Chrysler Helps Itself to Toyota Sales Star
In a surprise hire, Chrysler lures Jim Press, the Japanese juggernaut's sales and marketing guru, to a top job
In what can be viewed as the biggest coup in the auto industry since General Motors (GM) hired car guy Robert Lutz out of retirement in 2001, new Chrysler Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Nardelli has snatched sales and marketing guru Jim Press from rival Toyota Motor (TM).
Chrysler announced the surprise move on Sept. 6, making it Nardelli's second hire from Toyota in a month. Press will be Chrysler's vice-chairman and president, sharing those titles with Tom LaSorda, the manufacturing boss who was the automaker's CEO until Nardelli joined on Aug. 6.
It's clear that Nardelli is wasting no time building a top management team by stealing talent from the industry juggernaut. Before luring the highly respected Press, he had already poached Deborah Wahl Meyer, who was vice-president for marketing at Toyota's Lexus Div. Meyer is now vice-president and chief marketing officer at Chrysler.
Catch a Rising Star
"It's a great catch," says Joseph Phillippi, principal of AutoTrends, a New Jersey auto consulting firm. "Why not go for the best? It also shows Nardelli knows what he doesn't know." Nardelli's plan is to place Press on equal footing with LaSorda to keep top management in complete control of the "supply and demand" of Chrysler's cars, company spokesman Jason Vines says.
With Press, Nardelli gets one of the best sales and marketing executives in the car business. Press was at the helm of Toyota's North American sales group for much of the company's meteoric rise. Toyota's U.S. market share has risen from 10% to 16% since 2000, and the company is on pace to surpass Ford (F) as the second-biggest seller in the market this year.
With Press in key positions, Lexus also became the best-selling luxury brand in the U.S. Meanwhile, Toyota launched its quirky Scion brand, a successful move that has helped the automaker tap into a younger market. After a long run in top sales jobs, Press was promoted last year to president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, the holding company that oversees Toyota's U.S. sales and manufacturing operations
"sourse" : http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/sep2007/bw2007096_474886.htm