Chrysler LLC Names New Chief Customer Officer

-- Douglas D. Betts to be 'advocate for the customer'

-- Veteran quality executive joins Chrysler team

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Oct. 26 -- Chrysler LLC today named 21- year quality assurance veteran Douglas D. Betts Vice President and Chief Customer Officer (CCO). This newly created role assumes responsibility for corporate quality and will become a key element in Chrysler's continued effort to become a truly customer-oriented company.

Betts will be guided by "the voice of the customer," and will create the processes, culture, systems and organization to achieve the highest levels of quality in all of the Company's products and customer touch points. Betts will be based in Auburn Hills, Mich., and report to Chrysler LLC Vice Chairman and President Jim Press.

"Now, the customer will define quality at Chrysler," said Press. "We are aligning our resources to bring us to world-class benchmark levels in quality and customer satisfaction, and this is an important step."

Press described the CCO -- a first for the auto industry -- as an "advocate for the customer."

Betts, joins Chrysler from Nissan Americas, where he was Senior Vice President - Total Customer Satisfaction and before that, served as Vice President - Manufacturing Quality. He joined Nissan after holding quality assurance positions with Toyota, Michelin Tire Corp. and General Motors. Betts' appointment is effective immediately.

Stephen M. Walukas, formerly Vice President - Corporate Quality, returns to the Procurement and Supply organization in a to-be-announced executive role.