Ex-Ford consultant named Chrysler chairman
Robert Kidder, former CEO of Duracell, is the first director appointed to new Chrysler-Fiat board.
DETROIT (Reuters) -- Robert Kidder, a private-equity investor and former consultant who once worked for Ford Motor Co., will become the chairman of Chrysler Group once the automaker emerges from bankruptcy and completes a merger with Italy's Fiat SpA, the company said Wednesday.
Kidder, who was also the chief executive of battery maker Duracell, also serves as the lead director of Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) and a board member at Schering Plough Corp. (SGP, Fortune 500)
He will succeed Chrysler's Bob Nardelli, who is stepping down as the bankrupt automaker's chairman and chief executive.
Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne is expected to assume management control of Chrysler when key assets from its operations are sold out of bankruptcy protection to a new operating company in the coming weeks under a deal financed and brokered by the Obama administration.
Kidder's appointment was the first announced for the nine-member board that will oversee the new company. The U.S. Treasury will appoint four of those directors while Fiat will appoint three board members.
"I am confident that Chrysler will emerge from Chapter 11 a lean and powerful competitor, combining its own rich history of innovation with Fiat's technology and expertise to invigorate the American car market and to challenge other car companies around the globe," Kidder said in a statement. 
