Chrysler is facing some difficult years.
Chrysler Group LLC and its new masters from Fiat are now planning to present a new “five-year” plan during the first week in November, according to a note circulated by the automaker. The date picked for outlining Fiat’s plans comes about one-year after the company faced up to the deep financial crisis that eventually forced it into the bankruptcy.
Despite a drastic restructuring over the past year, Chrysler’s margin for financial maneuver remains slender at best, since it got far less from the U.S. Treasury than General Motors. Moreover, the current numbers are daunting — Chrysler will build fewer than 900,000 vehicles this year, even that’s a stretch, and its market share continues to tumble. Known forever as the “Number Three” Automaker behind Ford and GM, Chrysler has now been lapped by Toyota, and Honda and Nissan are closing in fast.
“Chrysler is facing a very difficult couple of years,” said one analyst. “They just don’t have any product,” he said.
However, Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer for Fiat and Chrysler, is expected to use the proposed November 4 announcement to try neutralizing some of the pessimism surrounding Chrysler by outlining a proposal that will stuff Chrysler showrooms full of new vehicles and new technology.
The announcements also are expected to cover plans for electric and hybrid vehicles. The plans also will have to inspire some confidence among suppliers, who are uneasy about paying for expensive engineering for a company that might not survive.
Meanwhile, Chrysler executive staff has been completely reshuffled and stripped of the entire upper echelon, which has been shipped off to retirement or the unemployment lines, giving the company’s executive ranks a decidedly younger cast.
After a 42% drop in sales in September, Marchionne also replaced the head of Dodge and Chrysler brands, ousting a team of executives that had only in place only since June. The decision to dismiss the marketing team, however, also suggested that he knows he doesn’t have much time to lose or much of a margin for error.
As part of the changes, Fred Diaz Jr. is appointed president and CEO, Dodge Ram Brand with profit and loss responsibility for the Dodge Ram truck portfolio. Diaz also was put in charge of the sales organization and relations with the company’s dealers.
Ralph Gilles was appointed president and chief executive of the Dodge Car Brand, with profit and loss responsibility for the Dodge Car product portfolio. Gilles will continue to lead the Product Design.
Olivier Francois was named president and chief executive of the Chrysler Brand. Francois previously was heading Fiat’s Lancia brand, a position that he is keeping, which suggest there are Lancia’s in Chrysler’s future. The changes also put Francois in charge of Chrysler’s marketing organization with responsibility to coordinate worldwide marketing strategies, brand development and advertising for the Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge Car and Dodge Ram brands.