A report suggests that DaimlerChrysler’s Smart division president Andreas Renschler will lead a R30,24-billion reorganisation programme at Mitsubishi Motors.
A report suggests that DaimlerChrysler’s Smart division president Andreas Renschler will be leading a R30,24-billion reorganisation programme at Mitsubishi Motors.
According to , Renschler, 45, will replace Rolf Eckrodt, 61, as president and chief executive of Mitsubishi at a June shareholders’ meeting.
The Japanese manufacturer will reportedly use the funds to develop new models and improve its brand image to compete with larger rivals after sales slumped in the United States and Japan, its two biggest markets.
Renschler reportedly estimated the plan’s cost during a meeting in Tokyo with executives, including DaimlerChrysler corporate strategy director Ruediger Grube and Takashi Nishioka, chairman of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which owns 33,8 per cent of Mitsubishi Motors.
At the time of the report, DaimlerChrysler officials declined to comment, Renschler didn’t return phone calls to his office, Eckrodt couldn’t be reached for comment and Grube had returned to DaimlerChrysler’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.
Eckrodt, who had been president since June 2002, took over as head of international businesses after Steve Torok quit last Friday and will retire after leaving Mitsubishi Motors.