Business Insight Zone

Until just now, Jim Press was the most senior American executive ever for Toyota, and the first American ever named to the car giant’s board of directors.

And now he’s gone to Chrysler.

I am skeptical of Chrysler’s prospects in general — it’s fighting a whooollllle lot of bad inertia internally and in the American-based car business as a whole — and the appointment of Bob Nardelli as CEO didn’t do anything to assuage my doubt.

But heck, if they’ve brought in Jim Press, that’s something else entirely. That one move makes Chrysler a lot more interesting, in my book.

More details:

• Bloomberg: Chrysler Hires Jim Press From Toyota as President
• From Fortune via CNNMoney: Cerberus’ Chrysler bombshell: Hiring Toyota’s top American executive casts the automaker’s future in a whole new light, writes Fortune’s Alex Taylor III.

The second article, in particular, offers valuable context:

But his hiring also raises big questions about chemistry among Chrysler’s three top executives, and about Cerberus’ ultimate intentions for the company. Press is schooled in Japanese-style management: he’s low-key, persistent, and plays for the long term. He has been patiently teaching his superiors in Toyota’s home office about the peculiarities of the American market for two decades and quietly allowing them to make mistakes. The success of the Toyota Tundra fullsize pickup, after two earlier failures, is a testament to his skill and understanding of Japanese psychology. By contrast, his boss, chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli, is intense, impatient, and driven by private equity owners clamoring for a return on their investment.

Whether this partnership succeeds will depend on their ability to match Nardelli’s short-term need to show measurable progress with Press’s instinct not to rush things. The long product cycles of the auto industry – where it takes four years to bring out a new model – could increase the tension between the two.

Pop some popcorn, folks — this could be good.