Indeed, former Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak had been with Smart USA for scarcely three days. After Penske Automotive Group's bid to save Saturn fell apart, the company snapped up Lajdziak to be its new vice president of sales and marketing. Now Penske is asking Lajdziak to preside over Smart's U.S. operations.
Lajdziak succeeds Dave Schembri, who had been president of Smart since 2006 when Daimler announced that Penske would be the official U.S. importer of the Smart minicar.
The last year has been rough for Smart, as demand for the no-frills, but still quite expensive little car has fallen off a cliff. It will be a Lajdziak's job to fix that. We don't envy her task.
rick8365 says:
08:25 AM, 01/ 5/10
......... is that signs of an overuse injury with that finger of hers? Is she righty, but a south paw flipper?
jederino says:
08:54 AM, 01/ 5/10
Let's see - one overhyped and underperforming product that has been totally eclipsed by more compelling technologies? Seriously, how many times can an executive wave their hands before realizing new engineering is required?
felonious says:
09:08 AM, 01/ 5/10
LOL, great title.
inlinesix says:
10:14 AM, 01/ 5/10
Even the BRABUS model Smart still has 70 horsepower and 36 mpg combined.
Its a win for cars like the Yaris that gets 29/36 with 106 horsepower and enough room for 5. The Fit is another example...
You summed it up well Erin. It'll be quite the task.
billt9 says:
06:50 AM, 01/ 6/10
wtf is a president suppose to do, design, produce, and have new products in the dealership within the next month?