Chrysler CEO Marchionne to step down from board of Swiss bank

September 29, 2009
ZURICH (Reuters) — Fiat S.p.A. and Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne will not stand for reelection to the board of the Swiss bank UBS AG next year, the bank said on Tuesday.
Marchionne was elected to the UBS board in 2007 and appointed vice chairman in 2008.

The bank said Marchionne would like in future to focus on his current demanding management positions and had therefore decided not to seek any further mandates at UBS.

Marchionne had been mentioned as a possible alternative CEO for UBS in the midst of its troubles earlier this year but the bank turned to former Credit Suisse boss Oswald Gruebel.

Marchionne, who suggested earlier this year he might step down from the UBS board, has been busy this year after Fiat absorbed 20 percent of Chrysler.

Also stepping down from the UBS board is Royal Dutch Shell CEO Peter Voser.

Voser earlier this year announced a reorganization of the oil company’s worldwide exploration and production operations.

UBS was brought to its knees by the subprime crisis and had to be bailed out by the state while also suffering a damaging U.S. tax probe.

The bank said it would provide information at a later stage on candidates to succeed the outgoing board members.

Toyota raises global sales forecast by 3%, report says

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp. has raised its global sales forecast for the 2009 calendar year by 3 percent to 6.7 million cars, the Tokyo Shimbun daily reported on Saturday, in the latest sign of a nascent recovery in auto demand.
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, is also raising its global production by 8 percent to 6.45 million vehicles for 2009, thanks to the effect of government subsidies and tax incentives on new fuel-efficient cars, the paper said.

Officials at Toyota could not be reached for comment.

Toyota has been struggling with its worst downturn since it was founded in 1937, but its domestic sales have picked up recently, climbing 9 percent in August from the same month last year.

Japan in April began offering as much as 250,000 yen ($2,789) in subsidies to buyers replacing older cars with low-emission cars, part of the country’s largest-ever economic stimulus package.

Toyota has asked the new government to extend the deadline for these subsidies by two years to the end of March 2012.