Reid Bigland, president of Chrysler Canada
Reid Bigland has emerged from the bunker.
Usually energetic, outspoken and available, the Chrysler Canada president suddenly disappeared early last year as Chrysler was beginning its bankruptcy and change of ownership.
It is well known that Sergio Marchionne, the Fiat CEO who is now also Chrysler CEO, has hired and (mostly) fired executives to shake up the company. Former president Tom Lasorda is gone, former vice-chairman Jim Press is gone, two former VPs of sales, Peter Fong and Steve Landry, are gone.
Marchionne is reported to have had 15-minute meetings with dozens of executives to determine which ones go and which ones stay.
Bigland appears to be a survivor.
"I'm back," he said when I bumped into him at the Detroit Auto Show. "And I can talk."
Vaughan: Reid, you've always been a straight shooter. I know you have to spin it a certain amount, but, really, Chrysler and Fiat. Can you see this working?
Bigland: Absolutely, it's the perfect fit.
If you look at it, Chrysler is the dominant player in the minivan market with close to 80-per-cent market share last month.
We have the most award-winning pickup trucks on the market. Our all-new Heavy Duty Ram that we just launched is Motor Trend Truck of the Year.
How does that fit with a Fiat 500?
Fiat 500 is going to fill in at the bottom end with the A, B and C segment.
Fiat 500 was the European Car of the Year. Fiat has cutting-edge small and compact car vehicle technologies.
You put that together where we fit and you've got strength from head to toe.
What about the culture? We saw Chrysler when it joined up with the German company Daimler; that blew up badly. How are you getting along with the Italians?
I think it was a tougher culture with the Germans for sure. So far, with the Italians, absolutely not a problem.
The fellow who's running Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne, a fellow Canadian like us, is seeing to it that the technology transfer is occurring and that the culture integration is also occurring.
But he's not putting any Fiat money into it.
If you look at what we're investing - we announced it in our five-year plan - it's $23-billion of capital investment, primarily in new products.
This year, 75 per cent of our products will either be all-new or significantly refreshed with two of the four all-new products being built in Canada.
You're talking about new products, but there aren't any here at the Detroit Auto Show.
That's one of our new philosophies.
We're not into showing products that aren't going to be on the street six to 24 months in advance.
This year in the spring, the all-new, completely redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee, the all-new Charger, the all-new 300 and a completely all-new full-size crossover vehicle will be here.
They're not in our booth because we're not showing products until they're ready for purchase.
Look, you're an able guy, you could work anywhere. Do you want to stay with Chrysler?
I do want to stay with Chrysler.
I feel privileged to be able to work for, and with, Sergio Marchionne.
Do you get much face time with him?
He's my boss and I've had considerable face time with him. The last time was two days ago on Saturday because he doesn't take very many days off.
Sergio is absolutely the guy to get Chrysler back on the right path.
Michael Vaughan is co-host with Jeremy Cato of Car/Business, which appears Fridays at 8 p.m. on Business News Network and Saturdays at 2 p.m. on CTV.