Industry Magazine : Fiat My Replace Heada Man

MILAN, July 28,2003; Reuters reported that top executives from U.S. Ford or French Peugeot may replace head of Fiat's loss-making auto unit Giancarlo Boschetti, who hits retirement age in 2004, an industry magazine reported on Monday.

Automotive News magazine said in an article published on its Web site that Fiat group has hired Paris-based headhunter Eric Salmon & Partners to find a replacement for Boschetti and the firm has already presented a short-list including three names.

Fiat declined to comment on the report. No one at Eric Salmon's office in Milan was available for a comment.

Boschetti, 63, former chief executive of Fiat's truck unit Iveco, who took over the top job at Fiat Auto at the end of 2001, was charged with pulling the cash-burning unit out of the red.

But as losses at Fiat Auto mounted, Italian media have been speculating that Boschetti may be replaced.

On Thursday, Fiat group Chief Executive Giuseppe Morchio praised Boschetti as a great manager, quashing a new round of media talk about his possible replacement.

Automotive News said Salmon's short-list included Mark Fihelds, 42, chairman and CEO of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, which includes Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo.

Martin Leach, 46, president and chief operating officer at Ford of Europe and Frederic Saint-Geours, 53, Peugeot's managing director and member of its executive committee and managing board were also picked up by the headhunters.