In a statement yesterday, Chrysler Group said that it had named Timothy Kuniskis Head of the Fiat Brand for North America. Kuniskis, who joined Chrysler in 1992, most recently served as Director for both the Chrysler Brand and Fiat Brand Product Marketing. The move is effective immediately. In his new role, Kuniskis is responsible for the Fiat Brand in North America which includes leadership for Fiat Brand sales, marketing, dealer network and service.

Always perceived as out of her depth, Soave bites the bullet after a disastrous relaunch for the Fiat brand in the United States and Canada, which has seen sales barely reach half Fiat’s targets before they started a sharp retreat. After peaking at just over three thousand units in July (3,038) and August (3,106), sales slipped down to 2,733 in September. However, even that wasn’t the end of the bad news, as they slumped to just 1,965 units last month. That leaves the 500 on 15,826 sales so far, and a long way short of the target of 50,000 units a year.

The Fiat relaunch Stateside has been enacted on an insufficient budget, and the marketing, such as it is, has been disjointed and incoherent. To compensate for the budgetary limitations, Fiat has tried to use guerrilla marketing techniques, but without an underlying understanding of the principles involved.

The relaunch has culminated in the ridiculed choice of actress and singer Jennifer Lopez as the face of the Fiat 500, although this cannot be wholly blamed on Soave – perpetually star-gazing marketing chief Olivier François was, at least initially, very quick to take credit for her employment. That led to an initial – widely-panned – advert, itself followed by several more that focus on Lopez rather than the 500. The focus on a celebrity to speak for the car has itself been a poor strategy – it has drawn attention away from the positive attributes of the 500, while pitching the car entirely to a female demographic is a risky strategy, especially when the Abarth version has just arrived.

Veteran Detroit auto executive Peter De Lorenzo broke the news that Soave had been sidelined on September 21. He also claimed in his blog that she was being investigated for “impropriety” in her relationship with Impatto, the Detroit-based advertising agency that had managed the 500’s Stateside relaunch but was hastily dropped at the same time. In a statement yesterday, Chrysler Group simply said that: “Laura Soave has left the Company and will pursue other interests.”

“Tim brings broad expertise and leadership in dealer operations and marketing where he has been already working with the team to shape the direction of the Fiat Brand,” said Sergio Marchionne, Chairman and CEO, Chrysler Group, who hired Soave apparently on the strength of an semi-impromptu interview although she was severely underqualified for the position. “As North American Head of Fiat, much of his immediate focus will be working with the dealer body where his fresh perspective from the operational side, as well as that on the commercial side, will begin the Fiat Brand’s next chapter.”