Fiat named Chrysler Group manufacturing head Scott Garberding as its global chief purchasing officer, effective immediately.
Garberding, 49, replaces Vilmar Fistarol, who has taken another position with Fiat Industrial. He also replaces Annalisa Stupenengo, who had been head of Fiat purchasing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She also left for a position at Fiat Industrial.
Garberding will join Fiat's Global Executive Council and will be responsible for purchasing in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Chrysler appointed Mauro Pino, 53, head of manufacturing in North America, replacing Garberding. His appointment also is effective immediately.
Garberding joined Chrysler in 1993. He has held positions in manufacturing, quality and purchasing. He previously was head of purchasing for Chrysler Group. Garberding has shepherded the implementation of Fiat's World Class Manufacturing system in Chrysler's North American plants since Fiat assumed control of Chrysler in 2009.
Pino came to Chrysler from Fiat in 2010 to run Chrysler's Toledo Assembly Complex. He was plant manager at Fiat's Termini Imerese plant in Sicily.
The appointments point to a growing cross-pollination of executives between Chrysler and corporate parent Fiat, as the two entities continue to merge into a single global automaker.
Garberding's appointment includes a seat on Fiat's Group Executive Council, the highest decision-making body within Fiat outside of its board of directors.
With Garberding, about half of the 20-member Fiat council are Chrysler executives, including brand heads Mike Manley (Jeep), Saad Chehab (Chrysler), Reid Bigland (Ram) and Pietro Gorlier (Mopar). Also from Chrysler on the Fiat GEC are quality chief Doug Betts, powertrain head Bob Lee and engineering head Mark Chernoby.
CEO Sergio Marchionne and CFO Thomas Palmer also sit on the Fiat GEC.
Pino was one of the first Fiat executives to follow CEO Sergio Marchionne from Italy to the United States after Fiat assumed control of Chrysler.
When he arrived in the United States, the tall, affable Italian was handed the keys to Chrysler's Toledo Assembly Complex -- the company's largest and most complex assembly operation, making both body-on-frame and unibody vehicles in two conjoined plants.
Pino is a disciple of Fiat's World Class Manufacturing system, which seeks to eliminate waste by empowering workers to make their jobs more efficient and productive. He immediately began preaching its virtues to union leaders and workers in Toledo, which had been one of Chrysler's worst performing plants under WCM, and began making improvements.
Last year, Toledo Assembly was Chrysler's best-performing assembly plant in the United States, according to semi-annual WCM audits.
