There has been quite a shuffle atop the automotive world in the last 24 hours, with Peugeot-Citroen announcing the firing of CEO Christian Streiff on Sunday. General Motors announced on Monday that Rick Wagoner will no longer be acting as the company’s chief executive officer.
The board decided to fire Streiff after Peugeot-Citroen posted a $460 million net loss last month, with red ink expected to cover the automaker’s financial books until 2010. “The board unanimously judged that the exceptional difficulties faced by the auto industry imposed a change of management,” Chairman Thierry Peugeot told Reuters.
Streiff didn’t agree with the board’s decision, saying his efforts helped the company to be “well equipped to face the crisis.”
Board member Roland Vardanega will be filling the roll of interim CEO until June 1st, at which point Philippe Varin will be taking over. Varin, 56, has a strong history in the steel business, and most recently held the title of CEO at the Corus steel group.
