Press, 62, will reportedly be leaving Chrysler before the year is through.

Press was hired away from a 37 year tenure at Toyota after Chrysler was sold from Daimler to Cerberus Capital Management in 2007.  While at Toyota, Press ran Toyota’s US sales operations and was the only American on Toyotas board.

Press was only one of few executives that were retained by Chrysler through their chapter 11 process and had recently been named Deputy CEO and reported directly to CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Press was known for his expertise in dealer relations at Toyota and was set to do the same for Chrysler, but after 789 dealers were dropped this year, apparently his reputation had been tainted.

This is the second executive to be stolen from Toyota by Chrysler that didn’t last very long.  Deborah Wahl Meyer was hired away from Toyota as the VP of Marketing and was sent packing not long after gaining the same role at Chrysler.

The rumor following her out the door was that Toyota’s success had made her seem a superstar that she was not without the Toyota umbrella.  Possibly the same deal with Press?

More details will be added as we receive them.

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