig in Detroit attended by other OEM execs and industry leaders. Congrats, Jim!

[Source: PR Newswire]

UPDATE: This post has been correctly attributed to John Neff, who wrote the post near the end of a long day. The errors that were present have been corrected.

Not long after we told you about the likely promotion of Derrick Kuzak to the role of global Car Czar, President and CEO of Ford Alan Mulally officially announced his corporate realignment plan. At the top of the pyramid is, of course, Mulally himself. Reporting to him are the leaders of Ford's three largest units: Mark Fields, Ford of the Americas; Lewis Booth, Ford of Europe and the Premier Auto Group (PAG); and John Parker, Ford of Asia Pacific, Africa and Mazda. Supporting this team will be the aforementioned Derrick Kuzak, whose office door now reads Global Product Development Leader (a.k.a. Car Czar). J Mays is still the leader of Ford's design teams and will support Kuzak.

The whole point of defining each executive's role in the company and creating clear hierarchies is so that Ford can begin acting like one company instead of five separate ones, each with their own interests. The biggest change here is that Fields, Booth and Parker will now all be reporting directly to Mulally. In the past, both Booth and Parker would report to Mark Schulz, the company's Executive VP of International Operations. Schulz, however, announced his retirement earlier this month, which gave management a perfect opportunity to cut out a middle man position and improve communication between various rungs of the corporate ladder.

Check out Ford's full press release on this realignment after the jump.

[Source: Ford]

Thinking that top executives had perhaps gotten out of touch with what the real world buyer of their cars is experiencing, Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda is sending 250 top executives out to test drive some used cars. He has them driving three-year-old DaimlerChrysler products because he wants them to learn about reliability issues and the experience consumers face a few years down the road of ownership.

Executives will turn in their own vehicles for two 10-day periods. In exchange, they will be given something from a fleet of used Jeep Grand Cherokees, Chrysler Town & Country minivans, Dodge Caravans, Chrysler Pacificas and Dodge Ram pickups. Apparently LaSorda practices what he preaches. He has been seen driving an old Grand Cherokee lately.

"Our CEO, Tom LaSorda, has always been pushing us to become more customer focused: to eat, sleep, walk and talk like an average customer," said Steve Walukas, vice president of corporate quality. "In our positions we're pretty fortunate that we typically get to drive new cars. I know in my own situation, my friends, neighbors and relatives say, 'You wouldn't know what it's like to drive a car with a lot of miles on it.' This is a true way to understand."

The executives will be asked to evaluate each vehicle regarding first impressions and then follow up with impressions at the end of each 10-day trial. The program, which began in August, will run for another two months.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

The 2007 Volvo XC90 received a number of enhancements for the 2007 MY, including an ever-so-slight refreshening and a new six-cylinder inline engine. Volvo is introducing a range-topping Executive model that adds chrome and silver trim on the exterior along with large 19-inch wheels, contrasting color stitching and edging in the interior with walnut panel inlays, and an optional cooler for the center console. It doesn't appear we'll get the XC90 Executive in the U.S. as it will be available with the 4.4L V8, new 3.2L inline six and 2.4L five-cylinder inline diesel, the latter of which is not an option here in the U.S. Um... and its got Euro plates in the pictures.

More pics and Volvo's full press release after the jump.

[Source: Volvo Global]

Rick Wagoner, embattled head of General Motors, appeared on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday morning news program, and confessed that GM is stockpiling parts and complete vehicles in an attempt to protect the automaker in case its spin-off supplier Delphi decides to strike. Indeed, this comes as little surprise to those who have noted the unusually large discrepancy between GM first-quarter sales and production figures. Wagoner admits that the strike bank won't do much, if anything, to keep GM running if indeed Delphi's workers stage a walkout.

In the meantime, word is that Wagoner would have stepped down as CEO had he not received the vote of confidence from GM's board last Monday.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Sure, the North American wing of his company may be floundering a bit, but Bill Ford’s frankness in the face of financial hardship has won him the honor of being named the 2006 Automotive Industry Exec of the Year. The Automotive Industry Action Group and DNV, a management systems certification registrar, presented the award to Ford. Along with the man’s candor, it was the CEO’s constant focus on environmental issues that set him apart from the pack.

What about Dieter Zietsche, though? The Chrysler Group’s posting sales gains on an almost monthly basis, Mercedes Benz is quietly emerging from its quality troubles and, mark our words, DCX is poised to make a huge impact in the U.S. with its BLUETEC diesels when Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel becomes the rage in the states later this year.

[Source: Canadian Driver]

Ford Motor released details of its executive compensation Friday, as part of its 2006 proxy statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission. At the top of the list is chairman and CEO Bill Ford, whose 2005 total compensation took a big hit, falling 40 percent to $13,298,279. In all fairness, this compensation takes form of stock and stock options virtually in its entirety. Ford has pledged to forgo any cash compensation until the company's automotive operations return to profitability.

High-profile wunderkind Mark Fields, President of the Americas, pulled in about $3.2 million, including a $1 million cash "retention payment" to make sure he sticks around.

[Sources: Washington Post, Ford Motor Company]