Top Executive Leaves DaimlerChrysler for Mitsubishi

No Doubt Spirits Buoyed at Mitsubishi

It must be a boost to Mitsubishi Motors North America's (MMNA) morale when a top executive joins the firm, being that

David Schembri, Mitsubishi Motors North America's new sales and marketing head, is the ex-VP of DaimlerChrysler's smart USA division. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

the last few announcements were for highly positioned departures.

Obviously David Schembri, MMNA's new sales and marketing head and ex-VP of DaimlerChrysler's Smart USA division, feels the Japanese automaker offers him a better future than the company that sent Mitsubishi Motors' stock tumbling after announcing it would not participate in a funding package last year.

Before taking his position with MMNA, which starts immediately according to CEO Rich Gilligan, Schembri had been vice president of

The ForMore was to be smart's cornerstone car when it was to launch in the United States in the fall of 2006. (Photo: DaimlerChrysler Canada)

Smart USA, a job that had him preparing the market for the U.S. arrival of the small car manufacturer.

No doubt when Mercedes-Benz boss Eckhard Cordes threw a wrench into his plans by choosing not to show the nameplate's compact ForMore SUV at the Detroit auto show, Schembri saw much of hard his work go up in a puff of smoke. The ForMore was to be the brand's cornerstone car when it was to launch in the United States in the fall of 2006, critical for entry into the SUV-mad U.S. market.

Schembri, 51, worked 11 years with Mercedes-Benz (DaimlerChrysler) in a variety of marketing positions, after 16 years at Volkswagen of America.