Audi CEO Stadler gets 5-year contract extension

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler will keep his seat at the top thanks to a contract extension. Volkswagen didn't divulge the length of the new contract, but German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the term is five years. Stadler took over the current position in 2007 when current VW CEO Martin Winterkorn left it. That year the brand sold 93,506 in the US and 964,151 in total worldwide; last year it sold 158,061 in the US and 1,575,480 in total worldwide.

Even though the brand has managed only about half the US sales of its two main rivals, it led the charge globally through the first two months of this year. Over the next few years we'll see its US efforts increase with a $30.3-billion investment, 11 new models and the opening of its first North American plant. And right now it can make hay with its World Car of the Year award winner, the A3.

In addition to Stadler, VW sales boss Christian Klingler is said to have received a five-year contract extension, and VW China head Jochem Heizmann has earned another two years on the job.
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Former Treasury boss unaware auto task force fired GM's Wagoner

We dig a good political tell-all every once in a while (how else will we get our political fix while waiting for House of Cards' third season?). Today, we get just that from former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's new book, "Stress Test," which details, among other parts of the 2009 financial catastrophe, the structured bankruptcy that allowed Chrysler and General Motors to emerge as competitive players in the auto industry.

In the book, which is nicely recapped by The Detroit News, Geithner discusses the firing of GM CEO Rick Wagoner while explaining how much trust he had in the auto industry task force that executed the move without his knowledge.

Auto Czar Steve Rattner "didn't even consult me before he fired General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner; if anything, that move increased my confidence in Team Auto," Geithner wrote.

Geithner also details how badly GM miscalculated the government's position while pointing out that President Obama "never seriously" considered letting GM or Chrysler fail. There are some controversial views, however. Geithner defended the decision to go harder on the automakers, while making sure banks didn't suffer to heavily.

It's really worth a read, particularly if you are, like us, a student of the industry and the 2009 bailout. Hop over to The Detroit News website, have a look at some snippets from the book and then let us know what you think in Comments.
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Carlos Ghosn returns as president of ACEA

The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (abbreviated ACEA in French) is an industry group representing all the biggest automakers in Europe, representing their common interests on the world stage. And as such it needs a leader, figurehead and mouthpiece to serve as its president, and for the second time the association's board of directors has chosen Carlos Ghosn.

Now if you're recognizing Ghosn as the CEO of Nissan and wondering what that has to do with European cars, it's not because Nissan manufactures much in Europe. In fact, it only operates has a handful of locations in Europe: one in the UK, one in Barcelona and one in St Petersburg. But you'd be wise to recall that Ghosn also serves as CEO of Renault, one of the biggest players in European automobile manufacturing. He also sits on the boards at Russian automaker AvtoVAZ (of which Renault owns 25 percent) and of his native Brazil's Banco Itaú, not to mention the advisory councils of a handful of universities - two of them from his ancestral hometown of Beirut. He previously served as president of ACEA in 2009, and was re-elected to replace outgoing PSA chairman Philippe Varin.

Alongside Renault, ACEA membership includes BMW, Daimler, Fiat, Jaguar Land Rover, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Volkswagen and Volvo, along with the European divisions of Ford, General Motors, Hyundai and Toyota, as well as a handful of truck manufacturers.
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Former GM engineer Jim Federico lands at Harley-Davidson

Former leading engineer at General Motors Jim Federico certainly didn't take long to find a new job. After recently announcing his retirement from GM, he is moving to Harley-Davidson on June 2 as its new Vice President of Engineering.

"We've been talking to Jim about this position for some time," said Harley-Davidson spokesperson Maripat Blankenheim in Motorcycle.

Federico spent nearly 36 years at GM and retired as the company's Executive Director of Global Vehicle Integration. He held high-level engineering positions for a wide variety of vehicles including the Chevrolet Spark (pictured above), Cadillac CTS and many others. However, his most notable recent job was as lead investigator on a team that examined the automaker's faulty ignition switches. In 2012, his group analyzed the components to understand what was happening to them. However, he later left the team because of an excessive workload. "Jim plans to take on new engineering and design challenges outside of the auto industry," said the the automaker's official statement on his retirement.

Federico's leaving appeared to be timed as GM split its engineering department into two sections. John Calabrese, GM Vice President of Global Vehicle Engineering, also retired during the change.
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Takashi Yamanouchi to retire as Mazda chairman

Takashi Yamanouchi has been with Mazda for a long time. He signed on with the Japanese automaker in April 1967 - one month after graduating from Keio University - and rose through the ranks over the years. By 1996 he was named to the company's board of directors. In 2008 he was named president and CEO, an office he held until 2013, after which he handed over the day-to-day reins to Masamichi Kogai and took up the seat at the head of the board room to serve as the company's chairman. But now, after 47 years working for Mazda, Yamanouchi-san is retiring at the age of 69.

During his tenure as CEO and then as chairman, Yamanouchi was credited with growing Mazda's business despite unfavorable fluctuations in exchange rates, opening the company's first plant in Mexico, and spearheading the development of Mazda's Skyactiv technologies and Kodo design language.

In his place, current vice chairman Seita Kanai will take over as chairman. The changing of the guard will take place after the annual shareholders' meeting on June 24.
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Takashi Yamanouchi to retire as Mazda chairman

Takashi Yamanouchi has been with Mazda for a long time. He signed on with the Japanese automaker in April 1967 - one month after graduating from Keio University - and rose through the ranks over the years. By 1996 he was named to the company's board of directors. In 2008 he was named president and CEO, an office he held until 2013, after which he handed over the day-to-day reins to Masamichi Kogai and took up the seat at the head of the board room to serve as the company's chairman. But now, after 47 years working for Mazda, Yamanouchi-san is retiring at the age of 69.

During his tenure as CEO and then as chairman, Yamanouchi was credited with growing Mazda's business despite unfavorable fluctuations in exchange rates, opening the company's first plant in Mexico, and spearheading the development of Mazda's Skyactiv technologies and Kodo design language.

In his place, current vice chairman Seita Kanai will take over as chairman. The changing of the guard will take place after the annual shareholders' meeting on June 24.
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How Charlotte lost to Plano without even knowing it was dealing with Toyota

With Toyota set to relocate its North American headquarters to the Dallas, TX suburb of Plano following a top-secret, 100-city search, the cities that missed out can now begin asking themselves what happened during a process they apparently knew little about.

That's a particularly brutal task for Charlotte, which, according to North Carolina's Secretary of Commerce, Sharon Decker, finished second to Plano. While Toyota has been fairly open about what it was looking for in a new headquarters city - direct flights to Japan, proximity to its US production facilities, a lower cost of living, high-quality educational facilities and finding a neutral site suitable to the California, Kentucky and New York-based employees that would be relocated - it's been less open about how the finalist cities, which also included Atlanta and Denver, stacked up against each other.

The Charlotte Observer has a few ideas. Part of the problem is the distinct lack of direct flights between Charlotte and Asia. US Airways, which operates a hub at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, doesn't fly to Asia.

Toyota, for its part, seems to be placing most of the blame on location.

"With manufacturing locations in many US states, Canada and Mexico, we chose a location that better supports our diverse geographic footprint, in a time zone that allows us to communicate better with most of our operations, and has direct flights to all our North American operations and Japan," Mike Michels, Toyota's VP of product communications, told The Observer via email.
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