Gagnon No Longer President, COO of Visionary Vehicles LLC

Washington DC June 7, 2005;The AIADA newsletter reported that ”Pierre Gagnon on Monday said he resigned as president and COO of Visionary Vehicles LLC. He said the company’s CEO, Malcolm Bricklin, "reneged" on key commitments to him. Bricklin said Gagnon was "terminated" in April,” reports Automotive News.

Gagnon, a former CEO of Mitsubishi’s North American operations, was recruited by Bricklin in March. According to Gagnon, "A few weeks ago, Malcolm and I hit a crossroad. He reneged on some commitments he made to me, and as a result, I felt it was time to start looking for some other kind of opportunity." From the News report, “Gagnon said Bricklin no longer wants to place Visionary’s sales and distribution headquarters on the West Coast, keeping it in New York instead. "I felt strongly the West Coast is where it needed to be, given that’s where all the talent was," Gagnon said.”

Bricklin on Monday confirmed Gagnon’s comments, agreeing that the split occurred "because we decided not to have our headquarters in Southern California." Bricklin said Gagnon "really didn’t have startup capabilities. ... For a bigger, more established company, he’d be perfect."

More from the News: “Gagnon said also that Bricklin broke a "financially based" promise to him, but would not elaborate. According to Bricklin, he and Gagnon "didn’t agree on severance." Bricklin says Visionary Vehicles will aim to start selling Chery automobiles in the U.S. in 2007. Visionary Vehicles is still working to establish an active dealer network, reports the News.