Chrysler hires car sales 'icon'

DETROIT -- Toyota's top North American executive is defecting to Chrysler, a move that stunned the auto industry and gives a highly regarded leader and consummate salesman the chance to turn things around at the struggling U.S. automaker.

Chrysler LLC said Thursday that Jim Press will become its vice chairman and president in charge of the automaker's sales and marketing operations. Press will resign Sept. 14 from Toyota Motor Corp., where he has served as the first non-Japanese president and chief operating officer for Toyota in North America since 2006. Before that, he was head of Toyota's North American sales during the company's rapid expansion.

"Jim Press is literally an industry icon, and that gets people's attention," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research. "Jim is an excellent leader. He has a tremendous amount of confidence in his own skills and ability."

Press, 60, is joining at a difficult time for Chrysler, which lost $618 million in 2006 and has had trouble gaining U.S. market share despite a handful of hit products like the 300C sedan. The company is in the midst of a restructuring and expects to shed 13,000 hourly and salaried jobs in the U.S. and Canada by 2009. Last month, DaimlerChrysler AG finalized the sale of a controlling stake in Chrysler to the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, ending a disastrous nine-year alliance.

Press joins Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli and Tom LaSorda on Chrysler LLC's top management team. LaSorda, who will share the titles of vice chairman and president with Press, will run the company's manufacturing and purchasing operations, while Press will handle sales, marketing and product strategy, said company spokesman Mike Aberlich.