Fiat/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne talks with White House auto czar Ron Bloom in May.
One of the key figures in the bailouts that saved Chrysler and General Motors – and a driving force behind the compromise that will nearly double U.S. automotive fuel economy standards – is leaving his post at the White House.
Former investment banker Ron Bloom will leave his post as the senior automotive advisor to President Barrack Obama by the end of the month, though it does not appear he has lined up a new job, according to White House sources.
Bloom was the nation’s “car czar” until earlier this year when Congress pulled the budget for his post, but he remained the top auto advisor to the president, officially in the role of Assistant to the President for Manufacturing Policy.
The 56-year-old originally joined the new administration in February 2009, just weeks after Obama took office and had to address the rapidly-failing fortunes of Detroit’s auto industry. Bloom first served as assistant to the first White House auto czar, Steve Rattner, but Bloom took over the top spot after that former banker and one-time journalist left Washington following the emergence of Chrysler and GM from bankruptcy.
Senior Detroit executives have offered strong praise for Bloom. “Ron Bloom’s leadership within the President’s Auto Task Force helped America’s auto industry steer toward the road to recovery. As a result, the prospects look bright for auto manufacturing to contribute toward jobs and a stronger economy for years to come,” said Bob Ferguson, head of Global Policy at General Motors.
Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne had similar praise to offer in May, when Bloom appeared alongside the executive at the Chrysler assembly plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan. That event marked Chrysler’s payoff of its remaining federal loans. Shortly afterwards, Chrysler’s Italian partner, Fiat, purchased the last shares the government held in the U.S. maker, giving it a majority stake in Chrysler.
Bloom was, in fact, one of the few administration officials that wanted to offer a helping hand to Chrysler, as well as GM. Even the president admitted he was unsure the smaller maker could be saved, even with the help of a multi-billion-dollar bailout.
More recently, Bloom played a key role in working out a compromise – drawing the approval of unlikely allies in the auto industry and the environmental movement – that set the 2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy target of 54.5 mpg. That is approximately double the CAFE mandate that existed when the Obama Administration came to power.
“I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to serve under President Obama and alongside so many talented individuals who worked tirelessly to strengthen the economy and help communities across the nation,” Bloom said.
Bloom’s tenure hasn’t been entirely without controversy. Critics have faulted the administration for bailing out two of the Big Three – Ford the only maker not to seek government loans or go through the bankruptcy process. Some conservatives, including radio entertainer Rush Limbaugh, have even called for a boycott of “Government Motors.”
It didn’t help when Bloom said he supported the bailout for “all the unions.” He later claimed the comment, at a July 2009 dinner, was meant as a joke.