Press leaving Chrysler, report says

Chrysler Group Deputy CEO Jim Press is planning to leave the company before the end of the year, according to a report Friday by The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources.

Press, 62, is expected to leave before December, one of the newspaper's sources said. Chrysler spokesman Gualberto Ranieri declined to comment on the paper's report.

Press, who spent 37 years at Toyota Motor Corp. and eventually led its U.S. sales operation, joined Chrysler in 2007 after it was purchased by Cerberus Capital Management.

When Chrysler Group emerged from bankruptcy in June with Italian automaker Fiat S.p.A. as its partner, new CEO Sergio Marchionne scrapped most of the Detroit automaker's executive team. Press stayed on as an adviser to Marchionne, who is also Fiat's CEO.

By Automotive News