Today's Buzz Watch (www.car-truck.com) seems more incoherent then usual,
it's probably due to the fact that I'm running a
fever. That's
right. This column is coming from the
kleenex-strewn
bedroom of La Casa Del Buzz. I wouldn't recommend
getting too close to the screen. You might catch a
vicious
case of the Buzz Crud!
Things went from bad to worse this morning when the
phone snapped me out of a feverish dream. On the
other
end was a friend in Detroit, after allowing me to
moan and
groan about my illness for a moment he interrupted.
"You
think you're sick now . . . wait till you hear
this." He took a
dramatic pause . . . "Tom Gale is leaving!"
Thinking that my congested head was affecting my
hearing I
asked him to repeat himself, "TOM GALE IS LEAVING"
he shouted. After my nurse revived me, I asked him
why.
"Not sure, all I know is that Tom is in Paris right
now (at
the Board of Management meeting) telling them that
he's
retiring at the end of the year."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing, could the
former
Chrysler design chief (now Product Development and
Design
Chrysler/Plymouth/Jeep(r)/Dodge and General Manager
Passenger Car Operations, Chrysler Group and one of
four
Americans on DC's management board) really be
leaving?
The call came from a high-ranking DC insider so it
must be
true.
To make sure, I made a couple more calls. Then it
sank in . .
. Tom Gale is really leaving. If you had to pick
one person
who was most responsible for Chrysler's renaissance
in the
early 90's it would have to be Tom. His hand was in
every
major product that helped bring the company back
from the
brink of extinction. Most notably, the Viper, the
Dodge
Ram, the and the LH cars, from 1985 on, there
hasn't been
a single Chrysler vehicle that wasn't influenced by
Tom.
He first came to Chrysler in 1967, he held various
positions
in advance body engineering and car and truck
interior and
exterior through 1981. In 1982 he became Exterior
design
director, three years later he became Chrysler's
Vice
President in charge of design. His responsibilities
continued
to expand in the following years.
In 1998 when Daimler took over he was Executive
Vice
President - Product Strategy, Design and External
Affairs
and General Manager - Jeep Operations. After the
takeover
he became one of a handful of Americans on DC's
management board.
Shortly after the Daimler takeover there was Buzz
that Tom
was thinking about leaving. At the time a
high-ranking DC
insider told Buzz Watch that GM had offered Gale a
major
chunk of change to come over and be GM's design
chief.
In the release issued by DC late on Wednesday, Gale
reports
that he's "been contemplating retirement for some
time.
When Jim Holden took his position as President, I
agreed to
stay on and see the future product plan through,
while
continuing to build the team to succeed me. Now
that both
of those processes are complete and we're into the
next
phase of development, it's time for me to step back
and
spend more time with my family."
The Buzz in Detroit is that spending "more time
with his
family" wasn't the primary reason for his
departure.
Instead, a couple sources mentioned that his
membership on
DC's management board may have been the catalysts.
The
Buzz is that he's had several major disagreements
with other
board members (most notably Juergen Schrempp) over
the
direction Daimler is charting for Chrysler. One
source
reports that the Boards recent decision to
undertake major
cuts within the Chrysler Group was the straw that
broke the
camels back .
Of course that's all just Buzz at this time. The
only thing I
know for sure is that Chrysler will not be the same
without
him. While it's true that "Tom has mentored a wide
group
of people -- especially in design -- and
institutionalized his
risk-embracing, forward-thinking attitude which has
become
part of the fabric of this company's culture" as
Chrysler
Group president Jim Holden said. His leadership and
vision
have been crucial to Chrysler's success over the
last decade.
While he will continue as an advisor to Jim Holden
for the
next two years, his departure marks the end of an
era for
Chrysler.
-------------------------------------------
Steven St.Laurent
Test Engineer
Test Branch, GSD, MCTSSA
MARCORSYSCOM, USMC
760-725-2506 (DSN 365-2506)
Work:mailto:stlaurents@mctssa.usmc.mil
Home:mailto:saint1958@home.com
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