Jim Press leaves Toyota to become President of Chrysler
07 Sep 2007
Jim Press, the first non-Japanese member of the Toyota board will leave the Japanese company to become president of Chrysler. He headed Toyota''s North American operations and senior managing director.
As Toyota''s sales head, he helped the Japanese automaker increase sales from and market share from 9.3 per cent in 2000 to 13.1 per cent in 2003.
Press said that leaving Toyota after 37 years was "the most difficult decision" he had ever made.
The move comes after private equity firm Cerberus bought 80.1-per cent of Chrysler for €7.4 billion from parent company DaimlerChrysler. (See: Buyout firm Cerberus set to acquire Chrysler, say reports)
Last
month, the former boss of DIY store Home Depot, Bob Nardelli, was named Chrysler''s
president.
