Traditionally, Chrysler's board has consisted of nine members, so the appointment of two new members to replace Blanchard restores the group's size.
According to research compiled by BusinessWeek, Simmons is the first female director to serve at Chrysler since Lilyan Affinito served from 1986 to 1996.
Perkins, who was selected for the board position by the union, has served on the staff of UAW President Bob King since 2010. He is the union's appointee to the Board of Directors of the National Institute for Health Care Reform.
The board shuffling comes as Fiat aims to increases its 58.5 percent stake of Chrysler by acquiring an additional 3.3 percent from the UAW's retiree health care trust.
