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A day after Consumer Reports released their annual reliability survey which saw four Chrysler brands; Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Ram finish at the bottom, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Quality Chief has stepped down.

Doug Betts, FCA's 51-year-old head of quality has "left the company to pursue other interests,"according to a statement released yesterday. Betts joined Chrysler back in 2007, defecting from Nissan. Chrysler declined to comment on why Betts left when asked by Automotive News, but sources say Betts had the tendency to speak his mind. This irked FCA's CEO Sergio Marchionne a lot.

Taking the place of of Betts is Matthew Lidane, who is the VP of systems and components. Lidane joined Chrysler back in 1987 and has been the chief engineer for Jeep and vehicle line boss for the compact US wide platform.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

Press Release is on Page 2

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Chrysler Group Announces Management Changes

October 28, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Chrysler Group LLC today appointed Matthew Liddane as Head of Quality in North America. Liddane previously was Vice President – Systems and Components for Chrysler Group. The appointment is effective immediately.

Liddane replaces Doug Betts who left the Company to pursue other interests.

Liddane joined the former Chrysler Corporation in 1987 and has held a series of engineering positions with increasing responsibility including Chief Engineer Jeep Product Team and Vehicle Line Executive – CUSW platform.

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Interesting, they need to do a major change in the way they approach quality. A long time person might be the best yes man or woman but not the right fix the problem person.

Oh, they had a quality chief?

Same old same old

Oh, they had a quality chief?

I was surprised by that too, since Fiat has the worst reliability in Europe and the worst in the USA, and Chrysler is right near the bottom also.

Don't forget ferrari- forums full of poor quality reports there, too.

Could get interesting....wonder what cars were toward the bottom?

Could get interesting....wonder what cars were toward the bottom?

 

The Fiat 500L, Chrysler Town and Country, Jeep Cherokee with the four-cylinder.. I think there is a few others.

Fiat 500L is probably the most hated vehicle built right now from a lot of standpoints.

Hundreds of them on the lots for the two dealerships in the area. They cannot seem to give them away. Trash Quality of an auto.

Oh, they had a quality chief?

 

Oh, they had a quality chief?

...Score!

It seems like each iteration of the Dart platform gets a bit better.  Dart with 1.4T is terrible, Jeep Cherokee does mostly better, and Chrysler 200 seems to be performing satisfactorily.

It seems like each iteration of the Dart platform gets a bit better.  Dart with 1.4T is terrible, Jeep Cherokee does mostly better, and Chrysler 200 seems to be performing satisfactorily.

 

But the the 200 and Cherokee's big stumbling block is the nine-speed. I had a Cherokee not too long ago and the nine-speed had some shuttering issues. I'm hoping the 200 I get in next week solves that.

I know. I was talking to Michael who runs TrueDelta about these three and that's the pattern he is seeing at the moment.

The Fiat 500L I think is the least reliable individual car model sold in the USA.  Not surprised the sales volume is awful and they languish on dealer lots.  The Fiat 500 coupe was a fad, that for a year or two was a novelty item.  It had that funky Italian look and was tiny so just like the PT Cruiser, or the New Beetle when it first came out, or even the Mini Cooper, they sell for a couple years while they are a hot item, then people realize the car sucks and all it had was styling, and the sales dry up and something else comes along. 

I would buy a Chrysler 200 today but I'm too worried about quality. I see brand new Dodge's and Jeeps driving around with burnt out LED tail lights and it gives me pause. Some of these cars haven't even received their license plates yet. How does this kind of thing make it through quality control at the factory and at the dealership?

We can never understand company politics. However, it could be true that he just wants to pursue other interests. It could be weird to us why anyone who isn't close to retiring would leave such a post but it happens. It's never about the money.