FCA Korea appointed Jake Aumann as its new president. Former FCA Korea chief Pablo Rosso was suspended following allegations of sexual harassment and assault, according to industry sources.
A petition was posted on the bulletin board of the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on July 22 to punish President Rosso. The petitioner said, "President Rosso, along with male employees, had asked me to answer which female employee I wanted to have sex and told me several times which female employee he wanted to have sex with."
The petitioner added, "In the office, Rosso had used the most severe verbal abuse and swear words that he can't say to the staff."
As the controversy spread, FCA Korea decided to suspend Rosso from his duties. The Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association also decided to suspend Rosso's job as chairman of the association on July 27.
FCA, which was conducting an internal audit, finally decided to replace Rosso. However, it appointed a new president without mentioning the results of the investigation.
"Mr. Rosso has left the company." said an official at FCA Korea. "FCA does not tolerate any form of harassment, abuse or discrimination of our employees or business partners."
The new president Aumann joined FCA Group in 1999 and has served in Asia, including Korea, Japan and India, for more than seven years. For the past two years, he has served as president in China and has been in charge of Alfa Romeo.
Analysts say Aumann's biggest task will be to calm the controversy over his predecessor's sex scandal while restoring the jeep's sales volume.
Its sales of jeeps plunged 70.4 percent on-month to just 410 units last month. In the first seven months of this year, cumulative sales also fell 15.6 percent on-year to 4,619 units.
