Fiat Spa reportedly has named 24 new managers to its struggling Fiat Auto as part of efforts to restore the automaker’s fortunes.
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The Associated Press (AP) noted that the announcement came soon after the company said it would temporarily close two of its car factories to adjust to slack demand over the summer.
The management changes will concentrate power in the hands of Fiat Auto chief executive Herbert Demel, the report said. The reshuffle will “favour quick decision-making,” Fiat said in a statement cited by the Associated Press.
AP said that, among the appointments, Fiat named German manager Johann Wohlfarter, former head of Volkswagen’s Autogerma unit, as head of Fiat Auto’s network development and coordination division. It also promoted Lapo Elkann, the grandson of the late Gianni Agnelli, the company’s longtime chairman. Elkann, 27, will be in charge of brand promotion for all three Fiat Auto brands. His older brother John Elkann is Fiat’s vice chairman.
According to the report, the company said four key positions remain to be filled, including the top job running the Fiat brand’s commercial division. Demel reportedly will hold that job on an interim basis.
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By GlobalDataAfter several years of heavy losses, Fiat’s newly appointed CEO Sergio Marchionne announced the management restructuring in late July, AP noted, adding that the plan aims to increase co-ordination between the carmaker’s brands and production processes.
Both Marchionne and Demel have said recently that Fiat Auto’s turnaround is proceeding slower than hoped, the Associated Press added.
