01.09.2004 Fiat announced wholesale changes to their top management today, with Fiat Auto CEO Herbert Demel, revealing twenty four new appointments

Fiat announced wholesale changes to their top management today, with Fiat Auto CEO Herbert Demel, revealing both new personnel appointments and new structures which will speed up the decision making process.

Most of the twenty four appointments are internal promotions, however from outside Fiat comes German Johann Wohlfarter, a former boss of VW's Autogerma unit, who will take over the top job at Fiat's Network Development and Co-ordination division on 1st October.

The current brand bosses, Gianni Coda (Fiat and Lancia), Daniele Bandiera (Alfa Romeo) and Pier Luigi Zanframundo (LCV), are all confirmed as remaining in their posts, having impressed both Herbert Demel and new Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Four key jobs remain to be filled, including the Fiat brand's commercial manager's position, a job that is being temporarily filled by Demel in addition to his other duties. Speculation states that a current VW top manager has been identified for the role and negotiations are at present proceeding to secure his release.

The management changes aim to increase harmonisation between the three major Fiat brands, help to speed up the production processes, and reduce the timescales involved in bringing new models to the market. With Sergio Marchionne admitting recently that the reorganisation programme was going slower that planned, the changes will be expected to accelerate the carmaker's turnaround.

Also on the rise is Lapo Elkann, 27, grandson of the late Gianni Agnelli, who takes over as head of brand promotion for Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia. With Lapo's older brother John having been made Vice-President by Luca di Montezemolo when he took the top job, the Agnelli family influence continues to remain embedded.

At the same time two temporary factory closures were announced in a bid to reduce surpluses. The Sicilian Termini Imerese plant, which produces the Punto and has only just come back after an extended summer break, will shut for one week for September 27th, while the Cassino plant will stop for two weeks at the same time.

Fiat union chiefs are concerned that the Sicilian plant, the only one of Fiat's factories to currently receive government subsidies, is losing importance in Fiat's longer term plans and they are urging bringing forward of proposals to switch production of the Ypsilon to this plant from Palermo.

This was originally scheduled to take place towards the end of this year, however the union chiefs, along with the plants top management, are unhappy that this has apparently put back to mid next year.