Former Chrysler Group COO Eric Ridenour will take over as president and COO of UQM Technologies next month and then take over as CEO on 1 December when present boss William Rankin relinquishes the title; Rankin will remain UQM’s chairman, a post he has held since 2000.

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Rankin, who has been credited with transforming UQM from a small technology development company to a manufacturer of electric propulsion systems and a key player in the market for electrically powered vehicles, has run the day-to-day operations for 11 years. 

Rankin said Ridenour’s “decades of experience in the automobile industry and extensive experience as a senior manager in a variety of important roles at Chrysler make him the ideal person to lead our company into the future.”

Ridenour spent 21 years at Chrysler, including director of advanced vehicle engineering and a member of the management board at the former DaimlerChrysler. He left the company in 2007 when Robert Nardelli became CEO of Chrysler.

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